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It

Is not easy

To stop thinking ill

Of others

 

Usually one must enter into a friendship

With a person

 

Who has accomplished that great feat himself

Then

 

Something

Might start to rub off on you

Of that

 

True

Elegance

          Hafiz ala Daniel Ladinsky

__________________________________

 

Sometimes

I am not ready to let go of my suspicions

That there is something evil

Lurking around every corner

 

I am not ready to believe

That maybe that person

Whose reality is different

Who sees the world and thinks about it

A different way

Than I

 

Might really

Be someone I need to listen to

Not just critically

But with curiosity

 

Where did that come from?

That belief?

That priority

That way of seeing the world?

 

What can I learn

For there is something to learn

From everyone

 

Sometimes I need to take a deep breath

And hold it

Until my body screams for oxygen

And then gasping

Takes in the fresh air

 

Sometimes my mind needs to slow down

And clean out the flotsam

So I can receive

Something new

 

I must make room

For the other

And let sit on the couch in my soul

And have a cup of tea

As we solve the problems of the world

 

Perhaps that person has something I need

I will never know

If I do not welcome them

Past the gate of my distrust and aversion

 

Perhaps I have something they need

That they will never hear

As long as we pound each other

With our opinions and our judgements

 

Jesus, maybe I need to sit down first with you

And listen as you tell me about grace

And love and forgiveness

 

As you deconstruct and reconstruct me.

 

Maybe then I can sit down at the table

As you did

With tax collectors and sinners,

And receive the gifts

They have to offer

me

 

maybe I need to let my better angels

who hang around in my soul

waiting for an opportunity

 

a chance to find the better angels

in the one I have defined as

enemy

 

Maybe I need to believe that there is

within all of us,

the capacity for goodness

and yes, reason

 

and that we can

as we sit around the table of grace

lessen the selfishness and fear

 

and find empathy and unity

 

I hear the voices that say

It will never be

I am willing, they are not

I will listen, they will not

 

But I will never know

If I don’t try

Maybe the problem is (at last partly) me

 

And if I should come to harm

Because I insist on love

If I should face ridicule and rejection

From all sides

 

Well

That, Jesus, would be something

You know a lot about