I don’t know who said this. I looked for a source for this quote but to no avail. Whoever said it, I salute you. Can you imagine what kind of world we would have if we all really tried to live by this motto?
The other day I wrote about anger, about how we have to acknowledge it and process it properly. I stand behind those words. However, it seems like a switch has flipped in the world’s settings to make anger our default setting.
This can’t be right! And it won’t work.
No matter how hard we argue, no matter how long we fight, eventually we have to talk to each other. That or die waiting.
You all know that I work in hospice. One evening I was called to the deathbed of one of our patients. The family was with her but they were a little nervous and wanted a hospice staff person there with them.
Well, the whole family wasn’t there. The woman had six children, but her youngest daughter was missing. They had argued and had not spoken in more than a year.
Minutes ticked by – then hours. The five children spoke to her soothingly. Their spouses were with them, and the teenage grandchildren. They whispered to her that it was OK for her to go. They sang hymns to her in harmony. It was beautiful. Still she hung on.
Then around midnight, the youngest daughter arrived. No one looked angry or unkindly towards her. We all left the room and let them have some private time. The woman could no longer speak, but I am convinced that they reconciled and shared some deeply peaceful communicaton. Less than two hours she died.
Don’t think for a moment that what we say has no effect. For better or worse every word we utter will vibrate on through all time and space. So in a world where we can be anything, be kind.
luxfolium 