One of my favorite quotes comes from St. Augustine. It was at a time just after Rome had been persecuting Christians. A lot of Christians had been laying low; some even lied about their faith. But one group, the Donatists, stayed 'true' and stayed visible and vocal (though if my memory's right, they lived a long way from Rome).
When the persecution was over and Christians were regrouping, the Donatists didn't want to 'receive back into the fold' those less courageous, less faithful than themselves.
Augustine, who was the preeminent voice of Western Christianity, sent word to the Donatists: "The heavens roll with the thunder of the glory of God--and here you sit in your small ponds and croak: 'We are the true Christians!'"
This speaks to me, sooner or later, every time I'm feeling especially right (and righteous). God has a lot of ways of being present and experienced in the world. Huffy and absolute certainty has never proved to be one of them for me.
Still, this kind of "We're right and righteous" thing, this strange conviction that our "we" is so much purer or better than someone else's "we" seems to be as prominent as ever these days.
Funny, Augustine himself, particularly as he got older, was often intolerant and dismissive of those who disagreed with him. He could see truth so clearly and write about it so powerfully. Yet he didn't seem to be able to live it much better than the people he so often tore into.
To be whole, each of us has to get a handle on this "I'm right" thing. We have to let go (and let go and let go) of 'right THINKING' and move into (and move into and move into) right BEING.
I posted something Tuesday about children being icons of this kind of healthiness Not that children can't be stubborn and closed sometimes. Yet just being a kid means exploring life, taking chances, being open to new stuff every day. Open, expecting new discoveries every day.
The Buddha said that people who are certain of their own opinions are always roaming around the world annoying people. The antidote to this is something called "Don't Know Mind."
When Jesus sent his friends out to bring good news to folks who hadn't had much good news, he told his friends not to take much with them. His disciples went out almost completely empty handed and needy themselves. Jesus had put them in a place where they would always receive as much as they gave. He sent them out in a "Don't be superior" frame of mind.
Most of us in the West don't travel so lightly. We go out into the world richly provisioned with all kind of crap.
So, here's one practice to help us stop annoying people with our surplus opinions and go into the world carrying less crap. The next time we hear somebody say something 'wrong' -- lets let it go. The next time somebody says something that bothers us--something we have a strong urge to speak to, lets take a breath.
Let's let go of our opinions. Or at least try to. Really. Let's simply let more of our opinions go.
Instead of being corrective, why not be curious--curious about what happens when we invite conversation instead of conversion.
Curious about what we might voice instead of an opinion. Curious about what we might learn from somebody else. Something that starts from a DON'T KNOW MIND and moves into a WANT TO KNOW MIND.
The words "Tell me more," can do this. And "Tell me more" has a thousand variations.
To be alive is to grow. To grow is to change. To change is to be open to new stuff.
It's possible, even when the old energies rise up as strong as ever, it's possible to let go and grow. To choose to roam around the world NOT annoying people with our opinions. It's possible to do the very opposite: to roam around the world engaging people.
When we let go of our pet opinions, suddenly there's more 'room in here' for all kinds of other stories. And other people have so many stories that need telling.
And hearing.
