I've been moved and inspired by the personal stories of Mary, who I recently crossed paths with, even though she's been coming to Prayers for World Peace with her kids for her while. (I didn't meet her sooner because I don't usually go to that Sunday class.)
Her young son, who's 5 now, is in remission from leukemia. She kept a blog about his health condition, and friends and family were always offering to help, with cooked meals or money, for example. Mary said that she didn't need food, because her son couldn't eat, so she couldn't eat; and she didn't need money, because she spent all her time at the hospital and didn't have any time or interest in going shopping. She would request them instead to "Hug Your Kids a Little Tighter" and to give love to whoever they were with. I found that so beautiful - it makes me tear up thinking about it.
I have more stories from her I'd like to share, but don't want to add them here, because I don't want anything to distract from her very simple but deeply heartfelt request.
In Eight Steps to Happiness Geshe-la says "'Self' and 'other' are relative terms, rather like 'this mountain' and 'that mountain ... 'This' and 'that' therefore depend upon our point of reference. This is also true of self and other. By climbing down the mountain of self, it is possible to ascend the mountain of other, and thereby cherish others as much as we presently cherish ourself."
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment