What do we have to give?
A wise woman who was traveling in the mountains found a precious stone in a stream. The next day she met another traveler who was hungry, and the wise woman opened her bag to share her food. The hungry traveler saw the precious stone and asked the woman to give it to him. She did so without hesitation. The traveler left, rejoicing in his good fortune. He knew the stone was worth enough to give him security for a lifetime. But a few days later he came back to return the stone to the wise woman.
‘I’ve been thinking,’ he said, ‘I know how valuable the stone is, but I give it back in the hope that you can give me something even more precious. Give me what you have within you that enabled you to give me the stone.
So I went to this People As Media conference today. There were some interesting speakers, a couple of whom really impressed me. One was Enrique Morones, who started the Border Angels project. Another was Dahr Jamail, who became one of the few independent journalists reporting from Iraq. And everyone there gave their time, on a Saturday, to try and learn a bit more about how to connect people with what is really going on in the world around them, to try and move people from being complacent about our country’s leadership to doing something to change what is happening.
I haven’t been active in anything political really before this year, although I’ve certainly kept myself as informed as I can and tried to share what I learn with other people. Now I have a few more people I share with, some of whom have thanked me for making them better informed. It isn’t much, really, but it’s what I can do. I donate a bit to those I find doing good stuff or running the kind of campaigns I can support. It isn’t much, but it’s what I can do.
What do we have to give, those of us who don’t have a precious stone in our bag? Is it enough if we give what we can? And if we do have that stone and someone asks for it, are we open enough to give it up? How many people would give up their security for a stranger? Not many. How many would give up something of value to help a stranger? Enrique has. Dahr has. They gave their time and energy to pursue something they believed in so strongly that it was more important to them than their own fortune, perhaps even risking their lives for others. Enrique has received death threats for his work. Dahr put himself in harm’s way to get the truth out about the situation in Iraq.
They can’t give us what’s inside them, but they can point the way to how to find it.
And that is all I can do. I can point the way to the Tao, to the peace and contentment I find from those 81 simple verses and all that they point to. I can point the way to those who are fed up with the way things are and want to change things. I can point towards a better direction and perhaps some better ways to make change happen.
We are all travelers on our own paths. We are all hungry and looking for precious stones. But what is most important is what is within us, and what we are willing to share with those we come into contact with.
Don’t hesitate to give what you can.