The Art of Walking Lightly
There is a thought that Leonard Cohen coined in one
of his songs or one of his pieces of poetry and it goes something like this: there is a crack in
everything … that is how the light gets in.
I know that is not necessarily a direct quote but
anyone familiar with his work will know the song … but it started me thinking …
and the tangent I went down was:
… If I am a Bearer of Light … one of God’s children … if I am One With All That Is … and everything that happens to me including all
my turmoil and grief … my feelings … are Exactly The Way They Are Supposed To Be … and if I can truly Exercise Freedom of
Choice … then maybe, just maybe, the choice that I should be
making in my own best interests, is to exercise my ability to project God’s gift out into my world … to do this simply as the world
presents itself to me … on a daily basis … at my door step …
A second thought comes to mind at about this point …
rather than the light seeping through the cracks in everything … what if you and I made a conscious effort to
place light around or inject peace and love into every action or thought that
we take or make … into every feeling that we have … into every supposed
understanding we conjure up … imagine that … being peacefully upset … being peacefully disgusted … being
peacefully uncomfortable.
It strikes me, and it is just
conjecture on my behalf at this point, that sooner or later we might just all
arrive at the same place … being peacefully
peaceful.
What a thought! Imagine that! Go ahead try it right
now.
Try being peacefully
upset.
If you are anything like me, you may in fact find
this very hard to do …
This whole process conjures up the thought that Kahil Gibran
(1883-1931) makes in The Prophet … do what you do with another but never take them out of you
heart …
So the final exercise to bring closure to this
process is an ongoing effort … to finish this thought and begin a new life … with everything that
happens to fall upon your door step inject a little light … some love and some peace … no matter what
it is … and when you forget … that’s
fine … you are allowed … that is part and parcel of the joy of being human …
but when you remember … offer up the Light of God in the form of peace and love
into whatever it is that is next or whatever it is that just happened …
whatever it is that is before you.
Neil Douglas-Tubb
(published 2002 available on Amazon.com)