Damage Control

Some days you spend your time on full blown damage control and forget everything fun and interesting you were thinking about. I’ve been listening to Richard Rohr’s Universal Christ but the ideas were lost on me today. I had them for a little while, chewing on them, but sometimes you have to put them down and console those around you. Those closest to you. My attention was turned towards that person, their feelings, and their situation and that is life giving. I am grateful to be here, fully present. A rock.

There is a certain beauty in the struggles of life. These struggles are a unifying message to all of us. We are not alone in the day to day suffering that life can be, but all one in that suffering and struggle. In that sense we are deeply connected and rooted to each other. Relationships are formed around our unique positions in life and our ability to empathize with those around us who are experiencing some trouble that we know nothing about. And we don’t have to know anything about it. We only need to know that we are experiencing some problem that they know nothing about. This awareness allows us to draw near to each other and share in the experience of life in all its fortune and tragedy.

When we can see ourselves in others, accepting them for who they are and where they are in life, we can accept ourselves for who we are and where we are in life. This impulse is incredibly rewarding and energizing, bestowing humanity on others as well as ourselves in the process. It is a self referential system of Love throughout the world binding us together and propelling us into the future. Even when you’re on full blown damage control you can find a way to engage your mind and heart, connecting with another human, to bring the ideas you were thinking about to life and action, rather than words and philosophy.

Thank you,

The Relative Merchant