.comment-link {margin-left:.6em;}
Visit Freedom's Zone Donate To Project Valour

Tuesday, October 04, 2005

Witness The Butterflies

I went to Sigmund Carl and Alfred's, and read this post, and then I went to Kobayashi Maru's, and read this post. It is all about being there - truly being there.

More butterflies, and a friend in need is a friend indeed. So she is indeed a friend, Kobayashi Maru, and you are wise to know it, and a great spirit to be able to turn outward and truly see and be with another the day after you had to tell your brother that he is dying. Because she gave you a gift, and you gave her the gift of recognition and acceptance of her gift, and now this cold hard gem of a moment flames through eternity in the way that only a few of life's moments do.

The greatest gift we can give to others is to be there for them while we are here, and it's usually the only one that does not slip through our fingers. Grandma's best plates get broken and money can be spent thoughtlessly - and often is spent unwisely. But the time we truly spend with each other writes itself into our hearts and souls.

Through prayer, we can often be there when we are not, trusting in the ability of the Holy Spirit to give what is truly needed even while we are uncertain of what is needed. So I am praying.

You may not need to read Kobayashi's story of his brother now, but some day you will need to. Some mourn in anger, denial, despair and bitterness, and some find the grace to reach out through sorrow. That is demonstrated grace.

God is, but he commands us to find our context in opportunities for service to each other. By accepting what this woman had to offer - the gift of being there - Kobayashi Maru also accepted her. He needed her comfort and she needed to console him, but these two are wiser than most of us because they know it.

We fear failure, pain and misfortune because they deprive us of the attributes that give us our self-constructed worth. We fear death, because we will not be in the only way we have ever experienced being - but we don't fear what we ought to fear, which is being absent from life itself while we are here. That is what really diminishes our true worth and meaning.


Comments:
Well done.

You need to write more- REALLY write.
 
What he said (S,C&A, that is). "hard gem of a moment flames through eternity". Wow. Drop everything and write a book. Now. Thank you for this touching, insightful tribute and for your prayers for my brother.
 
Ah, Kobayashi Maru, I am one of the fragmented and damaged. I think you are writing a book already.
 
Post a Comment



<< Home

This page is powered by Blogger. Isn't yours?