Rescue Remedy

I had a really bad weekend. Well, it wasn't all bad, but for someone who is generally spreading sunshine everywhere I go, and always seeing the bright side of everything, the silver lining in every cloud, etc...well, "Into every life a little rain must fall," I guess.

The good news is that someone else took their turn to spread the sunshine into my life, and I was most grateful to get it. I was feeling pretty alone, but I checked my Facebook news feed; and there was Thich Nhat Hanh with his hand held out and ready to give me a lift. He had shared a prayer from his blog "Touching the Earth // Guided meditations from the Thich Nhat Hanh book 'Touching The Earth.' ". When I clicked the "Play" button on the sound file, a tone sounded, and then he began the guided meditation. It was generally about how the Earth has the capacity to absorb everything back into itself, to rescue human beings from bad "places" or states. At the sound of the tone I immediately felt myself focus and begin to calm. Then I was able to listen to the words. I was more relaxed, calm and at peace than at any other time during this "bad" weekend. I was (and am) extremely grateful to Thich Nhat Hanh for being there (if only in cyberspace) at precisely the moment I needed to be "rescued" from my bad mood.

Who is Thich Nhat Hanh? He is a Thien Buddhist of the Lâm Tế Dhyana (Linji Chanzong) of Buddhism, and founder of the Order of Interbeing. I learned of him through his wonderful book, "Living Buddha, Living Christ," in which he helps us to understand how Buddhists and Christians are essentially after the same things. (It's a good read. I highly recommend it.)

Some (perhaps many) Christians would start praying for my salvation at this point, since I'm taking prayers and advice from a Buddhist. But they would be misguided. In the 9th book of Mark, verses 38-40, John is all upset because he's seen someone casting demons out of people in Jesus' name, "but I told him not to, because he doesn't follow us." Jesus tells John not to forbid anyone to do good in his name, whether he follows Jesus or not, because doing good for others is a worthy pursuit, and it does the cause of Jesus and his followers no harm.

This is exactly the sort of connection Thich Nhat Hanh makes in his book, "Living Buddha, Living Christ"; and it's exactly the sort of kindness that Thich Nhat Hanh did for me this evening. There were no Christians around when I needed to have my "demons" cast out, but Thich Nhat Hanh was available, and he got the job done. Now I am back in the center of the narrow way, calm and peaceful, able to focus on what's important, thanks to a Buddhist monk. I prayed along with the meditation and felt the peace that passes all understanding. I am certain that Jesus doesn't mind a bit that it wasn't someone from Church who performed this service for me.

Today I was reminded by a Buddhist to thank God for rescuing me; and that there is always help, sometimes from places we least expect to find it. I am grateful for Thich Nhat Hanh, and I am grateful for the words of Jesus in Mark that remind us that we are all connected. Life is good, and I am grateful.

Overwhelming the Haters with Love

"For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction." --Sir Isaac Newton

“I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.” --Mohandas Ghandi

The recent news involving the Westboro Baptist Church and its hate activities should be instructional for us all. Though I find what they are doing extremely disturbing, ever the optimist I also find that their activities are highly educational. 

So far the best thing that has come about as a result of their hate activity is the "Love-In" organized by students of Gunn High School in the Bay Area. Mother Theresa once said, "I was once asked why I don't participate in anti-war demonstrations. I said that I will never do that, but as soon as you have a pro-peace rally, I'll be there." Throwing more "anti" and "against" at something that's wrong just exponentially escalates the "wrong factor," and generates more angry energy, which has never once brought about peace. 

Mohandas Gandhi led an entire country, who had been colonized against their will for over a hundred years, to justice through "peaceful non cooperation." Dr. Martin Luther King, a Baptist preacher, followed the example set by Gandhi (a Hindu) because he found it to be consistent with Jesus' directive to "turn the other cheek." In doing so, Dr. King led an entire nation of African-Americans to justice, who had been first enslaved, then badly mistreated upon emancipation for another hundred years. He used what he called "the Gandhi method" of peaceful non-cooperation, and changed the world. 

And now the students of Gunn High School have done the same in response to a wave of hate that is sweeping the nation in the name of God. 

The 3rd of the ten commandments says that "You shall not take the name of God in vain, for God shall not hold guiltless the one who takes his name in vain." (Exodus 20:7, BHTL Version) For my entire life I've heard this verse interpreted as a directive to avoid cussing which includes the name of God or Jesus; but this has never made sense to me. What does make sense to me is this: to take the name of God in vain is to say "I am a Christian" and then behave in a manner completely inconsistent with the teachings of Jesus. 

When asked what was the greatest of the commandments, Jesus said, "Love God with all your heart, mind, and soul. This is the first and greatest commandment. The second is to love your neighbor as yourself. All of the teachings of the prophets hang on these two commands." (Matthew 22:37-40, BHTL Version) 

The students of Gunn High School may or may not call themselves Christians, but they were the best examples of what Christianity is supposed to be all about, according to Jesus, when they decided to overwhelm the haters with love. 

Unfortunately, so many Christians in America choose to boldly declare all the things that they "hate" in the name of Jesus; not as extremely as the folks of the Westboro Baptist Church have been doing, but bad enough. Jesus taught us we are to love our neighbors as ourselves, to be the light that shines on a hill, to spread the good news to every creature. He told us that others would know that we are Christians by our love for one another, not by our angry so-called righteous indignation. 

I hope that all of the people in America who call themselves Christians, especially those who call themselves "fundamentalists," will take a leaf out of the Gunn High School students' book, and get back to the basics of what Jesus taught us: pure love trumps hate every time; he taught us to overwhelm the world with the former, and to have no part in the latter. 

With all of the plethora of Christian denominations and non-denominations in America, I say that the purest and most righteous Christians in the entire country right now are students at Gunn High School, whether they call themselves that or not. They overwhelmed the haters with love, and were a light on a hill. My prayer is that their light will shine far and wide across this entire country, spreading the good news.

So I don't worry about the "haters." I'm beholding the beautiful lilies of Gunn High School. Life is good, and I am grateful.