“Truth is a deep kindness that teaches us to be content in our everyday life
and share with people the same happiness.” … Kahlil Gibran
***
A faraway land
In a faraway land there once lived a curious young man. Far from home, embracing adventure, he scoffed at the idea that “It is what it is” could be the answer to any question about life.
“Life is what you make it”, he proudly reflected, and proceeded confidently along his chosen path.
Life was good for this adventurous soul. Everything in his world was new, exciting, inviting, and his to explore. He was not shy, and devoured boundless exploration with fervent enthusiasm.
It wasn’t long before he met a contemplative Buddhist Monk, who whispered quietly while walking slowly along the path. The young man was impatient with the pace of this wandering whisperer, and asked the congenial monk, “Why do you travel so slowly, why do you let life pass you by?”
The monk answered wisely, “Life is what it is. I allow it to pass by only if I fail to make the moment profound. In this moment we have met on a pathway of life. How may I serve you?”
“I need nothing. The world is mine. I’ll show you how to make moments profound!” laughed the young man, and as he bid farewell to the monk, he remembered a time when the arms of adventure had held him tightly, when moments in time truly had become profound.
Enamored by the captivating Spanish language, and the stunningly seductive Señorita that spoke it, he had found many reasons to explore. She was gentle, she was kind, she was passionate, she was like wildfire.
Stung by the reality of a return to an unclear future, his youthful years were no match for the thievery of another day. “How quickly life changes,” he thought. “One moment I’m singing with passion, and the next my tears cast shadows upon my heart.”
He recalled how sweetly her voice had caressed his soul, and how heartache vanished with the softness of her touch. She was beauty, compassion, quiet contemplation, and mystery. He carried her spirit with him, and couldn’t find a way to twist himself inside out, and cast aside what remained of his broken heart.
It would be a difficult task to remove her from his life.
Hearing a voice, he looked up, and noticed the collar of a reverent man, and though this priestly teacher looked impeccably similar to the Buddhist monk, the bearded one introduced himself as a member of the Episcopal faith.
“You seem troubled”, he ventured.
The young man quickly answered, “Life is unfair. Peoples lives intertwine, solid foundations are laid, fail-safe plans are made, and the future looks infallible. ”
“And how is that working out for you?”, pondered the collared one.
“Not too well”, said the disenchanted young man. “It seems that when tomorrow comes, all is sadness.”
“It is what it is”, replied the mindful priest.
“It is what you make it”, the young lover protested, citing the love he had shared, and the kindness he had shown, not to mention the opportunities he had helped make real.
“It’s not about you”, he heard, as a firm, but gentle hand touched his shoulder. “Everyone perceives life in their own way, and what you see as simple evolution, may become something far different from what you imagine it to be. You’re OK,” whispered the benevolent bringer of good news, “Go in peace, and serve all with gladness and gratitude.”
Words did little to soothe the young man’s spirit, and what was all this nonsense about serving others? “We’re talking a broken heart here, not how to be kind,” muttered the troubled soul as he continued along the path.
Blissfully ignorant he embraced his pitiful self, but found no consolation in the emptiness. Perhaps there was wisdom in the words of the monk and the mindful one. His heart ventured forward when he remembered their kindness, like a swollen seed reaching for the heavens. The path suddenly appeared to be one of many small steps.
It wasn’t long before the young man drank from the frigid waters of a meandering mountain stream. His unquenchable thirst was no match for the cold, clear waters. Questions flowed swiftly, and the answers few could offer swirled into a fathomless sea.
As he followed the stream down the mountain, there came a point where crossing was his only option. Sunlight danced across the surface of the stream, and a few yards away the sparkling riffles turned to slow rolling ripples upon the depths of an otherwise mirror-like surface.
The young man danced carefully from rock to slippery rock, and soon after was once again pursuing an adventurous, and bewildering path, but this time it was not a lonely path.
It was now a path of a million other sad faces, happy faces, enlightened souls, and wandering spirits.
This path wasn’t about him, and while the truth of everything before him lay solely in the perception of others, it wasn’t about them either.
“Life truly is what it is,” he thought, “Kind hearts listening to troubled souls. Perhaps these troubled souls would one day become kind hearts.” He believed this to be true, and knew that it had nothing to do with him.
He remembered the mindful ones and their generous words. Finding within him the desire to make moments profound, and pass forward their kindness, he smiled, and continued along on his adventurous path.
