We, who are many,
are one body in Christ,
and individually
we are members one of another.
—Romans 12.5
We are members of one another.
We are not just connected;
we intersect.
When you are hurt I am wounded,
whether I allow myself to feel it or not.
We spend a great deal of energy not feeling.
Part of the remaking of our consciousness
is coming to full awareness that we are all one,
and allowing ourselves to feel it all:
the flood of tears of every gladness and sorrow,
the the joy of every joy, the anguish of every loss,
the presence of every story, the power of every dance,
the life of every species, the memory of every tribe,
yes, every bliss and devastation.
It’s not quite empathy, not quite compassion;
call it compathy: feeling the wholeness
of all existence as our own, because it is.
This may feel like a burden, but only at first:
live with it and you come to see
even with all its pain and grief,
it is mostly joy and wonder and gratitude.
__________________
Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
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