The Only Cure for A Different Kind of Poverty

 

The greatest disease in the west today in not TB or leprosy; it is being unwanted, unloved, and uncared for. We can cure physical diseases with medicine, but the only cure for loneliness, despair, and hopelessness is love.  There are many in the world who are dying for a piece of bread but there are many more dying for a little love.  The poverty in the West is a different type of poverty-it is not only a poverty of loneliness but also of spirituality.

-Mother Teresa

Yesterday's post wasn't just about   my daughter's friend, or about little me as the "I" though I certainly visualized him as the poem was being written and sincerely wished that I or someone could have been there . ( Notice how I say..."the poem was being written",  rather than, "when I was writing the poem."? I am seeing more and more myself as only a tool, a conduit for what Andersen refers to as "universal mind" to pour through. All I can "do" is come to the page or the person suffering and stay open.)

The poem  was written, I believe, as a way of expressing the importance of  human connection, of being there for others so they know they are not alone.  We are all responsible for suffering in this world...and we all carry the capacity to transform it with us. Compassion not only can help others feel understood, it can open the listener up too, open the hearts of all beings up to the greatest and most powerful force in this world- Love.  We owe that compassion to every single being on this planet, including ourselves.  Hmmm!


I owe a lot of that inspiration that sat me down and opened me enough so the poem could come through to Thich Nhat Hanh and his teachings on "Listening deeply".

I am not asking people to feel guilty and ashamed of how we have and do handle suffering.  I am just asking that we look deeply into how we handle suffering.  Determine what was unhealthy and non beneficial in the past in getting us to where we really want to be...a state of openness to Love, joy and all the things, I believe,  God wants for us.

Has denying and turning our backs on suffering worked for us so far?  Maybe for all of a minute but no...we can not run away from the inevitabilities in life.  Instead of putting all our energy into running away from suffering, pushing away suffering, struggling against suffering, denying and stuffing suffering...we need to recognize it, accept it and embrace it.  Then we can look deeply into it so we can transform it.  I truly believe this is the way to go...for each and every one of us.

Hmm...But then again, what do I know for sure?  Absolutely nothing.  :)

All is well.