Out Beyond Ideas

Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. I’ll meet you there. When the soul lies down in that grass, the world is too full to talk about. Ideas, language, even the phrase ‘each other’ doesn’t make any sense. -Rumi

For thirty years, I have had security, structure, expectations, and a steady, reliable income. However, the last paycheck I will ever receive from the corporate world went into my bank account this morning. Another last among the firsts.

Today I am feeling un-moored, my little boat adrift in what has been stormy seas these past few days. This country I live in, this wild and wonderful idea dreamed up so long ago, is adrift as well. We are bobbing along, sails empty and fluttering, sharks circling and seagulls crying.

We wait.

Many of us are clenching our oars and whispering, please, please, please, let the light find us, let the sun come up, let the winds of love fill our sails, and set our course right again. Send us a dove to perch on the bow and point our way home.

How do we find peace in this turmoil? How do we learn to listen with open hearts?

My heart knows what is true, but my mind has spent sixty years listening to others tell me what reality I live in. I have had to get to work seeking the truth, mining my deeply embedded stories for what is real and what is not. I have had to learn to listen without ego (something I still struggle with) and to accept that I have lived a life that is not a reflection of the life that others have lived. I have had to forgive myself for my lack of awareness and seek to do better.

Here is what I know for sure. I want every member of my human family to have the safety, security, opportunity, and justice with which I have been so blessed. This is not negotiable and I will spend the rest of my live leveraging my privilege to fight for this equality.

I have a lot to learn and I certainly don’t have all the answers, but I will continue to seek them. I’ll continue to try to love us back to the wild and wonderful dream of a welcoming and just country, full of opportunity and hope.

Will you meet me in the field beyond wrongdoing and rightdoing, sip a cup of tea, and share your story with me?