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The way of the world
Is the blessings we bestow
Upon each other.
The great sages and lesser minds
Down through time
Have pondered
The way the world works.
They ask the powers of the universe,
Or each other,
Why things are the way they are.
The way of the world
Is the blessings we bestow
Upon each other.
It is our nature
Passed down through thousands of generations
To wonder why.
Why did this happen to me?
Why did this happen to those I care about?
Why were my opponents not stopped in opposing me?
Why does disease and hardship and struggle persist?
The way of the world
Is the blessings we bestow
Upon each other
The answers to all our inquiries
Are inevitably incomplete.
However, how well we see the world
And our place in it
Is defined by the constellation
of goodness and support we get from each other.
The way of the world
Is the blessings we bestow
Upon each other.
You may not realize
How much you helped me.
I may not realize that what I did,
Or said,
Or did not say,
Was just what you needed
Right there, in that moment.
The way of the world
Is the blessings we bestow
Upon each other.
Oh, my dear friends,
And casual acquaintances,
And wonderful people
You have taught me
That I do not stand alone.
I do not grieve alone.
I do not struggle alone.
I do not cry alone.
I do not laugh alone.
I do not sigh alone.
The way of the world
Is the blessings we bestow
Upon each other.
You,
My friends,
My wife’s friends,
My sons’ friends,
My friends I have not met
My friends of days gone past,
You give me blessings.
Thus you and I
Move through the world
Much stronger,
Much better,
Much more at peace.
Hence, I know,
The way of the world
Is the blessings we bestow
Upon each other.
You don’t take away my sadness
You share my sadness.
You don’t end my loneliness
You make my loneliness more bearable.
You don’t miss my laughter
You restore my ability to laugh.
You don’t negate my perceptions
You validate my perceptions and make the world clearer.
You don’t question my beliefs,
Nor do you have to share my beliefs,
You hold a space for me to have my beliefs.
And share them with you.
In this last part, I see,
I could be talking about teachers and students.
I could be talking about educational professionals.
I could be talking about leaders and staff.
I could be talking about a parent and child.
I could be talking about you.
The way of the world
Is the blessings we bestow
Upon each other.
“Sent from the top of the world.”
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> 11/02/13
photo by James Lin http://www.flickr.com/photos/jlin45d/
