It is good to stop and think

I am bracing myself for a tsunami of tears when it’s Comic Relief whilst praying for the lost in Japan’s very real tsunami.

Mrs Mageira at Witton Church Walk led special prayers on Friday morning’s assembly.

I think there is a lot to be learned here. Not many people these days spend much time in quiet contemplation, hardly surprising given the hurly burly of modern life.

It is good to stop and think.

To send love to others who need it as well as money. A lesson in what the Buddhist tradition terms ‘loving kindness’: every old woman or man you meet, think ‘My mother’ and ‘My father’. See how this changes you. For every other adult, think ‘My sister’ or ‘My brother’.

For every child, ‘My daughter’ or ‘my son’.

See how the divisions between us are illusions.

When you buy your red nose or stick a few quid in a collection tin, fill your heart with all the love you normally reserve for your own people and mentally send it to those you wish to help.

It is only when we cultivate loving kindness that the world will truly change. Use it when you take action against injustice or poverty or disaster, it is your most powerful gift.

Use it every day when your own life falters. I wonder what parliament would look like if politicians (regardless of party) spent time exchanging their beings with others.

Would they be so quick to judge? Would they rush to make the harshest of cuts to public services?

Would they be able to imagine what it is like to be unemployed, to be old and poor, or caring alone for a disabled loved one 24/7 on very little money and with no respite?

We can all affect some change in the world, even begrudgingly as when confronted by what Frankie Boyle terms “charity muggers” on Witton Street, but I don’t think that change will mean lasting change unless our outlook evolves to include all beings, in all of the world.

I have no problem with money being sent by the government to my ‘brothers and sisters’ afflicted by natural disaster or man-created crises.

Let love inspire you to act not just when it is Comic Relief day, but every day in your everyday life. I would normally take this blog as an opportunity to promote events or activities that benefit our society, but in the wake of Japan’s terrible devastation, it seems more fitting to leave you with this thought by Shantideva:

“The source of all misery in the world lies in thinking of oneself, the source of all happiness lies in thinking of others”

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