accepting the good
Last evening Jack and I helped my mother move a piece of furniture. As we were leaving she said, “There was a sale on corn at Price Chopper. It isn’t local, but it was 20 cents an ear so I bought you a dozen when I was shopping on Monday. I hope it is still OK.” In the past, my first thought would have been, “That corn has to be at least a week old! I cannot even imagine how it will taste. Why does she do things like this?”
Years ago, I was listening to a workshop tape and the leader said that a woman, in one of her previous workshops, was very distressed because not only was she “battling cancer”, but her mother kept sending her wheat grass juice to drink, even after she told her that she didn’t want it, because she had read that someone had been cured of cancer by drinking it. The woman asked the presenter how to handle her mother’s apparent lack of respect for her choice of treatment for her cancer.
The leader said, “Just take the love, and throw the wheat grass juice out.” (and she didn’t say it with a lot of kindness, it was more in the tone of, “Oh, get over yourself!). What a beautiful concept, “Take the Love”… from any gift, and then give the gift away, or throw it out, or keep it, or eat it, …it doesn’t matter as long as I accept the goodness.
I genuinely thanked my mother for the corn (for the love). I think that there were a few happy squirrels and chipmunks in my yard last night too!
