Presence is love

“If you love someone, the greatest gift you can give them is your presence”

                                                                         Thich Nhat Hanh

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It seems so simply really

Love equal presence

Sometimes we are just too busy

On the run, going from one thing to another

But we find so many ways not to be present

Smart phones destroy presence

Busy minds do too

Can we be present if we are thinking about the next task,

The next meeting, the next person?

Can we truly be there for another if we are filled with worry?

Or anger, or fear?

But presence is shown in ways both big and small

Presence is in the eyes,

And in the touching

Presence is birthed when we listen, deeply

When we share our hearts

And sometimes when we are silent

Presence is in eyes that connect

In hands that help

And words that comfort

Presence is focus

It is making the person in front of us, not just the most important person in the world

But the whole world,

For that moment

Presence is

Love

the prey

For thirty years I sought God.

But when I looked carefully ....

I found that in reality God was

the seeker .... and I the sought. "

                                           - Bayazid Bistami

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I think I have always sought to find that Sacred

To connect with Sacred Power

Sacred Hope

Sacred Love

But I must have a short-attention span

All too often I suddenly realize

That my attention is clearly

Somewhere

Else

On success, or money

On political candidates (yuk)

On my past

My future

So many things

The Sacred just gets lost

And then

I am found

In the sun coming over the edge of the earth

In a text from a friend

In a mountain top breaking through the clouds

In calves playing in the field

Suddenly the Sacred is there

In my face

Saying

“Hey!  I’ve been looking for you”

Suffering

“When another person makes you suffer, it is because he suffers deeply within himself, and his suffering is spilling over. He does not need punishment; he needs help. That's the message he is sending.”

                                                                                                     Thich Nhat Hanh

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There is so much suffering in this world

Suffering created by arrogance

Suffering created by hate

Suffering created by violence

And fear

Suffering created by greed

And lies

So many lies

It is hard for me to remember sometimes

That suffering comes from suffering

That those who lie and kill

Who stir up hate

Who exclude and judge

Who use power to minimize

And control

Are really people who

(whether they know it or not)

Are suffering at their core

They have souls that have been shriveled

Sometimes by abuse and violence

Some times by privilege and affluence

Which is why

Responding in kind does not work

It simply does not work

Our world does not need anger

Fear

Brutality

That will not save it.

It needs compassion

It needs generosity

It needs open minds

Open heart

Open minds

It is not easy work

It does not always seem to be effective

But ultimately

It is

the

only

way

when will we ever learn?