I returning to volunteering in the Grade 6 class yesterday. I was only gone for ten days but gosh I missed those kids!
“Jeremy”, the teacher, asked me if I’d like to say anything to the class about my trip. Yes, I certainly did want to. I could have talked about the beauty of the hills around Asheville, North Carolina as the trees were starting to turn. But no, there were more important things to say.
I asked the kids if adults should tell children the truth, even if it’s possible that they wouldn’t understand. The verbal and non-verbal messages coming back to me were clear: “Yes.”
I spoke about how the 32 of us in Asheville experienced a deepening of love, and not only for family and friends … for everyone. It’s the type of love where you want the other person to be so very happy. I told the kids that I loved each and every one of them. It’s so clear in my heart that I want the best for them.
During the rest of the morning, sprinkled amidst the work that needed to be done, I had a few conversations with individual children. As we talked about this and that, I felt great relief inside, and peace, that I had told them what was true for me.
***
Last night I was online with the Evolutionary Collective Global community. I think there were fourteen of us. Half of the hour is spent doing a practice with one other person. After that, there’s the chance to share your experience. I had my screen set up in Gallery View, so I could see everyone. As different folks spoke their hearts, I just gazed at my friends … in awe and love. Then I pressed the “Raise Hand” button:
“I’m looking at each of you in Gallery View, one after the other. And I’m loving you, one at a time. It’s why I’m here on the planet.”
Again, I spoke what was true, and again I sighed into the sweetness of it all. Loving people is what I’m meant to do.
Eight years ago, when I went to my first meditation retreat in Massachusetts, there was a moment in the hall when an interior voice came through so clearly:
Love them all
Light the world
Let’s do that together
