Let It Begin With Me

One day last week, the doorbell rang at Unity Spiritual Center Denver. Trish and I both office upstairs, so each of us began making our way toward the stairs and to the door. Trish made it there ahead of me. It has nothing to do with age, in case you were wondering. Even though she answered the door, I stood at the top of the landing to see who was there and to be sure there was no need for me to be involved. 

When she opened the door, a young man was standing there. He asked if a minister was around that he could speak with. Usually, when someone comes to the door and asks if there is a minister they can speak with, they want financial assistance. That proved not true in this case.

Trish told him that she is the associate minister and asked if she could help him. I continued to stand at the top of the stairs listening to be sure there was no danger. He said that he needed to talk to someone about all that is going on in the world. He seemed concerned but not agitated.

Trish invited him to have a seat just inside the front door in the lending library where she joined him, sat across from him and listened. I walked back into my office, but kept the door open and walked out on the landing occasionally so I could hear and keep tabs on the situation.

I did not hear all of their conversation, but I heard enough to know that that this young man was feeling anxious and was looking for some answers. He expressed his disillusionment with the Catholic Church, the tradition in which he was raised. He was concerned that the church is not providing the answers or the response to the current global crises that he is seeking.

He also expressed his consternation at the current political climate, the dissension and polarization, as well as the lack of effective response to the pandemic, the climate crisis, and other issues.

He seemed deeply concerned about the instability of the world and life. He expressed dismay about how everything is changing and nothing seems sure any more.

There were a couple of times I thought about walking down the stairs and interjecting, but I knew that Trish could handle it. And she did. She listened attentively and offered him empathy and compassion, but did not attempt to offer him definitive answers to his existential questions. Often, just giving someone the space to be heard can be healing.

After he left, I thought about what I might have said to him had I been the one to answer the door. As I pondered, I realized some things. He, as all of us are, is in the perfect place in his spiritual journey. Even though being in the space of not knowing, not being sure about things, and no longer clinging to the religion of the past can be disconcerting, it is in that space that we are most open to listen and hear the voice of Spirit beneath the noise of the world.

When we come to a place in our life journey where the things we thought we knew no longer ring true for us; when who we thought we were no longer feels right: when the institutions we once relied upon for answers, stability and security no longer satisfy our needs; when the world we knew appears to be falling apart, it is time for us to go within and connect with the one Source of all that we are and all that we will ever truly need.

We can spend an entire lifetime searching for meaning, love and belonging in the world, and many do, but the world can never satisfy the deepest longing of our hearts. The church may point the way, but it is not the Source of our answers. We may experience love with and for another or others, but they are not the Source of love. Our careers may offer us a degree of financial success and personal fulfillment, but they are not the Source of our good. Our political and social institutions my offer us some semblance of stability and security, but they are not our Source. There is only one Source – God. Only a conscious connection with the God of our being can answer our questions and meet our needs.

At one point I heard this young man say, “Why can’t we all just love each other. We are all children of God.” After acknowledging him and reflecting his longing for a loving humanity, I might have said, we can’t love each other because we have yet to discover the Source of Love within ourselves. We cannot give to another what we don’t yet know we have. Better yet, we cannot give to another what we don’t yet know that we are.

I am grateful that this young man came to our door. While upon reflection, I wish I had taken the opportunity to speak with him, I trust that Trish was the perfect one to meet him and give him what he needed. There are no coincidences, only divine appointments we are not always prepared for, but are equipped for when we are open to Spirit’s guidance as Trish was.

I am thankful that I was able to hear him express what many of us have felt and, indeed, what many are feeling now. I am glad I had some time to ponder what I would like to have said to him. It is a good reminder of what I can say to myself when I experience existential angst. It is what I would say to anyone, after first sharing empathy and compassion, of course.

If you are having similar feelings, even though it may be uncomfortable, do not resist. Allow it. I encourage you to practice empathy and compassion for yourself. Honor your needs for safety, security, assurance, stability, and peace. Feel whatever arises in you when those needs are not being met in ways that you would like. If possible, reach out to someone who is capable and willing to give you the empathy and compassion you need. When you can, take time to extend it to others. That is a practice of loving others and ourselves.

We often sing at the end of our Sunday service, “Let there be love on Earth and let it begin with me.” As that young man who came to our door one hot summer day reminded me, the love that we long to experience on Earth will only manifest when we consciously realize at the depth of our being that we are expressions of Love, here to live that Love through every thought, word and action.

We can manifest a world founded in Love. We can respond to the needs of the world from Love. We can know ourselves as Love incarnate. Let it begin with me!