14 Street Stretch of Kindness

I have not had the opportunity to search for a glimpse of enlightenment while climbing mountains in Tibet, doing yoga on the beaches of Bali or sitting quietly in an Ashram in India. Most of us don’t or can’t. It would be  nice if we could drop our problems in a basket at the front door and pack our backpack and go somewhere to find the meaning of our lives.

Most of us get to grab a moment of learning in a strand of overheard conversation, in a snippet found in a dog-eared book or wandering around like we usually do in our lives. Up grocery aisles, dropping off kids to soccer practise, tying ribbons on the end of braids or putting together the remnants of a broken heart, this is when our learning arrives.

When do you hear that whisper, that voice that tells you This Is Important, pay attention now. We want to hold onto it, but yet again it can escape our grasp if we don't stop and listen.

We are driving down 14 Street, right by the Hospital, and we can see a car weaving in and out of traffic and ….my instant reaction is to mutter JACKASS. In that moment this morning, I had to pause, and that little voice said to me Kindness.

I watched that big white truck, turn at the big H.

You don’t know whose hand that person is going to hold, you don’t know who they are going to say hello or goodbye to. You don’t know and it doesn’t matter. Kindness, such fun to give away!

Enlightened on the route this morning. Connection. Together as strangers.

You don’t need a mountaintop. You just need silence.