The following post is part two of a two-part series by guest author Susan Stocker, one of the co-authors of the Barmen Today Declaration. Part one (you can read it here) told Susan’s personal story of how she became the catalyst for writing the Declaration, a pledge for a more compassionate and inclusive worldview. Today she concludes with some practical insights on how to live out this commitment in your daily life and take another step toward Becoming Yourself.
In the late 1950’s Martin Luther King, Junior said that life’s most persistent and urgent question is: “What are you doing for others?”
What if this is a trick question? We have all been concentrating on “doing” for others – donating, marching in the streets, working in soup kitchens and hospital gift shops. Maybe the word “doing” threw us off. “Doing” doesn’t seem to be “doing” a whole lot, working well, or changing much.
Seven of us from Father Richard Rohr’s Living School program collaborated on a document called Barmen Today: A Contemporary, Contemplative Declaration. More than twenty-seven thousand people have signed Barmen Today, including leaders in current theological/spiritual fields. People from all walks of life and demographic groups also felt compelled to commit to the principles espoused in the declaration. (Read and sign it here)
Soon the responsible seven of us starting wondering what to “do” with this small but not insignificant group of signers. Should we plan rallies, write letters to congressmen or newspapers, have small group meetings, show up at churches and spread the news? We were concentrating on “doing” something with the others who were as interested as we were in “doing” something for others.
Then, one recent morning, in Richard Rohr’s daily meditation (found at cac.org), Cynthia Bourgeault talked about The Kingdom of Heaven and quoted Jim Marion as saying that The Kingdom of Heaven is undoubtedly a metaphor for a state of consciousness. The Kingdom of Heaven is not a place you go to (after you die, up in the stars) but a place you come from (every moment of every day in your interactions with all others, including God or whatever you name the Source of all Life).
The Kingdom of Heaven–sometimes called Peace on Earth, Nirvana, Joy, Ecstasy, Equality, Justice, Mercy, Love – it goes by many names—is a way of seeing, a perceptual framework, which sees no separation between God and humans, between humans and other humans, between the lover and the beloved, between Beauty and the Beast, between those who agree with me and those with whom I disagree. I am not only my brother’s keeper; I am my brother. John Donne in a sermon in 1624 suggested we stop asking “for whom the bell tolls.” It tolls for me every time it tolls for thee.
Perhaps, then, the question of what to do with the 27,000 of us is to begin a small (but not insignificant) revolution in seeing. What if each of us concentrated on seeing with eyes that refused to discern separation, with hearts that refused to hold the hatred which is only possible when we feel separate, and with minds open to the possibility, the very real possibility, of The Kingdom of Heaven being here and now and available to all “with eyes to see and ears to hear,” as the Gnostic Gospel concludes every chapter.
Now, that would be a revolution, my friends. And we make it happen by “doing” nothing but “being” awake, alive, aware and open. Ready?
READ AND SIGN THE BARMEN TODAY DECLARATION HERE
Susan Stocker is a blogger, novelist, and Marriage and Family Therapist with Masters degrees in Communication and Counseling. She served as a mental health ambassador to China in 1998 and has volunteered with the Alzheimer’s Association, American Cancer Society, and many other organizations. Her published works include Only Her Naked Courage (2013), Heart 1.5 (2013), The Many Faces of Anxiety (2013), The Many Faces of PTSD (2010), and Heart (1981), as well as her blog The Many Faces of PTSD (manyfacesofptsd.wordpress.com). She is on a lifelong journey toward Becoming Herself. You can contact her at sraustocker@yahoo.com.
This is extremely powerful stuff you are writing here. I am very familiar with what it is like to become anxious thinking we are not doing enough and wondering how to “do” more for others. Your words take us beyond this anxiety, to a place of inner transformation; a place of Being and Seeing, a realization of Oneness.
The Center for Action and Contemplation sums it up beautifully in its name. We will have times of doing and times of being/seeing. Both are important and to be honored. Each is necessary in its own time.
Thank you so much for taking the time to share your insights and encouragement, Emily! This really means a lot to me, and I’ll pass this on to Susan Stocker, the wonderful guest author of this post. Thanks again for reading and all the best to you on your personal development journey. We’re glad to have your company on the road.