"may i think kindly of others. may i not get angry or think badly of others." these sentences, based on words of the dalai lama, are something i say every morning at the beginning of my meditation. they remind me of words of jesus when he said that we should not attempt to remove a splinter from the eye of another when we have a timber in our own eyes. he also said that we cause harm to ourselves for all time when we think unkindly of another, that we are to forgive others their wrongs towards us an infinite number of times, that we are to go beyond what is demanded of us in the service of others. time and again, jesus tells us that the ways we treat others are in essence the way we treat him, that to be great is to be a servant.
one of my goals for the coming weeks is to reframe my thinking about others so that i look for their good qualities, rather than dwelling on their faults. it is all too easy to think we are building ourselves up by thinking unkindly of others and comparing our strengths to their weaknesses. there is good at the core of each of us, no matter how badly we behave. remembering that this is so may help transform another while we change ourselves.
may we work to think kindly of others rather than thinking badly of them. may we not waste our energies on anger that serves no purpose other than to cause harm. may our love extend to the most unlovely. may we be grateful to those who would harm us for giving us an opportunity to practice unconditional love and forgiveness. shalom.
Tuesday, May 26, 2020
Sunday, May 17, 2020
A Short Pause
this week i am having a medical procedure and will have to postpone posting anything new to this blog. perhaps later in the week i will be up to writing. if not, i will skip posting until tuesday, may 26. may we all be filled with lovingkindness and compassion, may we be well, may we may we be peaceful and at ease, may we be happy. shalom.
Tuesday, May 12, 2020
Bright as the Sun, Ever Love Glows
this week i want to write about cats and about one cat in particular. my wife and i are great lovers of cats. we like dogs, too. at various times in our lives we have had dogs as part of our household, but dogs have not been a permanent part of our home while cats have. as a child, my mother would never allow me to have a cat for a pet. for some reason she had a dislike of cats and always preferred that we have a dog. my wife, on the other hand, grew up with cats around. i had always promised myself that i would have a cat when i became independent of my parents and had my own home, so when we moved into our first home after we married, my wife and i soon adopted a cat. we've always had at least one cat ever since then, except for a period of about and year and a half when we lived in an apartment while i was going to graduate school.
right now we have three cats. they moved with us when we left our home in the southern part of the state to move to our present home almost three years ago. one is an older cat that we inherited from our son when we moved away and couldn't have a pet in the apartment he moved into. another is a cat who adopted us when she was just transitioning from the kitten stage into an adult cat. we discovered her living underneath our guest house in the back yard and were finally successful in luring out and up to our house with food, a process that took several weeks of gradually moving her food bowl closer and closer to our house.
the third cat, we adopted when he was a kitten. some friends down the street, who are also cat lovers, had found him living in a flower bed in the park across from our home. these neighbors had taken him to their house but were unable to get him to stay. he kept returning to his flower-bed home in the park. they suggested that we might have more success in moving him to our home. he was a beautiful kitten but very wary of people. we were able to capture him by bringing him food. it took two attempts to get him to stay with us but we were ultimately able to persuade him to make his home with us.
because of his coloration, we named him "greyson." he remained fearful of people but loved eating more than he feared us. he never wanted us to pick him up or to pet him and remained aloof from us and the other cats, only joining them at meal times. once, after he became a young adult, he disappeared for several days. we were sure he was gone for good, but he reappeared at the cat's feeding spot one day with severe neck injuries. he had to spend a couple of days in the "cat hospital" but survived his wounds, resuming his old pattern of independence when he came back to us, though he never again strayed from our back yard.
when we moved, we were afraid that we'd never get him to adapt to his new home. we kept him and the other cats inside our garage for a couple of weeks before letting them out to explore their new territory. shortly after we moved here, during the period of time when the cats were staying in the garage full time, he re-injured his neck somehow. while he recovered, we kept him in our bedroom and adjoining bath. we were amazed when he began to climb in bed with us at night and thank us by rubbing his forehead against our foreheads. he'd never gotten close to us before, but it seemed that he was aware that we were doing our best to nurse him through his injuries and that he was grateful. once his recovery was complete, he was ready to return to the garage with the other cats and became his old distant self.
on a couple of occasions, greyson vanished for short periods of time, but he always returned home. he finally seemed to decide that his new yard and our garage was the best place to be and began to stay home all the time. as he's become more accustomed to this new place and the patterns of life here, he's turned into a more personable cat. he's no longer afraid of us. we noticed the change when he began to rub against our legs when we'd go out with him on our back deck, the locale where he spends most days unless the weather is bad. in the last several weeks, he's begun to jump up on one of the tables on the deck and insist that we pet him, something he'd never tolerate before.
we've been pleasantly surprised by the way he's evolved from a fearful cat to a more loving one. we can only speculate about his life before he adopted us, but we've guessed that someone mistreated him as a kitten, making him afraid of people and reluctant to trust them. we've worked hard to gain his trust and believe we've finally succeeded. as i think about his transformation, i wonder about how much of the lesson of winning greyson over to us must apply to human beings as well. surely, showing consistent, unconditional love towards another person must finally have an effect on even the most hardened among us. perhaps that was what jesus was telling us when we said that we should turn the other cheek and go the extra mile.
may we learn to love unreasonably and without qualification. may we have faith in the transforming power of love. may we never give up on another human, despite the ill treatment we may receive from them. may our hearts be so filled with love that there is no room for hate. shalom.
right now we have three cats. they moved with us when we left our home in the southern part of the state to move to our present home almost three years ago. one is an older cat that we inherited from our son when we moved away and couldn't have a pet in the apartment he moved into. another is a cat who adopted us when she was just transitioning from the kitten stage into an adult cat. we discovered her living underneath our guest house in the back yard and were finally successful in luring out and up to our house with food, a process that took several weeks of gradually moving her food bowl closer and closer to our house.
the third cat, we adopted when he was a kitten. some friends down the street, who are also cat lovers, had found him living in a flower bed in the park across from our home. these neighbors had taken him to their house but were unable to get him to stay. he kept returning to his flower-bed home in the park. they suggested that we might have more success in moving him to our home. he was a beautiful kitten but very wary of people. we were able to capture him by bringing him food. it took two attempts to get him to stay with us but we were ultimately able to persuade him to make his home with us.
because of his coloration, we named him "greyson." he remained fearful of people but loved eating more than he feared us. he never wanted us to pick him up or to pet him and remained aloof from us and the other cats, only joining them at meal times. once, after he became a young adult, he disappeared for several days. we were sure he was gone for good, but he reappeared at the cat's feeding spot one day with severe neck injuries. he had to spend a couple of days in the "cat hospital" but survived his wounds, resuming his old pattern of independence when he came back to us, though he never again strayed from our back yard.
when we moved, we were afraid that we'd never get him to adapt to his new home. we kept him and the other cats inside our garage for a couple of weeks before letting them out to explore their new territory. shortly after we moved here, during the period of time when the cats were staying in the garage full time, he re-injured his neck somehow. while he recovered, we kept him in our bedroom and adjoining bath. we were amazed when he began to climb in bed with us at night and thank us by rubbing his forehead against our foreheads. he'd never gotten close to us before, but it seemed that he was aware that we were doing our best to nurse him through his injuries and that he was grateful. once his recovery was complete, he was ready to return to the garage with the other cats and became his old distant self.
on a couple of occasions, greyson vanished for short periods of time, but he always returned home. he finally seemed to decide that his new yard and our garage was the best place to be and began to stay home all the time. as he's become more accustomed to this new place and the patterns of life here, he's turned into a more personable cat. he's no longer afraid of us. we noticed the change when he began to rub against our legs when we'd go out with him on our back deck, the locale where he spends most days unless the weather is bad. in the last several weeks, he's begun to jump up on one of the tables on the deck and insist that we pet him, something he'd never tolerate before.
we've been pleasantly surprised by the way he's evolved from a fearful cat to a more loving one. we can only speculate about his life before he adopted us, but we've guessed that someone mistreated him as a kitten, making him afraid of people and reluctant to trust them. we've worked hard to gain his trust and believe we've finally succeeded. as i think about his transformation, i wonder about how much of the lesson of winning greyson over to us must apply to human beings as well. surely, showing consistent, unconditional love towards another person must finally have an effect on even the most hardened among us. perhaps that was what jesus was telling us when we said that we should turn the other cheek and go the extra mile.
may we learn to love unreasonably and without qualification. may we have faith in the transforming power of love. may we never give up on another human, despite the ill treatment we may receive from them. may our hearts be so filled with love that there is no room for hate. shalom.
Tuesday, May 5, 2020
Count Your Blessings Instead of Sheep
we still live in fear of being infected with the covid-19 virus, though there seem to be few infected here in the county where we live. the rate of infection in our state is about two people in one hundred thousand, one of the lowest incidences in the country, but my wife and i are still trying to be very careful. we continue to stay home except to go out for groceries and medicines or to take short drives to look at the scenery in the mountains nearby or visit my wife's sister and her husband. we plan to continue to live this way for the foreseeable future even while our state and the states around us are easing their strictures to varying degrees.
in the midst of our fear, i was struck the other day as i did my walking meditation by how much there is to be thankful for, not the least of which is that my wife and i and all our close family are free of the virus. i looked around at all the beautiful objects my wife has collected for our home over the years, many of which hold some fond memory for us, and was thankful for the happy memories that they evoke. out of the window i could see the not-so-distant mountains and was grateful for the natural beauty that surrounds us. i thought of our nice home and was thankful for the shelter it provides while so many are without permanent shelter. i thought of my wife and the love we have shared for over fifty years and of the good times we continue to have. i remembered our children and their situations. they have work they can do from home, their income is sufficient to provide them with a high standard of living, and they are healthy, kind people, and for all those things i am filled with gratitude. i was, and continue to be, overwhelmed by our good fortune. we had some hand in creating it, but much of it is the result of happy chance, coming to us undeserved.
yes, i have much to be thankful for. in the face of my blessings, there is little to fear so long as i use common sense. life is good, indeed. even if i were to come down with covid-19 or some other disease, i can still be filled with thanksgiving for all that life has been and continues to be. to be surrounded by love and a degree of security is all one could wish for. it is enough.
may each of us look for those things which bring us joy and give thanks for them. may we see the wonderful opportunities that life affords us and seize them. may we do whatever we can to make life better for those around us, giving of our energies and material wealth to help others. may we not allow fear to rule our lives. may love and compassion be foremost in our minds. shalom.
in the midst of our fear, i was struck the other day as i did my walking meditation by how much there is to be thankful for, not the least of which is that my wife and i and all our close family are free of the virus. i looked around at all the beautiful objects my wife has collected for our home over the years, many of which hold some fond memory for us, and was thankful for the happy memories that they evoke. out of the window i could see the not-so-distant mountains and was grateful for the natural beauty that surrounds us. i thought of our nice home and was thankful for the shelter it provides while so many are without permanent shelter. i thought of my wife and the love we have shared for over fifty years and of the good times we continue to have. i remembered our children and their situations. they have work they can do from home, their income is sufficient to provide them with a high standard of living, and they are healthy, kind people, and for all those things i am filled with gratitude. i was, and continue to be, overwhelmed by our good fortune. we had some hand in creating it, but much of it is the result of happy chance, coming to us undeserved.
yes, i have much to be thankful for. in the face of my blessings, there is little to fear so long as i use common sense. life is good, indeed. even if i were to come down with covid-19 or some other disease, i can still be filled with thanksgiving for all that life has been and continues to be. to be surrounded by love and a degree of security is all one could wish for. it is enough.
may each of us look for those things which bring us joy and give thanks for them. may we see the wonderful opportunities that life affords us and seize them. may we do whatever we can to make life better for those around us, giving of our energies and material wealth to help others. may we not allow fear to rule our lives. may love and compassion be foremost in our minds. shalom.
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