living your inner Saint … (02/29/12)
IF….
If you can be cheerful, ignoring aches and pains,
If you can resist complaining,
If you can understand when your loved ones are too busy,
If you can take criticism and blame without resentment,
… If you can avoid correcting another’s limited knowledge,
If you can resist treating a rich person better than a poor one,
If you can face the world without lies and deceit,
If you can relax without the aid of liquor,
If you can sleep without the aid of drugs,
If you can honestly say that deep in your heart you have no prejudice against creed, color, religion, gender preference, or politics …
then you have almost reached the same level of spiritual development —
… AS YOUR DOG!
So many times over the course of the past seven years, I have had people come up to me after one of my presentations about “radical Kindness” and say something like, “Unconditional Love sounds great, but I can’t live my life like Jesus all the time.” Sheesh — me neither!
Fortunately for us all, it is not necessary to be as Kind as Jesus or as Loving as your dog all the time. It is only necessary to be that Kind & Loving for one instant — THIS ONE.
No one living in fleshly form can be “perfect” for any length of time, but it is no problem at all for us to do so for a single moment. And thereafter, to live a life filled with Meaning & Power, all that remains is to simply repeat that tiny, selfless choice as often as you wish during any given day.
So, to repeat:
Being saintly over the course of a day — impossible …
Being a Saint for one second — very easy.
But don’t take my word for it — Give it a try and SEE for yourSelf!
Remember: LOVE is a verb … got LOVE?
“Dear Lord, today let me be the kind of person my dog thinks I am.” ~ unknown
;