Non-judgment A Call to Compassion

So where do we land today?  Or maybe there is no “landing” today or any time in the foreseeable future.  We are all a bit untethered. I am listening to so many individual stories and circumstances, such a variety of challenges, responses and reactions.  Each way we are dealing with this, adapting and suffering is as unique as our own thumbprints. Because of these differences, many of us are going to the well worn path of judgment. We’re looking around at others seeing the multitude of ways each of us is responding and reacting to this global pandemic, seeking guidance from those we deem wise and growing angry and impatient with those we deem fools. We have choices in how to respond in each moment. But first:

 Some of us are busy on the front lines trying to catch up, prepare, and save lives.  Going to work each day is putting your life at risk in a newly tangible way;  serving others who are in need, laboring to restore health, and comforting people and their families who are living their final days on earth.  Your training and expertise most likely could not have begun to prepare you for the work you are called to now. To you I say thank you.  I send you prayers of love, light, protection and perseverance.  We need you.  

 Some are grieving our lost loved ones, broken and shattered because we were unable to say goodbye to our dads, moms or children who were quarantined in their last days on this Earth.   Unable to gather for a funeral right now, postponing the need to come together to celebrate and mark a life that mattered so much. To you, I speak tenderly and lovingly praying comfort and peace to you.  May you be held by the One who is near to the broken-hearted. There are no words I can offer that are sufficient, so I will simply pray.

 Many of us are at home or work “safe” but gripped with fear.  Uncertain of what is the right thing to do now.  Initially, we heard this was a disease that took the sick or elderly only and depending on where we fall into those categories, that either brought us comfort or more terror.  Now, we see that is not true, young people get this too. Young people are losing their lives to this too.  So much confusion for the mind to bear; am I safe or am I in imminent danger?  The mind cycles from unrest, to gratitude, to fear, to peace, only to repeat again ten minutes later. To you I say, Grace for yourself and for all of it. Be kind to yourself and others in your life right now.  Listen deeply for the voice of wisdom, to which we all have access.

 There are those who are crushed by the load they must bear right now and others who have ceased all work, unable to do the things we did before this all began.  There are children to feed and to comfort, teenagers to keep home and help stay mentally well, spouses to engage that are responding differently from each other, and individuals who have been completely alone in their apartments for weeks. And of course, people are living without homes and are on our streets right now and there are those who faithfully serve them. To us all, may we have daily bread and give thanks for each breath is a gift.

 This is a call to compassion.  May we replace judgment for love.  This is not to say that we should not practice discernment about the wisdom and gravity of each of our choices, but rather an invitation to not turn against one another out of fear and judgment.  We do not know what load another is carrying.  We do not know the burdens of the person next to us at the grocery store.  Judgment and anger divide us against our own selves and against other humans. We are collectively connected to one another, and so this illusion of separateness that justifies our judgmental indignation can only do damage.  These stories we create about our “enemies” do not keep us safe, they keep us divided, divided against ourselves.  We are Humankind.  May every ounce of my energy that I have spent judging others be transformed to send love outward, beginning from my center.

 May planet Earth be seen from above right now, from whatever eyes are watching us, from that vantage point, may we be seen as lights, bright sparklers lighting up the globe, shining out to one another.  Clarissa Pinkola Estes says it well, “One of the most common and powerful actions you can do to intervene in a stormy world is to stand up and show your soul. Struggling souls catch light from other souls who are fully lit and willing to show it.” Shine your light into the dark world that we may all see one another and know we are not alone.