Journal of Sacred Work

Today's meditation was written by Cathy Self, Senior Vice President for the Baptist Healing Trust.

"The holiest spot on earth is one where an ancient hatred has become a present love" – anonymous street graffiti

  In awakened awareness, silence helps us connect to the common heart we all long to share and experience. In silence we share the language of the heart rather than language that is spoken. Most of us respond to a loving and quiet presence. In practicing meditation I have been struck by how often, as I begin to move out of my place of stillness and quiet, I'll find my neighbor's cat curled up quietly at my feet. Some teachers of meditation have suggested that all of creation responds to heart language.

Author and journalist Catherine Ingram believes that within heart language is "the quiet offering of understanding to others without the demand for being understood." Real love, radical love, doesn't seek to acquire, to be understood but naturally seeks to serve with generosity of heart and hands. When we approach life with awakened awareness, with a passionate presence, Ingram suggests we wear our tenderness on our sleeves, "keeping company with the brokenhearted because they are the ones who meet in love." Passionate presence invites us into awareness of the brokenness in our own lives, not to dwell there in sorrow and loss but to fully live and love in the light of empathy for every one we encounter. "Suffering," suggests Ingram, "does the great work of softening our hearts."

All have suffered, whether through physical pain, emotional harm, the harshly spoken word, or presence of oppressive power. Caregivers are not exempt, yet Love calls us to give tender mercy in response to the patient in pain, the angry physician, the supervisor who needs power and control. It may be our nature to return anger for anger, but Gandhi gently reminds us of the folly of our nature when he noted "an eye for eye makes the whole world blind."

Passionate presence invites us to wear our tenderness on our sleeve, to show love and understanding to those lost in hurt, anger, pain, and loss. Ingram writes "There are possibilities for tender mercies for each one of us throughout our day. These small kindness to friends, family, or strangers may go unnoticed by the world. We may not win any awards for heroism or be written up in the newspaper for altruistic deeds, but we will exist in a self-generated field of sacredness by letting love flow through us. It is its own reward."

Today Love may show itself most of all through the quiet and most likely unnoticed acts of tenderness at the bedside or around the meeting table. We salute you today, you who are the quiet and tender heroes of Love.