Partisan Divide Café
I woke up early, happens often these days. I used to never get out of bed until someone insisted with a cup of ice water. This morning, night actually, my mind was ambling; it seemed my feet should go along. I went back down to the partisan divide café. The old man looked up and smiled. I call him old but maybe he’s younger than me, it happens these days can’t always tell young from old, or tried and true from false and made up. I desire only truth, but it seems as elusive as a desert mirage. He said, “I see you are still in the grip of the fever.”
“Aren’t you? How could I not be?”
“Oh no I am immune from the fever. Have a coffee, take a moment.”
Sip a cup — do not lose the moment
“I appreciate your calm, but aren’t you worried, can’t you see what’s going on?”
“Yes, these are troubling times. People are being forced to confront reality, not drift in the clouds of their illusions. False fronts are falling from the winds of change but worrying will not help me. Worrying will not help you. Sip your coffee, it is good when it is fresh and hot, just a touch cream. Now there is moment I could stay lost in. How do you feel about that first sip, nothing else just the first sip?”
“Good it is just right, but I can’t just live in my first sip of coffee. There are dangerous people, extremists, people with weapons, odd looking with crazed eyes.”
“Are those people here?”
“No, but”
“No, enjoy the moment. Exist in it, put away your fear. Once fear is gone the anger will cool and calm will return. We must not lose connection with what is true. Authentic love gives joy. People are complex and simple. Listen to them, enjoy their stories; a life will bloom like a flower. Life will be real. Your strength will flow through spiritual connections. Only then will you be strong enough for the storms.”
“We’ve never faced so many storms.”
More corrupt and dangerous than Nixon
“Yes, these are not untroubled times. We have allowed false bravado and a veneer of patriotism to appease us, delude us, and be our idols. Our reflection in our mirror is enhanced, we have become our own makeup artist. It is painful when the outside coat of plaster falls away and an unglamourous inner self remains. Even unglamorous it is essential and good.
It is good to be authentic to love people as they are, to be loved as yourself. We all have rough edges, we all have an origin story no one else knows. Do not cast others as devils. Do not see them as any different from yourself, know you each come from a different journey. You each are lost, but each bring a truth to share.”
“I feel so helpless what can I do? How can I reach these lost people?”
“Center yourself and connect with people in your own world. Smile and say hello to your neighbor, be gracious in your interactions. Do what you can, do not burden yourself with what you can’t do. When the storm arrives, you will be able to save, rescue, and rebuild. There is a fever that must break, but it is not in your control. Do not catch the fever yourself, support and comfort those who have it. Live in reality, be your authentic self. You may have to search. Our true self is an elusive being. How is that moment of your first coffee?”
Worry is not a step in preparation for a crisis
“Good, nothing better.”
“Living in the moment of a good thing, and not losing it to fret is a great start to any morning. I’m glad you dropped in, I’m always here.”
