For Those Who Are Without Hope

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In all directions –
Stand those who are without hope –
We turn our gaze down.

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Until the day dawns,
When we are ready to see -
And then - the deluge.

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The suffering of the people is in all directions. The suffering is found in all strata of society. The suffering is no respecter of age or culture.
We see it in the 5-year-old on the playground at school, who will go home and then go to bed hungry.
We see it at the supermarket, the man in the Bri’oni suit buying a healthy lunch at Whole Foods Market who has eyes made hard to hide behind and contain the worry.
We see it in the gramma at the stop light in the car next to us – we do not need to talk with the gramma to know – we see, the pain pours off of her in an avalanche she can barely contain - though outer demeanor is quiet, inside we feel the turmoil.
There comes a time, when we can no longer look away. There comes a time when we begin to recognize it is our child on the playground, our brother in the market and our gramma in the car next to us at the stop light. 

Do not be afraid. 

We are often so afraid of suffering. Perhaps we fear, what will be asked of us when we acknowledge what is before us. Perhaps we fear ‘the asking’ will be too great and we will be left with nothing and then ourselves become bereft. 

Do not be afraid.

What may be asked of you is as simple as a prayer of one line.

Do not be afraid.

What is beginning to transpire is your healing also. The action needed will change from situation to situation. It may be as simple as a kind word coupled with a touch on the arm and silent prayer for goodness in the touch. Here is the secret: your gift to the other is also a gift to yourself. You are completing a circle and creating wholeness, oneness. 

Do not be afraid.

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“When we bear witness, when we become the situation—homelessness, poverty, illness, violence, death—the right action arises by itself. We don’t have to worry about what to do. We don’t have to figure out solutions ahead of time. Peacemaking is the functioning of bearing witness. Once we listen with our entire body and mind, loving action arises.”
~ Bernie Glassman
https://www.elephantjournal.com/…/bernie-glassman-proof-th…/

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I do not know the source of the photos offered here.
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