I read recently that constant solicitude regarding the physical welfare of our near friends and the fear that something adverse might befall them, starts currents that actually tend toward that which is feared. I have to think about that one, and I wonder what Tom’s Sufi wisdom would say. It’s hard to believe that one could care too much about our friends, but on the other hand I know that sometimes parents can be over-protective. They become so afraid that there child might fall down, get bruised, or be exposed to bacteria, they in fact create a bubble around their child that can becomes unhealthy. A few cuts, scrapes, and burns seem to me to be a part of learning and living. I’ve always said I’d rather have a Supreme Court Judge who has known failure and pain rather than have lived in an academic ivory tower, but certainly Congress and the Ivy Leagues disagree.
It seems to me that we all need to work toward an attitude of trust in the ripening and growing good of all things. Pure optimistic ideals are the great saving elements of humanity.
Terrific! I knew I wasn’t alone in believing that letting Rebecca learn how to get down our two stair entry to the back room by falling a few times was ultimately for her own benefit. Weirdly, it also made me want to eat whatever you had for breakfast this morning…
Dear Webb,
Our Sufi teachers indeed have thought about this issue… and it also reflects perspectives from quantum physics. They say that what you envision – whether from a place of wanting or a place of fearing – is a form of prayer. The say that our collection of thoughts, feelings and moods that we find ourselves experiencing over and over again will define and influence our environment, beliefs, perceptions and behavior. Our body “hard wires” neural pathways that reflect the choices we make or the fears that we carry as real; those pathways are reinforced as we repeat those choices or continue to carry those fears. I’m not so sure we can “cause” a negative outcome for another person by holding on to our own fears, but certainly we can manifest for ourselves that which we continue to choose in our thoughts.
Your friend
tom