Compassion knows no boundaries

CHERRIL DOTY

“If you judge people, you have no time to love them.”

-- Mother Teresa

“Every good thing you do, every good thing you say, every good

thought you think, vibrates on and on and never ceases.”

-- Peace Pilgrim

I am no Mother Teresa. Nor do I see myself as able to be like the

humble, silver-haired woman who was the Peace Pilgrim. She walked

across the country seven times between 1953 and her death in 1981,

vowing to wander penniless until humans learned to live in love and

peace.

Like so many others, I struggle at times to place compassion

before my own selfish needs and wants. I suppose this is only human.

Still -- my own failings aside -- I was astonished at some of what

I chanced upon after the June 1 landslide in our own Bluebird Canyon.

Animosity, ennui, and unknowing judgments reached my ears even as I

encountered a host of acts of generosity.

“Those multi-millionaires with their houses on stilts ... what did

they expect?” Was I only imagining the sneering look on the face of

the unseen speaker? Multi-millionaires? As if that had anything to do

with the horrendous loss, the grief, or the suffering. And these

homeowners certainly did not expect their homes and possessions to be

crumpled and destroyed on an early June morning.

“They’ll all be fine. What’s all the fuss about?” Fine? Is it fine

to see your life completely change in minutes? Is it fine to feel the

terror inside as you flee from your home in panic, grabbing nothing

but your child? To watch as your ordered world turns into a

Dali-esque nightmare? Is it fine to watch your hopes and dreams turn

to a mass of confusion?

“Not to worry. The banks will forgive their loans. They’ll all

build right back there again.” But what of those who are retired,

those who thought to live out the rest of their days in these homes?

Who is going to loan money to someone who no longer works at a job

with a paycheck to pay back the loan? Or what of those who had sunk

most of their money into these homes in the hope that, someday, this

would be their retirement fund? Where is the compassion?

“What can I do to help?” On the other side was the outpouring of

generosity from friends, neighbors, and even strangers. There were

people who formed lines from the sites, passing lamps and clothing

and more, to get whatever possessions were allowed to be removed from

damaged homes. City personnel bent over backward to assist. Our

officials were organized, quick and courteous, seemingly without

fail. In some cases, they even queued up on their own time to help.

By now, most of us know of the fundraisers put together in the

moment. The amounts raised are amazing given the spontaneity of

affairs like the pancake breakfast in the park three days later. And

the people of Laguna seem to know we are not anywhere done yet. They

continue to come forward.

Many of us also received calls from people outside our own town

who wanted to help and just didn’t know how. We guided them as best

we could to volunteer organizations that might use them, asking them

to donate whatever they could.

Of course it is hoped that everything will be all right for these

residents of Bluebird Canyon. I hope that those whose homes were

yellow-tagged and can now return will be able to resume their lives

in some “normal” fashion. It will be wonderful if all who have lost

so much are “fine” very soon. I do believe, as Joseph Campbell and so

many others have proclaimed, that it is often out of these crises

that new hope and life-affirming newness come. This does not change

the fact that this is still a hard time for all of them.

How we respond in crisis says a lot about who we are. Some seem to

take things in stride; others fall apart. I suppose those on the

periphery respond in different ways as well. May those who have stood

in judgment never know the same losses, for I’m not sure they could

handle them well. May they learn compassion.

Peace Pilgrim believed that the way to world peace is through

acquiring inner peace and then applying this knowledge in

compassionate action. And we can all make a difference, now and in

the future, acting singly or together, helping, as Mother Teresa

said, “Just one, one, one.”

* CHERRIL DOTY is a creative life coach and artist, exploring the

mysteries of life as they come. You can reach her by e-mail at

cherril@cherrildoty.com or by calling 949-251-3883.