Clear Vision

I have poor night vision. Because of this reason, I don’t particularly like to drive at night, unless an emergency arises. I have even gone as far as exploring my options of owning different gadgets that can make night driving easier, but once I took a look at the price tags, I quickly changed my mind. After all, I hardly ever need to drive at night.

Daytime driving is another business altogether. With three kids that seem to need to travel the world far and wide every day, and my own errands to run, I spend more time behind the wheel than I would like. But, let me not derail from the thought that led me here to start with.

The other day I was driving to go pick up my daughter from school, and since I left in a rush, I forgot my sunglasses. Not a big deal, I thought as I drove down the road. Well, I drove the two miles that separated me from the school and turned into the nearby neighborhood. I was suddenly blinded by sunshine and for a moment I could see absolutely nothing. So I slowed down, and as I did, I barely perceived a white car parked on the side of the road to my right. It’s a miracle I even saw it because the color of the car was completely washed out by the intensity of the light.

After I passed the car I thought of how interesting it is that there are times during the day when one can see even worse than at night. That fleeting thought, of course, led to more activity, and I was soon busy analyzing how even in life walking the middle lane is usually the best way to see things clearly. I suppose we can look at it in many ways – someone totally absorbed into the dark happenings of existence is usually too overwhelmed to see anything on his path but more and more darkness. When, on the other hand, one is too elevated and detached into the light, it is hard for him to be able to empathize with the darkness others are struggling through, and can see even less. Quite similarly, if one is always rejected and failing, he is probably blinded by the darkness of his perception of the self, but if one is too successful, even in this case, blindness is not too far behind.

Living an average life filled with a balance of woes and wows allows us to steer away from complete darkness, while still retaining a memory of what it is like to struggle and be fearful. Accepting a life which contains a bit of both allows us to move through obstacles more easily, and teaches us that life isn’t always dark or bathed in light. All days will perish at sunset and each night succumbs to the morning sun. Nothing lasts forever, and even a difficult situation will eventually turn when you least expect it, just as a wonderful outcome will probably not stay wonderful forever.

What counts is to live in the moment, and not forget that each moment that passes is a unique fraction of time that will never occur again.



Note to anyone that’s interested: This coming Saturday, Oct 23 I will be signing books at Northgate Books in Durham between the hours of 3 and 6pm. Also, the next Saturday, Oct 30, I will be at the Fall Festival in Fuquay Varina the whole day. I hope to see you there!

http://www.usedbooksdurham.com/

http://events.mync.com/fuquayvarina-nc/events/show/88900969-a-day-in

Anicet's Story

I’d like to share a story which I hope will inspire you as much as it inspired me.
It is a story of courage, determination and, most of all, faith. It is the story of a man named Anicet, who came to America to follow a dream.
His family and friends in Africa had helped him gather enough money for the trip and a short stay, but with poor language skills and no references he was having a hard time securing a job. His dream was to become a Christian minister, so he was hoping to find a job in a church, and was willing to take on even the most menial job.
We agreed to meet, simply to have a meditation together and talk further.
We had scheduled to meet at 9pm two days later. He called at about 8pm, asking for directions to my house from a nearby drugstore. I only live about five minutes away from the drugstore, so I expected him to show up soon. Forty-five minutes went by. Finally, I went outside on the porch to see if I could see him driving through, thinking he had probably missed the house; in the distance I spotted a little black man, walking resolutely, and realized it was him. Anicet walked in, took his hat and jacket off, and politely asked for a glass of water. When I asked him why he hadn’t parked in front of my house, he simply replied that he didn’t have a car and had walked here from Cary.
I was stunned! North Raleigh is a good twenty to thirty minutes drive from Cary. He explained that he had left his house that afternoon, and that he wasn’t going to miss the meeting just because he didn’t have a car.
We talked that night, and then met again on a few more occasions. The last time I saw him he said that he had understood what God had wanted him to understand; his mission, he said, was to find a way to preach about the unity of all religions.
After that, I didn’t hear from him for about a year.
He called me again this past summer, just to update me on his progress.
He did find a job in a church in Cary, and the gentleman who hired him also helped him enroll in several courses, including one to better his language skills and a few theological ones. He is very happy now, and feels that he is working toward the vision that God sent him.
What truly touched me about his story are the strength of his faith and the fire of determination inside of him, as he overcame overwhelming obstacles to follow his dreams, and fought against all odds to achieve what he believed in.
Sometimes, when I don’t feel motivated, all I have to do is think about this little great man, about his courage and faith, and suddenly I feel like I can get a lot more accomplished in my day.

Double Vision

Many cultures believe the perspective-perception concept is one of the most important life lessons. In African lore, for example, one of the most well-known entities is Eshu.
Eshu is a trickster god, a benevolent-yet-prankster spirit, who confuses people in order to impart knowledge and teach fundamental life lessons.

In one of the folk stories, Eshu walks down a dirt road between two rivaling farms. He wears a red and black hat; the hat is black on one side, red on the other. After he has passed the farms and can no longer be seen, the two farmers come together, asking questions about the stranger with the hat. The first farmer insists that he saw a stranger wearing a black hat, while the second farmer insists he saw the same stranger, with the same clothes, but he swears up and down that the hat was red. As the two farmers continue arguing about the color of the hat, the stranger comes walking back up the road, this time in the opposite direction.

The farmers then realize they were both right; they saw what was in front of them and assumed the other person saw the exact same thing. They never considered the perspective from the other side.

It is hard to understand or believe the other side if we don’t make an effort to see things from their point of observation. We waste energy trying to convince others of the validity of our opinion, but don’t realize that their own standing is simply supported by a different foundation. If we keep one eye closed we can only see one half of the world surrounding us, and we miss out on many opportunities to widen our vision.

By changing our perspective we can change our perception of reality.

The Day Hurricane Katrina Opened the Door

August 29th 2005 is a day few will ever forget.
On that day, Hurricane Katrina ravaged New Orleans, creating mass destruction and widespread deaths. It was months before some of the bodies were found, and many families were relocated to other parts of the country without the opportunity to keep in contact with family members bused elsewhere.
Three years after that fateful day, some residents are still in dire need of help; yet, aside from groups of volunteers who have stepped in to bring some relief, and residents who have taken matters into their own hands, government aid has mostly focused on selected areas. In a video released on YouTube, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFUrCIm5LFc, former president Carter has exposed some of the areas of the Ninth Ward that have received little help, and has denounced our government for its lack of commitment to the people of New Orleans.
To make things worse, FEMA was recently under investigation for having withheld supplies that were donated in the aftermath of Katrina, while people were still in need.
Lack of response from our government, and the widespread blame game, have left people scratching their heads for answers.
Most of the people left without help were minorities and were some of the poorest. They were blamed for not having left the area during the mandatory evacuation, although some lacked the resources to make the move, or were unable to leave because of factors out of their control. Government agencies blamed one another; the Federal Government blamed the State for not taking prompt action; the State blamed the Federal Government for their lack of quick response. Everybody blamed the next person, yet, few were willing to accept individual responsibility. Although Katrina was, and still is, viewed as one of the worst events to ever hit New Orleans, it did indeed open a door of awareness. The socio-economic and racial implications unveiled hit the rest of our country with the cold slap of shame. Katrina exposed all that. We spend millions of dollars promoting events that will bridge our social and racial divides, yet in the face of a calamity, those bridges crumble as fast as the levees of New Orleans. Wounds must come to the light and cleansed, before they can heal. Katrina didn’t heal our separateness, but it certainly drew the map to show us the flaws we must all work on as a nation and as a people.
Coincidentally, the anniversary of this sad event is falling on the same week the Democratic Convention is taking place in Colorado.
Barack Obama appears to have a much wider vision; his message of unity and his peaceful policies have set him aside from the many politicians who seem more interested in promoting corporations, rather than caring for the genuine interest of our country. We pride ourselves with being the leading nation around the world, and fight other countries if they fall short on our scale of peace and justice. Yet, we are not able to achieve peace, unity and justice among our own people. In our country, the poorest minorities are still cut out of our aid budgets, and women can still die unattended in the waiting rooms of hospitals. These flaws considered, we have little room to flash our way of living as an example for others to follow.
Thanks, Katrina, for opening the door.