GIVING THANKS
In our classes we dedicate some of the class-time to practices of metta (compassion) and gratitude. This can feel abstract, like something nice to do but with no sense of real-life application, so its good to see the benefits in practical terms. I just finished two wonderful books over the past week. One was Matt Algeo’s delightful Pedestrianism: When Watching People Walk Was America's Favorite Spectator Sport; the other was Tony Horsfall’s Mentoring for Spiritual Growth: Sharing the Journey of Faith, a book that rescued me from some real doldrums in my own situation.
I don’t often do this but was inspired by my wife’s example, and I decided to write the two authors and express my appreciation. As an author, I know how it feels to put your work out there and not be sure whether anyone gives a damn. I wanted these two writers to know they touched me.
Not too surprisingly both of them wrote back within a few days and acknowledged the remarks. These weren’t form letters as in “Dear Reader” either but were very personal replies that left me feeling exactly that personal connection we strive for in mentoring that Horsfall describes.
It would have been easy to think these were two writers off somewhere doing what they get paid to do and they don’t need to hear from me. That may be true (although for these two I doubt that). As we learn in our classes the expression of gratitude or compassion is more than a gift to another. It requires a solid state of awareness in us, an understanding of our interdependence with others in our lives, even those distant and unknown. Whether it’s the silent acknowledgment of completing a naikan reflection or sending a thank-you note, acts of kindness or compassion begin with our willingness to accept being contributed to without a feeling of pay-back.
Yours , on purpose,
Ray
The purpose of life is a life of purpose
Robert Byrne
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