This week I am visiting Minneapolis Minnesota as part of the Unitarian Universalist Annual General Assembly. It is a week packed with indoor meetings and worship, rushed conversations, and strategizing on how to save and savor the world. I admit to going stir crazy with so much human interaction and emphasis, much perhaps like a caged bird might feel. Finally I managed to get out for a long walk this morning from our hotel down to the Mississippi river. Amongst the skyscrapers and parking lots were the expected urban birds: scattered pigeons, sparrows, and grackles .What was surprising was a lone bird feeder hanging from a parking sign, around which flew the city dwellers. I wonder who considers the well being of these birds, often thought of as pests or blights upon our urban landscapes. I wonder too who doesn’t consider the well being of these birds, as there was a lock on the feeder so it would not be stolen. So there we have our paradox – how we demonstrate the liberating compassion of our kind and how we cage our compassion, keeping it locked up from others and from ourselves. The miracle is that we have a choice.
Which do you choose –
liberating or locking up your compassion?
Recent Comments