Terry’s blog

Swords


Mr. Rogers stepped out of a Manhattan subway train onto the platform. A group of people recognized him, including a young mother with her 6-year-old son. The boy brandished a Star Wars light saber, and was intent on whacking everything–and everyone–in his path. This included Mr. Rogers.

The mother stood mortified, “Honey, please don’t hit Mr. Rogers! I think it’s illegal. And it’s not polite.” Oblivious, Fred Rogers drops to his knees, next to the boy, now eye-to-eye. He whispered to the boy. The boy whispered back and put away his light saber. Goodbyes were exchanged.

One hour later, the people traveling with Mr. Rogers had enough suspense. “You have got to tell us what you said to the boy!”

Mr. Rogers smiled, “I told him, we are a lot alike. I have a sword too. Not as nice as yours. Mine is wood. I keep it inside me, for all the times I don’t feel strong. When I think I need to impress people, I take my sword out, and I believe that when people see the sword they will think I’m strong. But when I feel strong inside, I know I don’t need my sword, and I put it away. Looking in your eyes right now, I know you are a loved little boy, and I see you are very strong on the inside.”

The little boy said, “I guess I don’t need my sword today.”

I can relate.
I know what it is like to not feel strong on the inside.
I know what it is like to take out my sword, and do my best to impress everyone around me.
I also know that life’s pace exacerbates the conundrum.

We assume our identity is predicated on the sum of consumption (more) plus velocity (hurry). And our mantra becomes, “This is not enough.” (Meaning this relationship or job or circumstance or new toy or prayer or faith or conversation or moment, or whatever.) As a result, I am not present. Given my need to impress–or consume or use or add or rush–I end up whacking everything around me. This is when my life becomes “garbled.”

I need Mr. Roger’s reminder: There is a word spoken about me.  It tells me that I am strong on the inside. And not because of anything I have done or failed to do.

Every child has known God,
Not the God of names,
Not the God of don’ts,
Not the God who ever does anything weird,
But the God who knows only 4 words.
And keeps repeating them, saying:
“Come Dance with Me, come dance.”
Hafiz

Here’s the deal: This is not just about self-esteem, as if there’s some club to join with a secret instruction manual. As if there is something else we need to add to our life to make it successful, or meaningful, or palatable. It’s much more fundamental: Am I willing to be loved for being this me?

If I answer yes, then I guess I don’t need my sword today.
Once, the great Hassidic leader, Zusia, came to his followers. His eyes were red with tears, and his face was pale with fear. “Zusia, what’s the matter?”
“The other day, I had a vision of the question that the angels will ask me about my life.”
The followers were puzzled. “Zusia, you are pious. You are scholarly and humble. You have helped so many of us. What question about your life could be so terrifying that you would be frightened to answer it?”
Zusia turned his gaze to heaven. “I have learned that the angels will not ask me, ‘Why weren’t you a Moses, leading your people out of slavery?’”
His followers persisted. “So, what will they ask you?”

“They will say to me, ‘Zusia, there was only one thing that no power of heaven or earth could have prevented you from becoming.’ They will say, ‘Zusia, Zusia, why were you not Zusia?’”


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Lagniappe

In the town of Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, there is a church named Lagniappe. It is an old Creole word that means “something extra.”
Pastor Jean Larroux explains, “Down here if you go into a seafood shop and order a pound of shrimp and they put in an extra handful, [...]

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Slow moving limos

Caroline was very sad. Caroline was only six years old and her father had just died. In fact, her father had been assassinated.
Sitting in the back of big black limousine, Caroline Kennedy didn’t quite know what to do with her sadness. On the seat next to her sat her nanny, Maud Shaw, [...]

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Kindness and dancing

Two stories caught my eye yesterday… A teacher who offered a Random Acts of Kindness Class. The girls who joined the class were ages 11-13.  When asked, “Why did you sign up for the Random Acts of Kindness Class?” Here are two responses…
“I wanted to learn different ways of spreading kindness.  There are people [...]

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Silk Stockings

The middle drawer of her mother’s dresser was filled with silk stockings, dozens of pairs in many exquisite colors, each wrapped in the store’s original package. They had never been worn. Rachel admired the stockings, imagining the texture and enjoying the array of colors.
One day she asked her mother, “Why don’t [...]

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Hives and tears

A young woman with a very serious case of hives went to a specialist for relief. She had suffered for some time, living in continual pain because the hives covered much of her body. She needed healing, and hoped that the doctor could prescribe a cure. But his diagnosis surprised her. [...]

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Freckles and Purple Jesus

In the perfume shop show window was a large jar of freckle salve, and beside the jar was a sign, which read: DO YOU SUFFER FROM FRECKLES?

“What does the sign say?” ask Pippi Longstocking. She couldn’t read very well because she didn’t want to go to school as other children did.
“It says, ‘Do [...]

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Because

There is a story about a kind, quiet man who prays in the Ganges River every morning. One day after praying, he sees a poisonous spider struggling in the water and cups his hands to carry it ashore.  As he places the spider on the ground, it stings him.  Unknowingly, his [...]

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Pretty

Lady Elaine Fairchilde is the mischief maker in Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood.

Lady Elaine is not a pretty puppet. To be fair, well. . .let us just say she is particularly beauty-challenged.
In one episode, Lady Elaine was asked what she wanted to be when she grew up. She said without hesitation, ‘I want to be a [...]

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I hope you dance

Attending a conference on religion in Japan, Joseph Campbell overheard another American delegate, a social philosopher from New York, say to a Shinto priest, “We’ve been now to a great many ceremonies and have seen quite a few of your shrines. But I don’t get your ideology. I don’t get your [...]

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do less. live more.