just accept (and welcome)

Because one believes in oneself, one doesn't try to convince others. Because one is content with oneself, one doesn't need others' approval. Because one accepts oneself, the whole world accepts him or her.

                                                                        Lao Tzu

_________________________

In this place

Where so many gather

older people

moving a bit slower these days

people driving “mobility devices”

young people moving with ease

people, thin and athletic

people carrying a lot of weight

and everything in better

MAGA shirts

Bernie shirts

Disney shirts

Rock band shirts

Brown people

Black people

White people

Asian people

All crowded together

a plethora of languages

cultures

values

beliefs

one wonders at their stories

and sometimes one presumes

it is so easy to make assumptions

about ideology

or lifestyle

or religion

one could even judge

perhaps

that person dressed this way or that

the person struggling with weight issues

the person shoving through the throngs

with no seeming concern for others

but seriously

why not just accept?

Why not assume the best?

Why not welcome

Each person

As a fellow traveler

With their own story

Their our challenges

And hurts

And joys

And hopes

Why minimize?

Or diminish?

We know what that looks like

We know what that feels like

And, perhaps, we know where it comes from

It comes from that place of deficit

Where we do not accept our own value

Or power

If we really understood our own worth

If we really had sense of our own power

We would not have any need

to stand aside

to stand aloof

and evaluate

if we were ground in our

own place as a precious soul

a child of God

we would never, ever

need to do anything

but see how precious that other person is

there would be no need to evaluate

judge

demand merit

there would be no motivation

to assert power

to bully

to demean

there would be no need

even in the secrecy of our own hearts and souls

to make ourselves “bigger”

by making others “smaller”

an inability to accept others

a failure to see their value

and treat them with kindness and compassion

comes out of the bankruptcy of our own souls

We have too many people

Who have thin souls

Too many people in power

Living out that thinness

And doing immeasurable harm

We need more “plump” souls

People who know they are loved

(by God and by others)

And who live out their self-acceptance

And self-worth

By accepting

And believing in others

Truly we do