Sunday Musings - October 18, 2020
Muddling through
It is a beautiful morning here on 30th Street in Wheeling, West Virginia. As I gaze out into the dense woods I could easily imagine that there is in the words of an old gospel song “No more pain. No More sorrow.” (sung by Linkin Park on the album “Minutes to Midnight”). Of course, all I have to do is to check the internet to access stories of enormous pain and sorrow. Wars, financial hardship, domestic violence, homelessness, sex trafficking, flue and covid-19, corruption scandals, fires, floods and a host of other events remind us that humans and mother nature continue to responsible for a lot of pain and sorrow. In the United States and some other countries, politicians have a lot to say about the cause of this pain and sorrow. Statistics which support particular points of view are thrown out as facts. For example, one person told me recently that statistics prove that more people die from flue than from covid-19. Covid-19 is mostly hype. Yet, I cannot find any statistics which come close to supporting that argument.
In the bubble of 136 30th Street I am challenged to use the gift of this quiet space to contemplate my life dance for this week. Who will be my guides and heroes? One of my long-time friends recently challenged me in an email by stating “You muddle through always getting in the way of people who really know how to make grandiose plans to really help folks. You waste your time trying to be like Jesus and Buddha and other notable do-gooders and never get anything done.”
It is certainly true that I have never done anything of such magnitude that, unlike some of the actions of my friends, changes the direction of the lives of large numbers of individuals. I have never earned or been awarded public accolades for the work I do as a community member or in the small office where I work for/with individuals and families. I do what millions of other health care workers do as well as I do. I certainly do not leave footprints on the hearts of people as did Jesus, Buddha or many others. There are teaches and social workers I know who daily leave the hope and skills for a richer life with those for/with whom they work. There are people whose work has a positive effect on thousands if not millions.
Yes, it is true that I muddle my way through each day attempting to articulate the questions we must ask if we humans are to more fully embrace our humanness; if are to return ourselves to ourselves and thus to our important but minute roles in the rebalancing of the universe.
Do I get in the way of the folks who “really know how to make grandiose plans to really help folks.”? Possibly. I have not moved any mountains or done anything which countless others do as well or better than I. I do not come close to possessing the strength of love that Jesus, Buddha and many others exhibited or exhibit.
I suppose muddling along is all I know to do.
I am grateful for my friend who sent the email. One of his many gifts is to challenge me to practice what the 12-step program calls the HOW of the program – honestly, open mindedness and willingness. He does so with much love for which I am enormously grateful.
What will be the form and nature of my muddling this week?
Written October 18, 2020
Jimmy F Pickett
coachpickett.org
Muddling through
It is a beautiful morning here on 30th Street in Wheeling, West Virginia. As I gaze out into the dense woods I could easily imagine that there is in the words of an old gospel song “No more pain. No More sorrow.” (sung by Linkin Park on the album “Minutes to Midnight”). Of course, all I have to do is to check the internet to access stories of enormous pain and sorrow. Wars, financial hardship, domestic violence, homelessness, sex trafficking, flue and covid-19, corruption scandals, fires, floods and a host of other events remind us that humans and mother nature continue to responsible for a lot of pain and sorrow. In the United States and some other countries, politicians have a lot to say about the cause of this pain and sorrow. Statistics which support particular points of view are thrown out as facts. For example, one person told me recently that statistics prove that more people die from flue than from covid-19. Covid-19 is mostly hype. Yet, I cannot find any statistics which come close to supporting that argument.
In the bubble of 136 30th Street I am challenged to use the gift of this quiet space to contemplate my life dance for this week. Who will be my guides and heroes? One of my long-time friends recently challenged me in an email by stating “You muddle through always getting in the way of people who really know how to make grandiose plans to really help folks. You waste your time trying to be like Jesus and Buddha and other notable do-gooders and never get anything done.”
It is certainly true that I have never done anything of such magnitude that, unlike some of the actions of my friends, changes the direction of the lives of large numbers of individuals. I have never earned or been awarded public accolades for the work I do as a community member or in the small office where I work for/with individuals and families. I do what millions of other health care workers do as well as I do. I certainly do not leave footprints on the hearts of people as did Jesus, Buddha or many others. There are teaches and social workers I know who daily leave the hope and skills for a richer life with those for/with whom they work. There are people whose work has a positive effect on thousands if not millions.
Yes, it is true that I muddle my way through each day attempting to articulate the questions we must ask if we humans are to more fully embrace our humanness; if are to return ourselves to ourselves and thus to our important but minute roles in the rebalancing of the universe.
Do I get in the way of the folks who “really know how to make grandiose plans to really help folks.”? Possibly. I have not moved any mountains or done anything which countless others do as well or better than I. I do not come close to possessing the strength of love that Jesus, Buddha and many others exhibited or exhibit.
I suppose muddling along is all I know to do.
I am grateful for my friend who sent the email. One of his many gifts is to challenge me to practice what the 12-step program calls the HOW of the program – honestly, open mindedness and willingness. He does so with much love for which I am enormously grateful.
What will be the form and nature of my muddling this week?
Written October 18, 2020
Jimmy F Pickett
coachpickett.org
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