I received a wonderful quote in my email today. It came from Frederic Craigie, PhD and was sent as a Weekly Reflection that he sends. Today’s Reflection was from Gregory Boyle, SJ and it read:
“The measure of our compassion lies not in our service to those on the margins, but in our willingness to see ourselves in kinship with them.”
This was a wonderful reminder to me today as Carlos, our Office Guru, struggled to find a way to support some of our clients in a situation where he really really had to hand the responsibility back to an organization that often leaves clients feeling unsupported. Carlos’ nature is to help at all costs but in this situation it was truly not his place to do so and trying anyway could complicate things more.
The Reflection reminds of Oneness and how sometimes the help we can give someone, rather than being tangible, is more of a spiritual connection that is powerful beyond measure and borne simply of the understanding that We Are One. The person in need does not walk alone no matter how disenfranchised he or she may feel. The support that we can give another through Oneness is immeasurably important, and energetically critical even when that person does not know through our words what we are offering them.
I am reminded of the Hawaiian practice of Ho’oponopono. It is a beautiful example of how clearing one’s own energy can change another. I also think of the scientifically power of Healing Prayer at a distance — even when the other does not know they are being prayed for. I give a bow to my late mentor, Jeannie Achterberg, PhD and to Larry Dossey, MD for their pioneering scientific studies in this regard. There are so many examples in the ancient and even some modern traditions that provide evidence for the interconnectedness among us all, and how both healing and destruction can be accomplished quite easily through our intentions and energetic actions. We are that powerful. Our responsibility is to accept it and use it.
So the next time you see someone, or hear about them, or even have an intuition that someone is in need, and if you feel you are not in a place to give them the tangible things they seem to require, remember that you can always give them something even more valuable and powerful and it need not even involve being in their presence at all. You can see yourself in kinship with them and send them the healing and love that you would want for yourself in that situation… because, you see, you are in the situation right there with them. In the vastness of the universe and with untold numbers of people and other living things, in the end there is only One. And it is You.
With blessings and great gratitude
from Santa Fe, NM
Dr Mark
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