I had a post ready to go for this past Thursday but then a new post began to emerge. It began with Mike. Last Wednesday I was at the Greenway to get my run in. The Greenway is a two-mile paved pathway that follows the path of a sizable stream where people - especially this time of year, can be seen along its banks fishing.
As I approached the three-foot-high dam dam, which is always crowded with people casting their lines, I paid little attention - as it was a scene I have witnessed hundreds of times. It was on my way back however, when I stopped slightly downstream of the dam to sit on a bench to tie my shoe, that I spotted a lone man standing at the shoreline just below the spill. There seemed to be something odd about the scene, I thought to myself.
After retying the shoelace I slowly approached the man, and as I came several feet of where he was standing my assumption was confirmed. Instead of a fancy rod and reel, he was using a broken tree branch that was about five feet in length. Attached to it was a thin monofilament fishing line - about 30 feet long, with a hook secured to the opposite end. On this hook he would place a worm then, holding the hook firmly, he would toss it into the water, allowing the current to stretch it out to its limit.
He told me that with nearly every cast he would catch a fish - ‘sometimes small ones, and sometimes large ones’. The key, he said, was that the worm was never pulled to the bottom of the stream since there was no weight attached to the line - for casting. This caused the worm to hover more naturally between the surface and the bottom.
Mike and I spoke for a short while, and my life had become enriched by the experience. A simple act of engaging in a short conversation with a stranger fed my soul - and hopefully his. And it is this experience that is the underlying premise of this post: ‘Always speaking our truth.’
The following day - evening actually, I attended the annual Music City Iftar, which is held at the convention center here in Nashville. An Iftar, for those not familiar with the term, is the meal to break the daily Ramadan fast at sunset, by those who practice the Muslim faith. The event however is open to all denominations, as a means of reaching out to the community with fellowship.
This year’s event was also used as a means to talk about the genocide being carried out in Palestine. After the incredible traditional meal, the moderator asked the Palestinian people in the room to stand. Throughout the large convention space a few dozen people stood. Then, a Jewish man who was sitting at my table stood up. Once to his feet he said: “we are all Palestinians”. The response from the crowd was one of bewilderment, so he repeated himself. With that the moderator - who knew this man, brought him the microphone so that the entire room could hear. Before repeating himself again he shared a story - of which will paraphrase slightly:
‘In a Nazi prisoner of war camp, during WWII, there was a platoon of captured American soldiers who had been assembled outside of their barracks by two Nazi guards. Among these American soldiers were three men who were Jewish. The two guards stood before them, with their pistols drawn from their holsters, and said: If you are Jewish step forward. Knowing that the Jewish soldiers would be shot on the spot, every soldier stepped forward and claimed to be Jewish.’
In that moment they all stood together - in solidarity against a grave injustice. With this story now told, he repeated his statement: “ We are all Palestinians”... and the entire room of people stood. This man, who was himself a Jew, spoke his truth - the truth of his heart and his very soul. And in that moment he changed a paradigm.
Earlier today I rode to a social event with two of my dearest friends, Patrick and Susan. Susan wanted me to listen to an audio recording of a Baha’i talk that was delivered more than two decades ago. The theme of his talk was based on Baha’i writings that were laid down over a century ago, that talked about the Baha'is being tested in the future. At one point I had Susan pause the recording so that I could offer a personal insight.
“Essentially”, I said,” he is talking about the need for all Baha’is to speak their truth, which is something that I believe people of every faith should do.” By speaking [our own] truth it allows each of us to stand against the dramas, the lies, the mistruths, and manipulations. It also, I believe, continually reinforces our own core beliefs to ourselves - and in this regard I also believe that each of us needs to continually speak our truth to ourselves - so we never lose sight of what they are. Our “truths” are our integrity, and our compass - morally and spiritually. And the more we speak our truths, the more we empower ourselves; and the more we empower ourselves, the more we acquire hope; and the more hope that we acquire, the more we can spread that hope to others.
Also, the more we become empowered, the less we will live in fear; and the less we live in fear, the wider our hearts will open; and the wider our hearts are open, the more abundantly and passionately we can live and embrace life - which gives us even more hope.
Another thing that I pointed out is that there are times when “speaking” is not the thing to do. In these instances our silence is actually us “speaking our truth.”
We are entering into an accelerated time where this has never been more important. But if we continue to mire ourselves into the constantly unfolding dramas, the more we allow our very souls to be contaminated - which drains all sense of hope from us. Instead, let us not focus on ‘what is wrong’, but rather, what can be done to make it right.
"...our silence is actually us 'speaking our truth'. "
I love this! Great job.