The Biblio File February 2017 Essay: “The Same Stuff”
THE SAME STUFF
Yesterday morning, at our newfound Methodist Church, Ed and I sang “Let There Be Peace on Earth”, the music and my heart filled with longing. At home, over tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches, I picked up the book of prayers that lives on our kitchen table. “A Grateful Heart—Daily Blessings for the Evening Meal from Buddha to The Beatles”, though we often read from it before other meals too. I opened it to a passage from The Vedas, the oldest Hindu scripture. “The supreme Lord is Shanti,” I read. We smiled. “Shanti” means “peace”.
“It’s all the same stuff,” Ed said, and we smiled some more, remembering the first night we got together, sitting on the floor of his bachelor apartment in Jackson, Mississippi, listening to the Amazing Rhythm Aces, downing Coors beer, talking up a passionate storm. Neither of us was in great emotional shape, but we trusted each other with our stories and spiritual struggles.
We were both seekers, though he’d been immersed in Christianity and I’d dabbled in groups further out on the fringes. We agreed that love is everything. And we agreed that, in searching for the love which is God, whatever approach you take and whomever you worship, in terms of what’s right and true, “It’s all the same stuff.”
Thirty five years later, we’re struggling again. Everybody I know, at least the ones who give a rip, are struggling as we try to figure out what to do in a country turned upside down. Had a dinner party lately? I have, and friends have, and we all say that whatever foods we served, politics was the entree, topped with a sauce of fear. Dessert ended with a slightly sweeter intent to overcome, whether with congressional phone calls, protests, or helping the people we should have been helping all along.
It’s a good thing God tolerates, maybe chuckles at, foxhole conversions, because it often takes disaster to shake me from my stupor. And the best thing about being shook from stupor is that I remember stuff I did the last time I showed serious spiritual intent. And I remember that the “stuff” is good for me.
Whether it’s Thich Nhat Hanh saying, “Always be kind,” or Jesus directing, “Love one another,” or the Ojibway People of Canada calling upon the Sacred One to “teach us love, compassion, and honor”, obeying the wisdom of the wise ones makes me feel better, physically, emotionally, and spiritually, than does indulging my first inclinations, which tend toward pissiness and panic.
How cool is that? What we’re supposed to do, according to the Ancient and the Modern Wise Ones in the Know, is also what’s best for our bodies, our psyches, and our hearts. It’s enough to make me try to do the right thing with my limited energy and influence. Help instead of hate. Act instead of complain. Spread the love instead of smearing those who don’t. All that good, good stuff.
I’d love to hear about how you’re living and dealing with our broken world.
For now, Shanti. Salam. Shalom. Peace. Amen.
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