September 11th 2001 'Courage!' SPIRITUAL MOTIVATION We are asked to consider " why we get up in the morning .....what motivates us in our relationships ... from what source does the strength come to allow the Other their own individuated integrity ............" Personal strength (if that is what it is to be called) comes from the human relationship between the self and the world. Fragmented , inadequate as it may be; it is the only true spiritual base we have. Thus the encounters we have, both good and bad, add to our understanding and wonder of both self and of the Other. By Other I refer to the distinct , unique, transcendent person who faces us in daily life. That person, in their capacity to change enriches - gifts - with their world. Thus I am responsive to them and not to selfish needs. By the gifting they invest with the responsibility to not do violence to them and to be responsible for the sharing in the encounter. Only within this respect can the "I" hope to touch, to dialogue. It is the Other who teaches "me". They tell me what they desire. On a more commonplace level I, moggi, have no 'belief system' in that I do not believe that there is a higher being to which I belong. I am a mere cat - but, Like Jesus I exist to make the encounter on this earth the best I can. Like a stone scudding across the surface of a pond I am responsible for the ripples that spread out in infinite numbers and radius touching the ripples from other pebbles as they brush the water's surface. When that particular pebble , `me', finally loses energy and needs to `die' then it will sink to the silt at the bottom of the water. There it will decompose, lose identity, or maybe even transmutate into life-giving earth. But it is no longer `me'. What is `hope'? Perhaps all that hope is, is an acceptance to change. That "this too shall pass" which allows the person to accept their finitude and yet rejoice in the understanding that pain is both limited and limitless - but never merely "the same". We are not static , inanimate, beings, subject to the whims of other winds or forces. We have the power to direct ourselves, the imperative to be in relationship with our fellows. And, thus, being responsive to them and not to our own selfish needs - we are free to choose the good, to 'be' as we truly want...... and, being truly free, I come upon myself as Stranger, as other! This is my faith - Other, in finite, creaturely, form. moggi, 1990 Any views expressed are individual and personal to the writer or writers. No money has been exchanged or favors given for any content on this site or page. HOME