Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Martin Luther King Day

Memorials are not best built of stone, but in our lives.

Someone spoke of this during a Hospice memorial that was for my father and others who passed around the same time. It stopped me in my tracks then. And continues to inspire and prod me along my path.

It's easy to keep someone in our memory. It's much more difficult to live a memorial to those who inspire us.

Everyday, I see that Love is what is called of us. Every word I read points to compassion.

But what few realize about Love is that it is not passive. It is not weak. It's not just some big idea.

Love is action. Love is work. Love is difficult.

Perhaps what sticks us is that we don't really know what Love is. It's used in so many contexts, so often out of context. So often used to describe things that aren't really Love.

So, what is Love?

(baby dont hurt me, no more ... sorry, couldn't resist that reference ...)

Radical compassion. Radical compassion means we include all beings in our compassion. It means honestly living the golden rule.

Which isn't easy.

As we celebrate Dr King's teachings and legacy, I cannot help but think about his comment that the great evil of this time is not the people doing bad things, but the silence of the good people.

This is the difficult line to walk. A task that takes a lifetime to attempt.

And we will fail, sometimes. And we will fall silent.

But we must never let that stop us from speaking up again. Our voices could be ragged and tired, sore and soft, but they should always try to speak for compassion.

As we live in times where the Golden Rule is booed in public, we cannot allow any excuse to keep us from doing something.

Something.

Something.

You can start with yourself and your significant other or friends and family.

But start somewhere. And keep on going.

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