just be it Just Be It is a practice of presence that recognizes the limits of language. When aware of silence there is a state of inner still alertness. You are wholeheartedly present.

The real test of our ‘being’ can be a deeper looking at what we do and what we say.  Can we review our actions and words of the day and assess what was joining and what was separating?  Can we see where our level of ‘joining’ stopped?  Perhaps you felt very ‘joined’ with your church congregation during a Sunday service, but separated from those of a different religious belief system?  Perhaps you felt very ‘joined’ with members in your local community, but very separated from those in communities far away?  It seems as though we’re continually being worked to experience a larger sense of belonging as we face global climate issues, rapid economic change, global culture immigration and integration, and massive technological/communication advances.  We have a choice to move to ‘joining’ or ‘separating’, to accept others as ‘us’ in all of our apparent difference or to resist others as ‘us’, holding firm to our cultural belief systems and notions of ‘rightness’.

Ancient spiritual wisdom commands us to accept our enemy as ‘us’.  We’re told to move to the highest level of belonging, transcending our bias and judgment of others, embracing one another with a larger sense of joining.  The level of heart knowing lives here, in this more inclusive space that knows no boundaries.  This is very difficult work, particularly when we perceive threat and consequent feelings of fear.  Is the cancer cell in my body a ‘joined’ member of my community?  Is Osama bin Laden a ‘joined’ member of my community?  Do I carry a weapon to fight those who I perceive as threatening?  In essence, am I moving in love to a larger ‘joining’ or in fear to further separation?

The real test of our ‘being’ can be a deeper looking at what we do and what we say. Can we review our actions and words of the day and assess what was joining and what was separating? Can we see where our level of ‘joining’ stopped? Perhaps you felt very ‘joined’ with your church congregation during a Sunday service, but separated from those of a different religious belief system? Perhaps you felt very ‘joined’ with members in your local community, but very separated from those in communities far away? It seems as though we’re continually being worked to experience a larger sense of belonging as we face global climate issues, rapid economic change, global culture immigration and integration, and massive technological/communication advances. We have a choice to move to ‘joining’ or ‘separating’, to accept others as ‘us’ in all of our apparent difference or to resist others as ‘us’, holding firm to our cultural belief systems and notions of ‘rightness’.

Ancient spiritual wisdom commands us to accept our enemy as ‘us’. We’re told to move to the highest level of belonging, transcending our bias and judgment of others, embracing one another with a larger sense of joining. The level of heart knowing lives here, in this more inclusive space that knows no boundaries. This is very difficult work, particularly when we perceive threat and consequent feelings of fear. Is the cancer cell in my body a ‘joined’ member of my community? Is Osama bin Laden a ‘joined’ member of my community? Do I carry a weapon to fight those who I perceive as threatening? In essence, am I moving in love to a larger ‘joining’ or in fear to further separation?