Aim high together
Lessons in Life School (Lesson 9)
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Let there be peace on earth
I know it looks pretty bleak out there. Everything is changing at lightning speed. People aren’t getting along. Anger and dissension are pervasive. Systems are in crisis. The very ground beneath our feet feels unstable. When will it stop? When will we go back to normal? When will someone DO SOMETHING?
First of all, do we really want to “go back to normal”? It seems to me we can aim higher than that. How about we begin creating a kinder, softer, gentler world in this rickety, unstable, unsettling moment? How about we aim as high as we can? How about we aim for Peace?
Lesson in Life School #9, Aim high - together.
Let there be peace on earth
And let it begin with me
Let there be peace on earth
The peace that was meant to be
~Jill Jackson Miller and Sy Miller
And let it begin with me
The thing is that the ones who create the world we live in is us - each of us -together. Sure, we are building upon those who have come before us. But even so, we are creating and re-creating our present every moment. Household to neighborhood to community to region and finally to nation and planet - our choices impact ourselves and others. Our very being impacts ourselves and others.
I’ve been noticing these messages in the shows I’ve watched recently. There is a powerful scene in the final season of This is Us in which a forty-something Kevin doesn’t know how to respond to his veteran friend’s suicide attempt. In his discomfort Kevin almost leaves the hospital until his uncle tells him: just go and be with her. You don’t have to say anything, your presence is enough. Kevin’s choice to do just that impacts his friend’s life as well as his own; something important shifts and lifts and begins to heal. One gets the sense that inner peace might just be possible for them both.
In the film A Man Called Otto, Otto (Tom Hanks) is angry, hopeless and suicidal six months after his wife’s death. Somehow the older gentleman still has “things to do” that interrupt his self-destruct plans. With the relentless interruptions of kind neighbors, he begins to live life again. The neighbors’ kindness, fierceness, tenacity, and care transform and uplift both Otto and their community, (and, miraculously, HIS curmudgeonly presence uplifts them). Together, their little corner of the world gains a peace and harmony not known before.
In my life as a gong player I lead gong meditation sessions. For some minutes of the experience, I use my voice to guide clients into a state of relaxation and reception, but for the most part I am simply present as I play the gong. I am present for tuning into their needs and tuning into the gong. The gong is present for tuning into me and to the client. There is a sort of magical connection amongst us that ultimately brings people what they need in the moment: release, clarity, transcendence, or emotional, physical or spiritual healing, and PEACE. In fact, recently a client commented on the overwhelming sense of peace that settled in and upon her.
Such an experience for a client will only happen if I come to the experience in a state of calm, settled, peacefulness. It’s like I am the small, smooth rock to be thrown into the pool of water. The gong is the water which will create rippling waves when struck. What I bring to the experience influences the experience itself. In this way, peace does begin with me.
Let there be peace on earth
No man is an island,
Entire of itself;
Every man is a piece of the continent,
A part of the main.
~ John Donne
Each moment of peace I create radiates outward to influence the whole. In the same way my bad day can turn your good day sour, my peace can become yours and yours and yours (a sort of exponential thing, really). Knowing this is a good thing! It means by taking responsibility for ourselves, that is enough. You do you! And do it the best you can every day. You + you + you + me = us. As John Donne wrote: “No one is an island entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main.” In other words, each of us is contributing to the experience of the whole. The moment you pause and refrain from that angry come back or dismissive tone and trade it for something kinder is the moment you make your world just a bit better. The moment you do something for someone in need is the moment both of you are lifted up. Your opportunity to change the world is right now and without your contribution it can’t be done.
Your opportunity to change the world is right now and without your contribution it can’t be done.
When a friend said this last statement this week, it stopped me in my tracks. Without my contribution, it can’t be done. Think about that. It’s one thing to wish for a better family, community, even planet, but without each and every person’s involvement and contribution, it can’t be done. So don’t hold back! Your choices matter. Your presence matters. Your ripples matter! Who could possibly DO SOMETHING?
You and me, together.
Let that settle in for a moment.
(Pause. Breathe.)
Huge, right?
Perhaps this is why I so loved the Christmas film Spirited with Will Farrell. In it, Farrell’s character plays Mr. Scrooge living out an afterlife in which each year he and a team of others choose one human to visit as the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future - all for the purpose of redeeming them. Scrooge and his team understands that one person’s change for the better creates a powerful ripple affect. Here’s a bit of the lyrics from the final song:
If you wanna make a ripple
If you wanna makе a wave
Playing safe and thinking small
Doesn't movе the ball at all
There’s humanity to save . . .
If we never test the waters we'll never know
Just how far the ripples go . . .Go for broke 'cause it's finally time to know
Just how far the ripples go
Just how far the ripples go
Just how far the ripples
Just how far the ripples goRipple (Cut Song) from film Spirited
We are the ripple and the waves. And without each of us contributing to the whole, it can’t be done.
The peace that was meant to be
Peace, I am peace through all I see before me.
Peace, I am peace through all that is before me.
There’s a thought: peace was meant to be. What was “meant to be” is not necessarily comfort or riches. It’s not necessarily perfection or fame. These are all lovely things to experience, but imagine a world in which peace permeated every heart, every family, every neighborhood; you can, because that IS what is meant to be. Imagine each person as that smooth rock tossed into the pool of water emanating peace. The ripples of peace would change the landscape and change us all.
I know it looks bleak right now. I know the structures are unstable and even falling. Is it possible we are in the midst of recreating what was meant to be? Is it possible that those structures not built upon love, goodwill, and peace simply have to go? Is it possible that WE are deciding that peace is what is meant to be?
Peace IS meant to be. We know it, because every glimpse of peace that we get feels good, feels right. Living in a peaceful world is, in fact, our birthright. But we can only claim it if we choose to and only if we are willing to let go of what we no longer need: fear, hatred, bitterness, unforgiveness, selfishness and the like. Why not begin each day to this thought: “Peace, I am peace through all I see before me. Peace, I am peace through all that is before me.” Why not return to that claim in the moments you are challenged and in the moment you recognize you have the power to choose?
We are already in the midst of the rippling change, let’s aim high TOGETHER.
References
Donne, John. “No man is an island.” 1625. Online Poetry.com. https://www.poetry.com/poem/22559/no-man-is-an-island
Jackson Miller, Jill and Sy Miller. “Let there be peace on earth.” 1955. Lyrics to Vince Gill’s “Let there be peace on earth.” Track 9. Genius, https://genius.com/Vince-gill-let-there-be-peace-on-earth-lyrics.
Pasek, Benj and Justin Paul. “Ripple (Cut Song),” Spirited (Soundtrack from the Apple Original Film), Track 12, 2022. Genius, 2022. https://genius.com/Will-ferrell-sunita-mani-tracy-morgan-patrick-page-and-the-spirited-ensemble-ripple-cut-song-lyrics
You can find all of my series in the archives:
Adulting 101 Coupons: A Gift from your Parents
Partnering 101: A Deep Dive into Leaving Kindly
Me-Time: Self-care in the time of Covid
Reasons for Hope
From Fog to Flow
With a Grateful Heart
Lessons in Life School
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Writer. Gong Player. Teacher.
Find more of my writing at GreenBaytoKorea.blogspot.com
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All photos by © Brenda Brayko 2023 unless otherwise credited.
I am a 'salty dog" and a somewhat curmudgeonly elder traveler on this journey we call life...always seeking a little more peace as a traveling companion. You so often provide that peace (as you did this morning). Thank you.
You continue to inspire and amaze me!