Minister, Unitarian Universalist Church of Tallahassee
The Jain prays: “Forgive do I creatures all, and let all creatures forgive me. Unto all have I amity, and unto none enmity.” Short phrases, made no less profound by their brevity. Phrases borrowed from a religious tradition begun in India, and no less pertinent in our lives as the great winter of waiting begins on the American continent.
Time
and again, scriptures and sages from around the globe remind us that our
essential goal in life must be to create amity — the harmony that rests on a
foundation of peace and loving kindness. We listen and we know that that
harmony will paint a brighter future for humanity. We listen to the
admonitions, and sometimes we hear, how very important it is to our personal
growth as spiritual and physical beings to develop the capacities for
all-encompassing love.
Still
the goal eludes the vast majority of us. A dedicated few, some call them
saints, move beyond the masses and their love is legendary. The rest of us find
ourselves caught up in the fear that pits nation against nation, and creates
foes from friends. Wars waged and terrors committed in the name of religious
purity shout down the quiet prayers of those who wish only to promote the
Spirit of Peace.
The
deep knowledge we have about the way life should be is tangled in the surface
activities that divide us from the love we seek. Yet the fact that the goal
lies beyond us still is hardly reason to abandon the search, and those same
scriptures and sages recall us to a renewed dedication.
This,
for me, is a part of the holy quest of Christmas and the sacred cycle of the
seasons. If ever the angels did sing, “Peace on Earth, Goodwill to All,” they
sing it still for me. If the sun shines with rays of hope and gives to life her
all, then I can do no less in return.
Take
time this season to bring make love and harmony a part of your daily care and
concern. Let yourself be reminded of the
greater goal that needs our attention in every season of the year.
