People think they are making a big
contribution by voting
But don't forget—a year has 364
other days:
To come together face to face
To get to know each other
To name the problems that afflict
us and others
To share stories of struggle and
shining
To realize there's sanity in
numbers
To share the wealth of our insight,
curiosity, passions, and experience
To appreciate one another's
presence
To savor the potluck's soups,
salads, dal and basmati, and any-and-everything brought by Fatima
To learn how to rule ourselves as
individuals through the practice of mindfulness (sovereignty over ourselves)
To improve how to rule our
tongues by practicing the Sufi three-gate rule (Are the words I’m about to
speak true, necessary, and kind?)
To swim against the current of
gottahaveit consuming by practicing Gandhi’s maxim, “Renounce and enjoy"
And, speaking of Gandhi, to
"prepare for mountains of suffering" and not get hung up on tactics
and debates
...
Voting can take 10 to 20 minutes or
much longer
Depending on the crowd, lines, and
wait
364 days-a-year democracy
Is so much more involved and
demanding
Wouldn’t you agree?
–writing practice during Writing to Wake Up class, October 2012, Spring Avenue
Sometime in early 2013 we hope to have a small mindful community to engage Thich Nhat Hanh’s latest book, Good Citizens: Creating Enlightened Society.
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