A Crack in the Heart
“…Something softly precise
like a crack in the birdbath
makes it clear that all is not lost,
for as the bird splashes,
the water widens the crack,
and of all the ways I’ve seen myself
the bird is who I really am
and it splashes in my heart,
driving who knows what
through the crack...”
Mark Nepo
From Carving the Raft into a Flute
Perhaps thirty years ago, I attended a two day seminar given by Scott Peck at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church. One thing he said that has stuck with me all these years was, “Only a broken heart is open enough for compassion.” At the time I wondered what he meant. Now, I know. It takes a lifetime of making mistakes and doing stupid things to realize that we’re all flawed human beings. All of us do dumb, sometimes tragic, things. We hurt others when we don’t intend to, and we are hurt by others in the same way. We say insensitive things that cannot be taken back. Facing our own truth is an important step on the path to consciousness.
Sometimes, the lessons that lead to an open heart are difficult ones. In my youth, I was so certain of my “rightness and righteousness” that I actually thought the world needed my brand of tough love. I said and did things to other people that, in retrospect, I can’t even believe myself. An ego like mine had a long way to fall and the landing was rough. With the passage of years and the reaping of karma, I have gained a sufficiently large crack in the heart to bless the flaws—mine and others’---for the lessons learned.
Since we live in a day that is largely lacking in empathy and respect, just the act of taking time to decide what is worth saying before we say it, and what is worth doing before we do it, would create a kinder, gentler world for us all. Compassion and civility go hand in hand. They both require a crack in the heart---not to mention, a brain in the head.
Keeping the faith,
Jane
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