A Deeper Tolerance; 2020 Vision

“A peaceful future depends on our everyday acts and gestures. Let us educate for tolerance in our schools and communities and, most of all, in our hearts and minds.”

— Federico Mayor, Director General of UNESCO at the 1993 dedication of the Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles

The "No Hate, No Fear Solidarity March" across NYC's Brooklyn Bridge on Sunday, January 5, 2020, was a wake-up call for tolerance. Increasing incidents of antisemitism across the country fueled more worries about safety in places of worship, education, and business. It drew thousands to rally in support of the Jewish community. Tolerance, it seems, is skating on thinner and thinner ice. Perhaps it’s fear, anxiety, and insecurity that drive this sense of imminent danger supposedly posed by a cast of 'others' who look different or who have opposing beliefs and customs. We seem to have forgotten that tolerance and acceptance are the building blocks of democracy and decency.

Several decades ago, I attended a conference where a successful designer, builder, and author Chuck Chamblain spoke to us about how he was taken down to his knees by a drive to succeed mixed with lots of booze. And then about what restored him to 2020 vision. Change, he said, was an inside job. He told us that he had been given a new pair of glasses. His law of life said if the only thing poured into it was love, then love was all that would be given back. Chuck was all about tolerance and acceptance. I came away resolved that it doesn't matter what others think about me, but matters greatly what I think about others.

Deep tolerance incorporates absolute acceptance and unconditional love. Dangers to our security cannot be achieved by diminishing the stature of others. We won't achieve peace, harmony, and serenity by killing our perceived enemies. God is never on the side of hatred and violence. We can't possibly continue to stumble along this rocky path without keener perception.

I think we need to invest in that new pair of glasses if we are to overcome the tide of short-sightedness which threatens to destroy us. We must embrace the fact that the only way to achieve a future free of threat is by acceptance, tolerance, and working on that ‘inside job’ Chuck Chamberlain endorsed. Our unrealistic fear and mistrust of others will be replaced by an enduring faith in a power far greater than ourselves. We will be blessed with new freedom through the miracle of the new vision.

Saying Goodbye to Self Pity; It's All About Delight

God isn't interested in self-pity any more than in lamenting, complaining, blaming, or measuring.

For that matter, I think God looks with a jaundiced eye at redemptive (quid pro quo) punishment or penance especially when it comes to 'paying-the-price' for what we might have done to offend God's sensibilities.

God doesn't offend. God delights. We are the ones who plunge ourselves into the abyss of indulgent melancholy believing that we deserve suffering. In a very real sense, we are hiding from the unconditional love, grace, tenderness, and forgiveness extended by God's all-inclusive heart.

Saying goodbye to self-pity requires a change of mind about what we think we are lacking while actively seeking and developing an attitude of gratitude. This is what opens the door to delight.

Finding delight everywhere we look.

I often tell the story of a man I met at The University of Illinois in the summer of 1989. It had been a difficult day of counseling boys who suffered extreme childhood trauma. Their stories and problems were more overwhelming than usual, and I decided to take a walk around the park mall outside of our offices to clear my head. I felt so sorry for the kids...and for myself.

There was a modern art fountain structure with seating around it in the middle of what had once been a busy street. Suddenly, a voice shouted out these words; "I delight in it." Taken by surprise, I circled the fountain and found a ragged old fellow seated on the other side. He had a shopping cart holding his worldly possessions. I greeted him and asked him what he said. He repeated, "I delight in it."

My incredulous look must have been a dead give away, so he continued to explain. He said that several years ago he would sit on a bench and watch the traffic go back and forth. Later, they changed it to one way and now, closed to cars altogether, he watched people walking where cars once traveled. Then he repeated his claim. "I delight in it." Of course, there was no resisting him after that. I bought us both a hot dog and drinks. We ate and chatted away for a bit. Then he got up saying he had things to do, leaving me with an altered perspective. How could I indulge in self-pity and regret when my homeless friend could find delight everywhere he looked?

We cannot begin to imagine how absolutely delighted God is in every bit of creation. Each grain of sand, blade of grass. flowing stream, critter and indeed, every one of us, is precious, sacred and holy in God's sight. Nothing is superior or inferior. Love could never tolerate hierarchy. It can all be summed up when seen through the eyes of a tattered angel who announces, "I delight in it."

Photograph by Phillip LeConte

Finding Joy in Tempestuous Times

“Don’t ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive and then go do that.  Because what the world needs is people who have come alive. ~ Howard Thurmann

The night before he was murdered in Memphis, Tennessee, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. warned us that violence was threatening our very existence.  If we are to confront this reality, there must come a deep joy which springs up in the face of hatred and injustice. The beauty is that this kind of joy exists within each and every one of us. Discovering it can be achieved in prayer along with contemplative practice and outreach. For it is in stillness and silence that the voice of God will direct our actions. 

Years ago, I was engaged in a whirlwind of activity with self-designed goals to have more…more of everything.  I thought that happiness could be found through obtaining lots of money and all the best material things it could provide.  I would do whatever was necessary to get it, often at the expense of anyone or anything standing in my path.  I was 'on the way up' and those left behind were regretfully collateral damage. 

This is not to say that I was a mean person.  On the contrary, I was jovial and popular.  And I wanted more of that too.  It was all intoxicating.  In fact, intoxication became part of the equation.  Cocaine and alcohol were perfect running mates as my personal wealth neared a million dollars just prior to my thirtieth birthday.  Then the bottom fell out and I lost all of the people and things I treasured so much. 

Surprisingly, it was during the following years of descent, desperation, and sadness that I discovered inner peace and joy. My path of personal poverty led me to a different kind of richness through centering prayer and contemplation I never imagined. Faith and hope were restored as God’s unconditional love and forgiveness washed over me. I came alive.

For the past four decades, my world has been filled with an inner joy founded in contemplation and action.  Not that there has been an absence of bumps and obstacles. I have had more than a few stumbles. But I have dedicated my life to what unceasingly makes me come alive.  My work with wounded kids and those who suffer from addiction has been my way of confronting suffering, injustice, and hatred.

We are all called to action in this chaotic world. It has never been more important for us to work for social, political, economic and environmental justice and peace. We have to come alive now. Our existence depends on it.