Widening the Circle

Circle of Life

“A human being is part of the whole, called by us ‘the universe’.  Our task must be to widen our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.”

                                  Albert Einstein (1879-1955)

“Come out of the circle of time and into the circle of love.”

                                  Jalal Ud-Din Rumi (1207-1273)

         I had a dream this morning just before waking.  In it, all my family was coming to a party at my house.  I watched them arrive, my parents and grandparents, sisters, aunts and uncles, cousins, all of them.  The parking lot was full and I wondered whether there would be enough food.  I checked with the cooks and looked to see if there was plenty of ice for drinks.  I hadn’t expected so many to show up.

         Sometimes I forget this circle of life; I forget all the ones who came before me, whose lives and loves were just a precious as mine.  They worked hard, some of them lived hard, and they all had the good grace to shepherd me along and teach me what they knew.  Ours was not a family of material wealth, but we possessed riches of another sort—love of nature, pride of nation, commitment to family, regardless of circumstances.  My family was, and are, hardy, self-made, common sense, working people.  They didn’t believe in hand-outs and never expected life to be easy.  And it wasn’t. 

         There are traces of them still in my home.  My grandmother’s marble slab sits in the middle of my kitchen.  She made butter-mints on that when I was a child.  A table from my father’s office has pride of place in my living room, complete with his signature cigarette burns.  Mother’s quilts adorn my beds and several of my grandmother’s and great-aunts quilts are in my collection.  Half the clothes in my closet once belonged to my cousin, Sandy.  And of course, there are the family photos-my parents wedding picture among them.  They were young and handsome and hadn’t a clue what lay ahead.

         It is a good spiritual practice to give thought now and then to those who came before.  To widen one’s heart enough to hold each of them, regardless of flaws and failures, within one’s circle of love.  To bless them, and thank them for lessons learned, even the ones not chosen in which the learning was what NOT to do.  There’s a lot of that in my family.  I’m glad they’re coming to my party—I hope I have enough to give back.  Let me go check on that ice!

                          Shalom,

                          Jane