du sóla pu wásita : towards shalom

Originally sent via the Daily Dig of the Bruderhof Community :

Are You Real?
- Kallistos Ware

The isolated individual is not a real person. A real person is one who lives in and for others. And the more personal relationships we form with others, the more we truly realize ourselves as persons. It has even been said that there can be no true person unless there are two, entering into communication with one another.

This idea of openness to others could be summed up under the word love. By love, I don’t mean merely an emotional feeling, but a fundamental attitude. In its deepest sense, love is the life, the energy, of God in us. We are not truly personal as long as we are turned in on ourselves, isolated from others. We only become personal if we face other persons, and relate to them.

But who to relate to? And when, and how? Three Questions

May God bless you with discomfort
at easy answers, half truth, and superficial relationships,
so that you may live deep within your heart.

May God bless you with anger
at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people,
so that you may work for justice, freedom and peace.

May God bless you with tears
To shed for those who suffer
From pain, rejection, starvation, and war,
so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them
and to turn their pain into joy .

And may God bless you with enough foolishness
To believe that you can
Make a difference in this world,
so that you can do what others claim cannot be done.

Blessed Are The Eyes
  That See The Things
    That You Have Seen

Blessed Are The Feet
  That Walk The Ways
    Where You Have Been

Blessed Are The Eyes
  That See
    The Agony Of God

Blessed Are The Feet
  That Tread The Paths
    His Feet Have Trod

Blessed Are The Souls
  That Solve The Paradox
    Of Pain
  And Find The Path That,
    Piercing It,
Leads Through To Peace Again