The Rich

 Why do so many people try to get the rich to act toward the rest of the non-rich out of shame and guilt?  I don’t think much changes with shame and guilt as the motive.  Look at Jesus.  He met a rich tax collector named Zachaeus.  Jesus was poor, but a fascinating person of great wisdom and interior insight.  Zachaeus was attracted to this.  Jesus did not shame or guilt ride the rich person.  Instead he engaged him and invited them to eat together in Zachaeus’ home.  Great idea says the rich person, and then he proceeds to do a lot of sharing of his riches for the benefit of others with whom he does business and the poor.  So try first to become a person of great wisdom and interior insight.  Meditate.  

The Poor

 When we think of “helping the poor,” why is it always about giving money for food, shelter, and clothing issues?  There is much other poverty right under our noses, gated community or not.  What about the divorced, separated, widowed and widower?  What about someone who has lost a child, or a sibling, or a career, or health?  All these are examples of loss, of poverty of some sort.  Why not call such people up and ask how they are doing?  And listen.  Alcoholics in recovery are doing this all the time because they know about loss.  They call one another.  

Guadalupe

Today is a big feast day in the Catholic Church in the United States wherever a lot of Mexicans live.  It is the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe.  It is when God, through a vision of Mary, the Mother of Jesus, said to the Mexican people, “I look just like you.”  We all like our God, Deity, Higher Power to look just like we look.  In our church in Chinatown here in San Francisco, the Holy Family looks Chinese.  The tourists are fascinated by it.  Look-a-like makes for a connection.  When people first go into a recovery room they need to see people who somehow look like them, to help with feeling comfortable.  If the faces don’t match, the stories of mess and recovery do.  Some meetings are only men and some only women and many mixed.  But the stories are what connect.  And the honesty.   

The Delay

 We live in “delayed times.”  The world is going to come to an end.  There is just so much energy and so on.  But it seems to be delayed, that is, like all things that are seemingly delayed, after a while we just stop paying attention or living as if there is an end to all this. Some people make lots of money and some buy lots of stuff.  None of this is going to stop the end.  And none of it goes with us when our end comes.  So, though I don’t get morose about it, or depressed, I keep it near in mind when making decisions about stuff, things, purchases.  When the monastery I lived at in Colorado sells, I will have to go back there to clear out my stuff.  Where will it go?  I am working on it.  

The Big Three

 You persevere in the face of the big three.  What are they?  Adversity, trial and temptation.  They all tell you to give up.  So you have to have some goal.  A person wanting to run a marathon has this as their goal.  To do it they must practice running, weights, stretching, eating and sleeping correctly and so on.  Such a person faces adversity, trial and temptation.  It is lousy weather.  I don’t feel like running.  A marathon is stupid.  And so on.  Plus, no one is watching you run days after day.  Consistency if often done alone.  That is why a group helps to address the Big Three.  People in recovery are running their own kind of marathon.  So are those in a spiritual practice.  

Reward

 We work for a reward, that is a paycheck.  That is the economic system.  You might love what you do, but if no $$ then you will do something else for the money to live.  And what you love becomes an advocation.  In recovery programs you work without getting paid.  It’s not slavery.  You are not forced or punished if you don’t work. Well, you punish yourself by not working since you will go back into your addiction that is destroying your life and the life of others.  What work?  You work the steps, 12, and you help others.  You get no paycheck in money.  But you do get a reward.  Happy, joyous and free.  

Judge Not

 Are you praying with your heart or with your head?  If you meditate with your head you will soon judge the meditation based upon how you feel.  Your good feeling is your head’s judging of the meditation success.  You will surely stop meditating in a short time.  If you meditate with your heart, you will continue to meditate through whatever happens in the meditation.  Why?  Because it is not all about you getting what your head wants.  Your head lives in isolation.  The heart lives in connection.  The head judges.  The heart loves.  You have a child? A partner? A dear friend?  They act badly?  The head says to punish?  The heart says to love.  Meditation will help you to keep the balance.