As I was leaving mass this morning one of my fellows who attends mass more or less daily, stopped me to say that he’d heard something he wanted to share. Dave paused a beat, took a breath and said; “Make a good day… not have a good day.” It’s common at the end of mass for the priest to say “Have a good day.” My response to Dave was that making a good day is too much work. I proceeded on to have my morning walk. I really need the exercise. But Dave wasn’t done. He raised his voice to carry to me as I moved away and said that the whole point is to work, be active not passive in making a good day.
I understand the impulse in a culture that believes that we have to be active, control things, dominate the day. However, I just left mass, the whole point of which is to remind us of our dependence on God, that the day cannot be dominated. I”m pretty sure that this insight would not have occurred to me without Mama Aya’s intervention. I think that she has opened me up, I have been passive in this because there is nothing else that I can do bit let her show me what I need to know.
As I walked this morning, I went down many paths of exploration regarding this encounter with Dave and my response to his words. What I realized, is that there are many adequate and “truthy” ways to think about making a good day. What Mama Aya has been helping me to experience is what “the truth” is for me. She has also been helping to understand that “my truth” is not “the truth.” My journey with her during the ceremonies was about understanding where “the truth” is in things and how the truth intersects with “my truth.” What I expect is pretty close to “the truth” is that, as a culture, we need to understand how dependent, how passive we must be to actually survive on the planet. Something to ponder, process further as I go along.
PEACE
Camel Through the Eye 