Inner peace matters
“I think my nervous system is starting to fray,” a reader wrote. “Is that weird?”
“No,” I replied. “I can tell you that you are not alone.”
In today’s paper, conflicts, bombings, and war dominate the headlines. Yes, our world feels fragile. And people everywhere are understandably anxious. And baffled. If you’re feeling angry or irritated or frightened, you are not alone.
I just learned a name for this. It is called, vicarious trauma. This refers to the psychological and physiological impact of “sustained empathic engagement” with others’ pain. In other words, I feel it too. Our bodies and minds do not clearly distinguish between what we experience directly, and what we absorb through continuous media exposure, graphic imagery, and moral urgency.
But this I know: closing our eyes or shutting down, is not the choice.
Staying informed matters.
Bearing witness matters.
And, making sure our heart and soul are replenished, and refreshed, and grounded, matters.
So. It is Storytime. An important and hurried and stressed businessman visits a Zen master, seeking guidance and inner peace.
The Zen master sits down, invites the businessman to sit for tea. “I’m not here for tea, I only want inner peace,” the businessman blusters.
Still, the master pours the visitor a cup of tea. But even after the tea fills the cup, the Zen master continues to pour, allowing the tea to spill, now running over the entire table.
The businessman is taken aback, “Hey! Stop! Please stop pouring the tea! Can’t you see the cup is full and obviously can’t hold any more.”
The Zen master replies simply, “Yes. So it is with you. And you will not be able to receive any guidance, or peace—or rest or replenishment or grounding—unless you make some empty space first.”
Okay. I can relate to the businessman’s “frayed nervous system”. And yet, there is something alluring about filling any empty space—or shall I say, unwittingly allowing it to be filled. We do live in a world with media and technology bombast. And yes, at times, a “volcano of vitriol”.
Even so; there is something very discomforting about being asked to empty (or let go of) whatever I’ve stockpiled to fill that space.
But here’s the deal: When there is no empty space, we pay the price.
We are full. Meaning “stuffed”. And quite literally; we are numb.
I do know this: When my senses are numbed by noise and overload and worry, I am impoverished. “Anxiety is the mark of spiritual insecurity,” Thomas Merton wrote.
Bottom line, I become a man (in the words of Leonardo Da Vinci) who “looks without seeing, listens without hearing, touches without feeling, eats without tasting, moves without physical awareness, inhales without awareness of odour or fragrance, and talks without thinking.”
I watched a recent interview about how we live in a world where we are bombarded by newsflashes, bulletins, notices, dispatches and videos. As one writer said, “We are dominated by, and at the mercy of, the algorithm.” Another called it, “Doom scrolling.”
And the question was asked, “So, how do we take control of ‘our feed’?”
I like that. Yes. How do we choose what we make space for?
Our spirit is like the teacup in the story. Overflowing.
And all we wanted was guidance. We just didn’t expect that it would involve making space. “You need me to let go of what? Make space for what?”
In an interview sometime back with Fr. Edward Beck, I was asked, “How do you respond to people who say they cannot afford to Pause?”
And my mind went back to something Etty Hillesum wrote. “Ultimately, we have just one moral duty. To reclaim large areas of peace in ourselves, more and more peace, and to reflect it towards others. And the more peace there is in us, the more peace there will also be in our troubled world.”
Yes. That’s the gift.
The space that enables me to see the sufficiency that is already there.
Maya Angelou’s reminder, “Let nothing dim the light that shines from within.”
The space enables me to be at peace with my enoughness.
The space enables me to know that my enoughness is never predicated on what I’ve collected (or on anything external), but on the gentle hands of grace that hold me no matter what.
Tell me my friend; where do you find replenishment?
Where do you find renewal?
Where do you find inner peace?
And here’s the good news: As Etty wrote, this kind of peace, spills to the world around us.
“We are here to heal, not harm. We are here to love, not hate. We are here to create, not destroy.” Anthony D. Williams
Staying informed matters.
Bearing witness matters.
And making sure our heart and soul are replenished and refreshed matters.
“Whoever brings blessing will be enriched, and one who waters—refreshes others—will himself be watered.” (Proverbs 11)
An affirmation of Charlie Parker’s reminder, “If it ain’t in you, it can’t come out of your horn.”
What moves and heals and stirs and replenishes the individual soul, can also move and heal the world. So. It’s paradigm shift time… Gabrielle Roth reminds us; in many shamanic societies, if you came to a shaman or medicine person complaining of being disheartened, dispirited, or depressed, they would ask one of four questions.
When did you stop dancing?
When did you stop singing?
When did you stop being enchanted by stories?
When did you stop finding comfort in the sweet territory of silence?
In reclaiming large areas of peace in ourselves, more and more peace, we are able to then reflect it towards others.
I am writing this on International Women’s Day. A shout out to all the women who refused to accept the limits placed upon them. History shows that when women rise, communities grow stronger, and societies grow more just. And this I know for certain: our churches exist and flourish and create spaces for community because of the women who lead and minister by role and by volunteering. I am so grateful for you all.
And I gratefully watched the memorial service for Rev. Jesse Jackson. It did my heart good. “Thank you, Rev. Jesse Louis Jackson, for showing us what it looks like for a moral and compassionate leader to know that power should only be used to lift people up, and never to push and shoot people down.” Rev. William Barber Jackson reminded Americans: “Our flag is red, white, and blue, but our nation is a rainbow—red, yellow, brown, black, and white—and we’re all precious in God’s sight.”
Quote for our week, “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of convenience and comfort, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy,” Martin Luther King Jr.
BULLETIN BOARD
Today’s Photo Credit: “Terry, St George guiding us all! In the Church of the Messiah, Santa Ana CA” Dee Tucker… Thank you Dee… And thank you to all, I love your photos… please, keep sending them… send to tdh@terryhershey.com
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POEMS AND PRAYERS
When Things Feel Dark
When things feel dark, remember what the world needs:
More healers, more helpers, more hate exorcisers.
More artists and poets, more parents ruled by love.
More cycle breakers, more radical resters,
more warriors of peace.
More gardeners who fall deeply in love
with the earth beneath their feet.
More meditators, more educators,
more people willing to use failure as a tool to learn.
More thinkers, more thankers, forgivers and apologizers.
More builders of bridges and homes
with open doors and minds.
The world needs you—
because only the ones who see the darkness
know the importance of turning on the light.
Michael Dubois
A Prayer for Steadiness
God of life,
The world feels fragile right now.
War spreads. Fear grows. Many hearts are heavy with grief.
Hold us steady in this moment.
Help us remember that love still matters.
That compassion still matters.
That the work of tending life still matters.
Give us courage to keep planting seeds of goodness—
in our communities,
in our relationships,
in the fragile future we cannot yet see.
Let fear not shrink our hearts.
Teach us to live with faithfulness in uncertain times.
Amen.
Rev. Cameron Trimble
Music for the Soul…
New–
Ubuntu Voices — Pure A Cappella African Choir
Last week —
Lift Us Up: A song for America — Peter Yarrow
This Little Light of Mine — Bruce Springtsteen
