Do you care?
What’s the last thing you said, “I DON’T CARE,” about?
Does it really matter whether you care or not about anything?
You bet!
In fact you actually bet your life on it whether you recognize it or not!
Rocks from Above
Classic Story for not so classic folks!
PREMISE: WHEN WE DO GOOD, GOOD HAPPENS TO US!
He worked overtime, but not for the overtime. He worked because his best friend, with terminal cancer couldn’t. His friend had tried his best, but his best was becoming more and more his worst. His friend wanted to maintain his life, just by working a few hours every day, he felt he could have some normalcy. His friend was wrong. He was becoming weaker, more sick day by day and now to keep up the pace, overtime had to be applied.
Hey, what are friends, true friends, truly for, if not to help out a sick friend?
Caring just a Little. . . .
Nope. . .it’s NOT what you’re thinking.
First, you might really be asking what kind of seeds are those?
As soon as I say, “MUSTARD SEED,” Look where your mind goes…right to the Gospel Gutter: IF YOU HAVE FAITH THE SIZE OF A MUSTARD SEED. . . .
Nope! It really isn’t what you’re thinking.
It may well be so that if you have faith the size of a mustard seed you can move a mountain. . .but if you have the Caring Compassion the size of the a mustard seed you can, continents!
She suffered the death of a child and she was devastated to say the least. She, understandably so, was unconsolable. She sought council from her Priest, her friends, her friend’s friends. She went to the best Counselors and Advisors–Nothing–there was no Peace, no consolation, no relief, real or now, imagined.
Some ONE suggested something that was a little out of the ordinary, and in this particular case, way off the well-traveled paths and even the over-familiar ruts. A Holy Man. A Guru. A Spiritualist. . . .
Cracked Pots
The Story’s been told many times, in many different ways. It still asks the same question, though:
ARE YOU A CRACKED POT?
Okay, you caught me. It’s an entirely rhetorical question and the answer is completely true:
YES!
The story is really simple but it’s moral is even more simple and engaging–if only recongized!
SEEING
There’s such a very huge distance between Looking and Seeing.
When’s the last time you, you just didn’t look but actually saw what’s behind the eyes, the face of everyone you meet?
Granted, we’re all very busy and it would be just so much easier if we could wear a special set of glasses that would identify the pain of each person, known and unknown to us in a very specific way–taking out all of the guess work.
A Completed Pass
It must have made a big impression. I heard the story a very long time ago. A tale about Death.
It involves five brothers, Princes exiled from their kingdom, wandering through the forest and finding themselves thirsty. The youngest goes for water and discovers an inviting lake with a white crane standing at the edge. He sprints for the lake and the Crane speaks right before he dives in for a big gulp.
“STOP!” it cries. “This is my lake. If you touch this water without answering my questions, you will die.”
Desperate, the young man ignores the warning. He bends to drink his fill and falls dead by the water’s edge.
In a few moments the next brother comes in search of the first. He’s really thirsty too and he bends down at the lake’s edge to drink. Just as he is about to quench his thirst, the Crane shouts out to him, “STOP! If you touch this water without answering my questions, you will die.” But even though the young prince sees his brother lying dead nearby, he is so thirsty he can’t help himself. He goes to cup the water in his hands for a full gulp and falls dead at the side of his brother.
More Than Medication
I often show this short clip when teaching on Compassion or Compassionate Presence. I firmly believe that it allows us, in less than two minutes, experience the power of this Compassionate Presence which has more power than some high-powered medications.
If Compassion could be dispensed like a medication, would it be an illegal substance?
Would it come with a prescription?
Could you be inoculated with it?
Could it be used for an intended, overdose?
WHOLE BROKENNESS
Have you heard the story? Ok, maybe it’s more of a legend…but it’s really a timeless legend, now of OUR Time.
It was Christmas Eve 1818 and a small church in Austria had gathered together for their Candle light services. Tragedy struck. The organ was broken. It was discovered that, Church mice, literally had eaten through the bellows the organ and it was rendered useless.
No Music on Christmas Eve Candle light services?
The Greatest Gift
Wouldn’t it be great?
You think you’re home for the evening; you have no plans or DO YOU?
Your doorbell rings. You contemplate even answering it, but you do. There’s a man in an elegant tuxedo, top hat, white gloves and a cane. You see over his shoulder that there’s a luxurious limo and he tells you he’s here to escort you to a very special place where “NO” doesn’t exist. You throw on a pair of jeans that don’t have last night’s dinner remains on it and a shirt that doesn’t have the powder sugar your donut snowed all over it just before the doorbell rang.
Second Looks
So many, many things can happen in just one simple, significant second.
I almost learned immediately in 1994 when I became a Chaplain for Hospice that folks who were in my care would often use me as a mirror.
I really feel that when we undeniably know that we are NOT going to live forever, that in fact, we’ve all been born with a lethal sexually transmitted disease called, LIFE, that we have very basic, essential fears that set in like a disease itself. A fear like, “What about my appearance? What am I going to end up looking like as DISease DISsembles my body?”
It amazes me how people use US as their mirrors. They don’t have to look in a mirror to see what they look like, they just have to watch our expressions when we walk in the room and see them. Amazing still how it just might not be ‘the sick’ who use the mirror trick.
We all look for recognition and acceptance in the eyes of those who look upon us!
So…be the eye, the camera, the mirror that Accepts, Acknowledges, Affirms, Authorizes another.
What does it take to do so?
How much Money is involved and needs exchanged?
How long does it take?
A Second. . .a simple, sincere second.
Psssssst: Don’t give it a Second Look!
(Give it Always/ALL Ways Unlimited Looks)