I realised this morning that there is a very large group of people in the world who have maybe the highest potential to be the most effective world changers at this time. They are a group who do their work from a deep place for caring, from a love that is hard to transcend. They sacrifice many of their personal luxuries in devotion to their cause. They often end up leaving their warm beds at night to be of service, going without the accepted norms of sleep. They think deeply about every choice they make as they always want the best for those they work for. They organise their lives for the good of a higher purpose.
They know they are unlikely to receive much thanks for their work, even from those it will most benefit. In fact, they may well experience rebellion and rejection from those they are supporting, and yet they continue to love them unconditionally. They draw boundaries even though they are likely to prove unpopular. They don’t shout about their successes nor do they moan about their failures. They just get on with the work. And because they care so much, this work brings them their greatest moments of joy as well as the deepest moments of pain and suffering. And yet all of those emotions are accepted as part of the work.
There is no financial reward, in fact it only costs them money. So if they expect neither thanks nor money, why do they do it? Their greatest reward is to witness the fruit of their devotion as it grows and ripens in the world, taking on its own unique beauty, and feeding in its turn the world it moves in. And in that witnessing, seeing the best of themselves and the worst of themselves expressed and refined on the whetstone of life.
So who are these incredible beings, that most of us would aspire to become? Well, you may well be one yourself. These are the parents of the world. The mothers and fathers who devote a large part of our lives to the raising of our children. Work that is neither valued by our monetized economy nor by the very children themselves until it is often too late to express their gratitude. So could we mobilise these qualities in ourselves and apply them to the raising of our immature society into an adulthood that takes full responsibility for the impact of its choices on all life on this beautiful planet of ours? With unwavering commitment, full surrender and an open heart? Maybe. I hope so. The potential is boundless.
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Thank you, Peter!
Thank you peter for the beautiful words. It makes me warm inside.
Thanks Peter. Great to start the year as we mean to continue – with postivity, creativity and appetite
D
“Only a thief can recognize thieves” – welcome to the revolution in consciousness!
“In fact, they expect rebellion and rejection from those they are supporting.”
It seems to me that it would be a pretty good idea if they would not expect rebellion and rejection. đŸ™‚
I wonder about that Carla. Is it not so that parents bring their children up to what they see as being conventional, and then the kids always go beyond to carve out new kosmic grooves? As with new generations and the mainstream institutions of society? Ken Wilber in Integral Psychology points out how one always needs to differentiate when moving from one stage of development to another and re-embrace it later (rather than dissociate, creating a pathology). Differentiation usually involves some kind of rebellion and pushing away. If we try to maintain a cosy comfortable relationship with the next generation they are likely to rebel even harder experiencing it as suffocation and a limitation of their development. So we smile, take a deep breath, keep our hearts and minds open and let them know we will always be there for them when they return. What does anyone else think?
Please let me get back to the sentence I took out before:
“In fact, they expect rebellion and rejection from those they are supporting.” And why do I think that “it would be a very good idea if they would not expect rebellion and rejection from those they are supporting.”?
Because -as far as I know- chances are pretty good that their thoughts become reality. In that case I choose to expect the best: A smooth response and kind reaction.
That is also true. So what happens when our intention clashes with the natural cycles of life?
Thoughts becoming reality is simply not true when seen from the experience of higher levels of consciousness, just another waystation leading us into the relaxation of self acceptance and eventual surrender unto the Will of Life itself.
Therefore someone as myself pointing towards this is necessarily committing an act of rebellion as the florid language necessary to engage with those tribes speaking of ‘heart’ and ‘love’ and ‘compassion’ may not be part of my entwined Divine Nature and therefore can be seen as a threat to the established status quo.
We remember the awakened Sages who speak the language that we need to hear in order to relax and we forget the vast majority of the Awakened Unwashed upon whose shoulders we are now attempting to stand!
As Rumi would have it:
‘There is a field beyond …’
My experience is that, if you are dealing with teenagers, you will get some rejection. Goes with the turf. I was the participant in several educational experiments back in the late 60’s, and not always a willing participant in group functions. Even though I reaped a huge positive benefit from these experiences, my personality is still basically the same- somewhat of a loner that often feels the need to be more social. In many cases, youth can smell pretentiousness, or simply don’t relate to the over the top earnestness of their benefactors. A laid back approach allowing the subject a more hands on approach was always best for me at least. Everyone can sample things and decide for themselves what works for them. The more choices & opportunity the better, but expecting quick results is not always best. The gestation period for processing certain experiences can even take years.
Thanks Peter. As a parent to four young adults ages 21-27, I stand for “survival of the kindest” and the practice of meeting non-love with love.
“Survival of the fittest” was not Darwin’s phrase, but Herbert Spencer’s and that of Social Darwinists who used Darwin to justify their wished-for superiority of different classes and races. “Survival of the kindest” better captures Darwin’s thinking about his own kind.” https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/darwins_touch_survival_of_the_kindest#:~:text=%22Survival%20of%20the%20fittest%22%20was,thinking%20about%20his%20own%20kind. In JOY! Sanna