Contagious

I find

another's

happiness

contagious.

Such is

the nature

of

my madness.

Fahad Faruqi

___________________________

It seems to be an immutable rule of the universe

That what is in our hearts oozes out

Leaving a faint trail

As we wander through our day

The wise have warned us

“by your fruits they will know you” (Jesus)

“wherever you go there you are” (Jon Kabat-Zinn)

‘for out of the heart comes evil….” (Jesus)

“When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time”  (Maya Angelou)

it does not matter

how careful we are

or how hard we try to hide

the truth, as they say, will “out”

who we are will leak into the space around us

and shape that space

for good or for ill

Some have said that if we want to know who, or what

We really are, we should look to ourselves

How we think and speak about others?

How we treat those who have less than we do?

How we behave when no one is looking?

How we deal with mistakes and failures?

How we behave when we are upset?

All true

But I suspect that what most reveals who and what we are

is the atmosphere we create around us

the impact we have on those who cross our paths

what do we elicit?

do we bring out the best in others, or the worst?

do we cause people to be more open, or more protective?

do we elicit kindness, or cruelty?

Inclusion, or exclusion?

Love or hate?

As we stumble through life, what lingers behind us?

A sweet smelling aroma of love, and kindness?

Or something else?

Someone once wrote, “joy is contagious, catch it!”

So is forgiveness, and peace, and love

What are people catching from us?

What are they catching from me?

It all depends, I do believe

On what we carry in our souls,

On what is in our hearts

If we want a better world

If we want a better life

It is not matter of changing the world around us

It is not a matter of changing the people around us

It is a matter of letting the sacred permeate

And change

The world within in us

__________________________________________________

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.”

 Martin Luther King Jr.

“Jesus does not call us to do what he did, but to be as he was, permeated with love. Then the doing of what he did and said becomes the natural expression of who we are in him.”

            Dallas Willard