Blowing in the Wind
There is a bibical story where Jesus is
teaching his disciples and he tells them that if they cast good bread out upon
the water it will come back to them sevenfold. The good that they do will be
rewarded in like kind.
At a daily sales conference we had when I was in furniture sales about an eon ago my employer told that story. I don't remember how he had fit that into his morning "pitch" to the sales team, but I recall that I commented that I had an amendment to that story. If you cast bad bread our upon the water I believe it will also come back upon you sevenfold.
Surely the "good" that we do is no different than the "bad" in that both kinds of actions leave us and spread out into the lives of those around us. Our actions affect us, but equally as important, they affect all with whom we come into contact and while our actions affect them, we must remember that they in turn affect those with whom they encounter. Our "good" and "bad" just keeps on spreading and spreading and it will eventually come back to us.
With that in mind, we should all think carefully both about what we speak and what we write, while also considering our non-verbal communication, our body-language, for it also affects others about us.
In Martin Buber's book I and Thou he addresses the relationship which two humans have. Buber says that our relationship exists between us. It is "out there" between you and I. In true communication we become one as we exchange or thoughts in dialogue and as we share our emotions toward each other. This happens when we recognize the other person as she or he is; when we accept them as a being like our self.
This relationship cannot occur if we see the other person as an object. A true relationship can only develop between us when recognize the other as the person that they are in this moment.
Buber states that the dynamics of the relationship develop in the interactions between "I and Thou." When I give you my full attention, when I truly listen to your thoughts, when I completely respond to you, then and only then, can we establish a bond and become more than simply an "I" and a "Thou." Whit this bond we become, we might say, an "IandThou". One-united.
Therefore what we cast out to the other in our life, becomes greater by sevenfold. When we establish this bond which Buber is speaking of, the "IandThou" becomes enriched. No longer is each person alone and separate from the other, rather now they have transcended their separateness, they have become more than their individuality, they have become one with one another. How? By simply recognizing the humanity of the other, by reaching our and emotionally embracing the other.
Therefore it is critical that we consider each encounter throughout our day. How do we respond to others? What actions do we exhibit? What words do we speak or write? What feelings do we share or withhold from the other?
We should examine our response. If it does not embrace the other with whom we encounter, why not? Why did we chose to push that person away? What caused us to exclude them from our life?
We should examine our actions toward others with whom we share our day. If we were impatient with them, we need to ask ourselves why we exhibited this impatience. Why did we not have time for the other?
Why did we speak or write words which would keep the other person from entering into a compassionate relationship with us?
Finally, we must ask why we are not able to share our emotions with the other? Or why we do not wish to share the emotion they are experiencing today? What frightens us about this emotional sharing?
Our relationship with others seems to be somehow blowing on the wind. I recall an elementary teacher once telling my class the story of a man who went up on a high tower and ripped open a feather pillow. The wind caught the feathers and blew them all over the village. He then tried to gather all the feathers but found his task impossible. Once he had released the feathers it was impossible to find them all again.
She was attempting to teach us that the words which we speak, the thoughts which we write, the actions which we exhibit go out from us and if they have not been carefully considered, they may result in coming back upon us with irreparable damage. The Good will come back to us sevenfold, but what should alarm us is that the bad will also return. Once the bad has been released, we often find it impossible to say "I am sorry" enough times to undo the damage we have done. What is blowing in the wind between you and I today?
Focus, not on the rudeness of others, not on what they've done or left undone,
but on what you have or haven't done yourself.
Blossoms, Chap 4:50 Dhammapada
(written December, 2001)
At a daily sales conference we had when I was in furniture sales about an eon ago my employer told that story. I don't remember how he had fit that into his morning "pitch" to the sales team, but I recall that I commented that I had an amendment to that story. If you cast bad bread our upon the water I believe it will also come back upon you sevenfold.
Surely the "good" that we do is no different than the "bad" in that both kinds of actions leave us and spread out into the lives of those around us. Our actions affect us, but equally as important, they affect all with whom we come into contact and while our actions affect them, we must remember that they in turn affect those with whom they encounter. Our "good" and "bad" just keeps on spreading and spreading and it will eventually come back to us.
With that in mind, we should all think carefully both about what we speak and what we write, while also considering our non-verbal communication, our body-language, for it also affects others about us.
In Martin Buber's book I and Thou he addresses the relationship which two humans have. Buber says that our relationship exists between us. It is "out there" between you and I. In true communication we become one as we exchange or thoughts in dialogue and as we share our emotions toward each other. This happens when we recognize the other person as she or he is; when we accept them as a being like our self.
This relationship cannot occur if we see the other person as an object. A true relationship can only develop between us when recognize the other as the person that they are in this moment.
Buber states that the dynamics of the relationship develop in the interactions between "I and Thou." When I give you my full attention, when I truly listen to your thoughts, when I completely respond to you, then and only then, can we establish a bond and become more than simply an "I" and a "Thou." Whit this bond we become, we might say, an "IandThou". One-united.
Therefore what we cast out to the other in our life, becomes greater by sevenfold. When we establish this bond which Buber is speaking of, the "IandThou" becomes enriched. No longer is each person alone and separate from the other, rather now they have transcended their separateness, they have become more than their individuality, they have become one with one another. How? By simply recognizing the humanity of the other, by reaching our and emotionally embracing the other.
Therefore it is critical that we consider each encounter throughout our day. How do we respond to others? What actions do we exhibit? What words do we speak or write? What feelings do we share or withhold from the other?
We should examine our response. If it does not embrace the other with whom we encounter, why not? Why did we chose to push that person away? What caused us to exclude them from our life?
We should examine our actions toward others with whom we share our day. If we were impatient with them, we need to ask ourselves why we exhibited this impatience. Why did we not have time for the other?
Why did we speak or write words which would keep the other person from entering into a compassionate relationship with us?
Finally, we must ask why we are not able to share our emotions with the other? Or why we do not wish to share the emotion they are experiencing today? What frightens us about this emotional sharing?
Our relationship with others seems to be somehow blowing on the wind. I recall an elementary teacher once telling my class the story of a man who went up on a high tower and ripped open a feather pillow. The wind caught the feathers and blew them all over the village. He then tried to gather all the feathers but found his task impossible. Once he had released the feathers it was impossible to find them all again.
She was attempting to teach us that the words which we speak, the thoughts which we write, the actions which we exhibit go out from us and if they have not been carefully considered, they may result in coming back upon us with irreparable damage. The Good will come back to us sevenfold, but what should alarm us is that the bad will also return. Once the bad has been released, we often find it impossible to say "I am sorry" enough times to undo the damage we have done. What is blowing in the wind between you and I today?
Focus, not on the rudeness of others, not on what they've done or left undone,
but on what you have or haven't done yourself.
Blossoms, Chap 4:50 Dhammapada
(written December, 2001)
Posted: Sun - January 22, 2006 at 08:00 AM
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"Chance favors only the prepared mind." - Louis Pasteur
"Art arises from basic needs-a strong need to express and celebrate our everyday events.
In a museum most people spend less than twenty seconds looking at a work of art."
"Art arises from basic needs-a strong need to express and celebrate our everyday events.
In a museum most people spend less than twenty seconds looking at a work of art."
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Published On: Jan 22, 2006 08:55 AM
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Published On: Jan 22, 2006 08:55 AM