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“When you go out into the woods and you look at trees, you see all these different trees. And some of them are bent, and some of them are straight, and some of them are evergreens, and some of them are whatever. And you look at the tree and you allow it. You see why it is the way it is. You sort of understand that it didn’t get enough light, and so it turned that way. And you don’t get all emotional about it. You just allow it. You appreciate the tree. The minute you get near humans, you lose all that. And you are constantly saying, ‘You’re too this, or I’m too this.’ That judging mind comes in. And so I practice turning people into trees. Which means appreciating them just the way they are.”
~ Ram Dass
How about spending next week turning trees into people?
I was told today that in addition to there being a plethora of Trump signs in Maine these days, there are also a great number of confederate flags being displayed with them.
That is roughly like saying, “Good, you are a racist. We like that.”
When are we going to learn that bigotry is about the fear and insecurity of the bigot?
From the heart of Grace M. Smith…
Have you ever noticed the eyes of some adults light up
when they see children or choose to be present
to the soft loving eyes of a dog.
It’s as if it has somehow touched a part of them.
In that moment, they aren’t thinking,
simply experiencing something beyond words, they begin to glow,
their own eyes becoming bright for a moment.
Perhaps they are stirring deep in their hearts,
perhaps they are allowing themselves to “BE” for a moment,
truly in experience, in heart and in life.
How often this week, every week, have we allowed ourselves to simply stop thinking and just “BE” here, now and present?
How would the week be different if we chose to explore being present to every person we talked “With” in a space of loving-kindness?
