Sunday, July 30, 2017

A Tiny Drop of Water



For last week’s posting on this blog, Elephant’s Child [EC] left the following comment, which she has given me permission to quote today:

I believe that global peace can ONLY start with personal peace. On the world stage I am completely insignificant. A tiny drop of water. But perhaps, just perhaps, if enough of us commit to individual peace those tiny drops will become an ocean which consumes the world.

EC’s comment said “Oneness” to me. That is because I believe in the Holy Oneness of All Creation. As the poet Gertrud von Le Fort said decades ago, “Everywhere there is one and never two.”

So I went from thinking of that one droplet of water and how it combines with multitudinous drops to form an ocean—everywhere there is one and never two. All drops become one ocean in which there is no divide. Peace resides within all because all are One.

And so this past Wednesday, as I lay in bed waiting for sleep to claim me, I began to think of all the people who have touched my life and all those whose lives I have touched. I started with family—Mom and Dad, my brother and his wife, my nieces and nephew, my cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents. I went back into the 19th century—as far as I could go—back to the potato famine. Those relatives I’ve never met who fled that famine have touched my life because they touched the lives of their children. Their touch has been passed down to me. Everywhere there is one and never two.

Then I began to think of all those who have taught me and all those whom I have taught. Name, after name, after name—face, after face, after face—came to me. The number is mounting now you see. That is, the number who have touched my life. And each of those teachers and students had been touched by a multitude of others. So all those others—nameless and faceless to me—have also touched my life. Everywhere there is one and never two.

Next I began to think of all those who have befriended me throughout my life—classmates, colleagues, the nuns with whom I was in school, those I’ve met in clubs, those met when I’ve volunteered, the clerks who’ve been generous with their time when I’ve searched for something in a store, the restaurant servers who’ve taken my vegetarian order and smilingly brought my food. The bus drivers, flight attendants, postal carriers, librarians, nurses, doctors, lab workers, therapists. The list expands. So many people. Through them I am touched by all who have touched their lives. Everyone there is one and never two.

Do you see what I am trying to say? Tens of thousands, millions of people touch our lives. And we touch theirs. So many opportunities to give and to receive peace.

All those who have touched my life live on in me. And when I—that droplet of water that EC visualizes—touch the lives of others in peace then it flows forward into eternity, touching, ever touching, one person, animal, tree, shrub, flower, droplet after another into infinity.



One final thought: hatred, bias, fear can be passed in oneness just as peace can. They can be passed from generation to generation. If I am to be a blessing to this world, I must vow today to pass forward healing, compassion, understanding, nonjudgment, acceptance of differences, charity, and yes, peace.

I believe that peace is formed within the love that resides deep down within me. I hope to write about that love next week for I see love as the wellspring of peace. And that is what I wish you today—Peace, pressed down and overflowing.


24 comments:

  1. Beautiful post, Dee. I too believe in the oneness of all creation... and that love can overcome hate. But it seems to be a slow process (generations)and sometimes I wonder if there's enough time to heal all the hate. But you are right, it all begins within each of us.

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    1. Dear Rian, like you I believe that world peace is possible, but I can't even imagine how that's going to take place. And yet I believe in the power of one to affect change. It's a mystery to me. Peace.

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    1. Dear Barbee', you are welcome. What are your thoughts on all this? I find myself wondering just what world peace would look like. We've never known it. Peace.

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  3. A wonderful uplifting post, Dee. You are touching even more of us through your blog. I am glad to be part of the unified drop of peace in the world. :-)

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    1. Dear DJan, you touch so many people through your two blogs--one on nature and your appreciation of it seen through your hikes and the other, more philosophical one, in which you prompt us to think deeply about life. Thank you for both. Peace.

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  4. A beautiful & thoughtful post!!

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  5. I am so very grateful that my comment served as the wellspring for this beautiful and inspiring post. Which I agree with (conservatively speaking) 100000 per cent.

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    1. Dear EC, your comment has really kept me thinking for almost two weeks now. I find myself musing about the possibility of world peace and what it would look like. And how does inner peace reflect itself in us? That's something else that is "tickling" my mind. Peace.

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  6. Since we both come from the name O'Mara, I think, "how are we connected". Drops of water into the sea, we are all the same, but different. We are of one, we seek love, we need peace, so why is it not possible.

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    1. Dear Arleen, Yes, Mom's maiden name was O'Mara and her great, great grandparents came over during the Irish famine. Did yours?

      Like you, I"m thinking about the possibility of peace and wondering if world peace is possible. My idealism says yes, but is that realistic? I so wish that all of us could explore this question together. I'd be so interested in the thoughts of others. Peace.

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  7. I agree a bloody awesome post, I am only a tiny drop of water and I get that but all the good tiny drops lead to a better place where peace can flourish

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    1. Dear Jo-Anne, "all the drops lead to the better place where peace can flourish." What a wonderful way to say what it took me 600 words to say! thank you. Peace.

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  8. Just beautiful Dee. When we think of those we touch and those who touch us, the list is endless so yes, we do help form an ocean and it matters what kind of ocean we form. That wipes away any feeling of insignificance we may sometimes feel.

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    1. Dear Patti, like you, I feel and think that my passion for peace is not insignificant, but I'm strip musing/pondering/groping with the idea of just what peace looks like. No personal disagreements? It can't be that. So what is it? I'd like to explore that but so few people are reading these posts that I'm thinking they must not be of interest to others. So perhaps I need to let go of my own need to explore this. Peace.

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  9. Well, Dee, you and Elephant's Child and those who comment here have expressed what I feel. I wish and hope and pray for world peace - not sure that will happen. Maybe peace isn't global. Maybe it is what resides in most of us. I don't now the answer, but, my friend, I think that peace is worth working for. I ramble this morning . . . enjoy this weekend, Dee.

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    1. Dear Penny, that's what I'm going to write about tomorrow if all goes well--that is, the peace each of us must cherish within ourselves. Take care and may you, too, enjoy your weekend. Peace.

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  10. I don't know if peace is possible in the world. I used to think so but then I was young and my lifetime and vision seemed stretched farther out than they do now. I think that it is my responsibility to assist the world in that direction, as I always have, in any way I can.
    I like your analogy of the individual drop of water, flowing, combining, growing from a drop to a creek to a river, finally coming together to a sea of peace. But I don't see it happening in the world today. There are some isolated drops of water, they have some followers, a puddle here and there but nowhere near a river or rivers converging to a sea. The majority of the world is too caught up in money and wealth, ego and wars to get and keep what they feel entitled to. Compassion and cooperation aren't popular or valued and without them there is no peace.
    It took me awhile to respond because I don't want to be a negative or pessimistic voice here or anywhere, but this is what I see.
    I love that we are "talking" about this!

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    1. Dear Cynthia, like you, I wonder if global peace truly will ever come to pass. Think of Star Wars--millennium away from now--and there are wars. We think of desire for more land or religious intolerance or rigid ideology and see the advent of more wars.

      But I want to believe that somehow, the results of my actions can move from one person to another in a positive way and effect some change for the better. Is that being too idealistic? I hope not.

      Like you, I like "talking" about this. Peace.

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  11. If you study nature carefully is becomes clear that all living things have a survival aspect built into their system. We have plants that eat bugs and bugs that eat plants. They must. It can be hard to watch a wolf take down a deer but it must. And trees by fresh water streams get food from salmons that end up on land after their spawning. All is connected by a food chain and one must consider what creatures we are because we do not offer much peace by our earthly ways. We destroy and take far more and give little back. We need more than peace. Respect should be upper most in our minds.

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    1. Dear Heidrun, I so agree that respect for others and for nature and all living things is essential to our survival within ourselves and without. Thank you for reminding me of this. Peace.

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