Day 149d: Oh, the kindness of Strangers … (September 25, 2019)
I then made it through the town of Cleveland proper and eventually came to Marvin’s Tire Shop by the left-hand side of the road; a surprisingly peaceful place, where customer Michael offered me directions towards Chattanooga and employee Jorge offered me some water and an ice-cold Spite for the road …
“Our culture emphasizes independence and isolation far too much, and as such we have a hard time making ourselves an intimate & true part of things, of making ourselves responsible to others, and deeply caring for them as a result. Sure, there’s pain often involved whenever we extend ourselves in that direction, and yet there is no suffering there – unlike the opposite focus on self, where pain might well be less but suffering becomes an intense & regular visitor. The Divine, in all Its wisdom, offered us other beings – human & animal alike – with whom to live and work and play and be. And what honor of this blessings comes from pulling away or otherwise protecting ourselves from the same?… We live in a world where everything is quite literally interconnected, and as such we can no longer appropriately think in terms of us vs them when it comes to the consequences of the way we choose to live. Today is our day of awakening; today it must become about WE … And that is my wish for us all; that during this time – an era that is simultaneously confusing and amazing, we choose to be silently gentle with ourselves, and boldly kind towards all others.” ~ inspired by Tom Walsh, Gregg Braden & Thea Hillman
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