Passage Twenty-six: They Show Us
We stopped and fed a man
We saw along the road.
It was only then we learned
He could not speak.
He made a prayer-like gesture
I interpreted to mean
Something like God bless you.
Often, we can convey with actions,
We can indicate with gestures,
More clearly than with words.
We show each other.
Words that show compassion,
Words that show kindness
Are far more meaningful
Than words about such things.
I am working in a jewelry store.
Living in the neighborhood
Is this mother and her grown son.
They both seem to be, in some way,
Developmentally disabled.
We often see them walking,
And sometimes they stop in.
They are simple, one might say,
But I have always been impressed
With how loving they are to each other.
We see them walking, walking, walking,
Obviously, with no place to go,
But always on their way together,
And always holding hands.
My developmental disabilities,
The ways in which I am still failing,
Are not hindrances, but aids.
They are stage settings and stage furniture.
There are more important things
Than mastery and lordship over.
There are things much more profound,
Things much more inspiring.
Courage and imagination,
Resourcefulness and caring
In difficult circumstances,
Good humor and good will,
These things are inspiring.
Autumn asked me
What I still believed in
From my Inner Peace Movement days,
And I answered, "Angels."
They are not just around us.
They are among us,
Often hidden,
Even from themselves.
They care, and so they try,
In many different ways to help,
And in all those ways, they show us.
They show us that we matter
And they show us how to matter more.
