There is a sweet short story I would like to share with you tonight. It came bubbling up a few weeks ago, out of my memory “archives” seemingly out of nowhere. This happens to me often with Pluto hunkering down in my 12th house and I am getting more used to it. This story hopefully with get to those that need to hear it. What prompts me to share it now is that I am quite disturbed about all the division in the world. I know on some level it is out there to be cleared, that it is necessary. But it can hurt and has caused some rifts even in my corner of WordPress, which is generally my safe space. So here we go!
At some point during my freshman year in college, I was in a bad car accident, at least bad for my vehicle. I thankfully was not harmed, nor was anyone else, but my car was totaled. My Biology class was held in a huge lecture hall, ( or was it my Psychology class? ). It does not matter; many classes the first year were conducted in these spacious rooms as I went to a largely populated university in Philadelphia. Anyway, I met a student who lived not far from me who drove to class. We were acquaintances, not friends, but I could tell she was kind. I do not recall how it came to be, but she either offered or agreed to drive me to class while I was waiting to get a new car with the insurance money. This took a while so we drove together for at least a few weeks. I do not know if it was every day or not, but fortunately picking me up was not really out of her way. I took public transportation on the ride home.
One of the reasons I was amenable to commuting with her is because it provided a unique learning opportunity. She revealed in class that she was Fundamentalist Christian, aka Born again. I did not personally know anyone who practiced this religion and I was intrigued. I only knew of this faith from television or the newspaper and I was fascinated with learning about different ways of being. I took many courses early in my college career in Religious Studies and Sociology. I was eager to understand why she was against abortion and how her religious practices affected how she lived her life. I was quite young and was not exposed to many religions in person except for Judaism, Catholicism, and mainstream Protestant denominations. Yet I was ever curious and had been known to go to church service occasionally with friends.
So here we were together in the early morning alone in her car, talking about God. Our ideas were so very different as was our upbringing. She lived further away from the suburbs and among fewer people. Her dress and style were simple and she was soft spoken. My guess is her adolescence was quite sheltered compared to mine.
I cannot recall actual conversations we had as this is going back to the late 1970s -early 1980s. What I do remember is a mood, an overall emotional tempo. I kept my mind opened and did my best to listen. I wanted to understand her and appreciate who she was as a person. I do not think she was curious about my religious or spiritual beliefs, but am glad she was open, not shut down like so many are today. She was a kind, generous woman who drove a fellow student to class for many weeks, a student she barely knew. We did not end up becoming friends. I do not even remember her name, just a vague sense of her facial features and hair color. I think she wore glasses and had straight light brown hair. She did not attempt to convince me to be like her, she was very gentle. This is what my memory “archives” tell me so I will go with that. I would think that if there was pushback I would have stopped commuting with her. That did not happen.
I wish I could tell you why I needed a ride in the first place because I took the train for many years even when I had a working car. Maybe it was because I was new to the campus? I drove mostly every day once I moved in with roommates to an apartment in the city. I think it was because I wanted to start a dialogue with this girl who was different from me. I sensed she had peace of mind and I certainly didn’t. I am proud of my younger self for taking this on. I am grateful for the experience and that it arose in my awareness a few weeks back. When one assumes witness consciousness and let’s the observer “take the wheel”, there is access to many openings. My curiosity was not based on judgments. Maybe there were a few, but they did not predominate. I wanted to hear her story and get a glimpse into another way of life that seemed wholesome and secure.
Enjoy the Beltane season as we in the Northern Hemisphere inch closer to the sun ( or further from the sun for those in the South). Just like geography. we may resonate with various latitudes and longitudes and still live on the same planet. Our seasons and weather often diverge, but we walk the same Earth together. So maybe curiosity can be good medicine for what ails us.
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Namaste
litebeing chronicles 
Many things are happening right now that are causing much division… Yet to stand back and observe and let go of judgement like you did with your friend as you tried to listen and learn and see from her perspective..
That is all any of us are doing… We SEE from a different perspective we are taught from a different perspective… And we then judge from that different perspective… Opening our minds to ALL is something we are far from perfect in doing, because we have been so ingrained within our own tunnel vision of seeing things from that teaching which is often passed on down to us via our parents our teachers our education system and our social circles of friends…
It is a wise person to can look and see many points of views and not hold judgement … But accept that we are all of us part of a whole… as we learn from each other as each present their separate sides…
If we take on board that we are ONE… That means those whom we think are divided in another view point are showing us options …
Its sad in todays world that people who express a different opinion are given labels… When in fact its good we are not all the same.. These people whom we think are on the wrong path perhaps teach us something deeper still about ourselves… For they challenge us to see not all is black and white…. That the whole is made up of a Kaleidoscope of colour and shade…. No one is right.. No one is wrong…
All is Experience…. ❤ ❤ ❤
Much love and I enjoyed your expression of thoughts Linda ❤
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Thank you Sue for such a deep thoughtful reply. Very few people, even my tribe at WP share my particular views about my government and related matters like the deep state. My views keep evolving and I am clearly not in a particular camp. I find it alienating that I find very few articles, blog posts or spoken opinions from folks that validate my views. I am working on making my peace with this as I am not interested in proving anything anymore. I do not need to be “right” but I do need to feel connected.
love, Linda ❤
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What is occurring world wide Linda no longer just about any political party… Its a war on Humanities Consciousness.. This battle, for that is what it is.. Has been planned long in advance… is DEEP and those whom we think lead us on both sides of the Pond are all connected…
Its about Good vs Evil… pure evil ….. The plan is meant to divide and conquer to pit souls against each other… Family members, friends… strangers….
The trick is to step above the entrapment. See the bigger picture unfolding, .. In any war there are casualties … We are seeing a different kind of wounded… as Mind Games and control is and always has been used but never to the scale we see today…
Remember we create our time lines… Manifesting our own realities…
Look forward to hearing from you Linda… Please use the private email I gave you, not the WP connected one as I will miss it… Lots of love… ❤
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My dad often said, “the best testimony is a life well lived’ – and yet, unless, individually, we find the ‘safe space’ to ask questions, listen to the answers, from others who are different from us, such things cannot happen – for any of us, overall. I’ve struggled with this same topic, much this year, and am once more reminded of a line from Miguel Ruiz’s book, “the Four Agreements” that talks about the wounds and trauma and ideas formed during our early years of being raised/domesticated humans’ within our particular families/society/geographical construct, and how, as we moved into adulthood, we humans just walk around as if we were physical lepers – someone bumps into us, a piece of us falls off/hurts – This year? Despite my very best efforts? Apologies that what I just ‘said’ bumped up against an open wound? Sigh – this year – I’ve come to the conclusion, maybe the silent hermit is better path for me to take, overall – both because I’ve no wish to inadvertently hurt others when I ask questions BUT I also have my own hurts that when others lash out in their own pain, that I may have just ‘activated’ by asking a question? to learn more? I, too, struggle with understanding – A. Why did it hurt so bad? and B. How did I end up in this place? and C. Have I learned anything other than just safer to ‘shut up, already?” – – :D. Some of the most ‘christian value’ folks I’ve experienced in everyday life, are, self-proclaimed, avowed atheists – on the other hand? All I have control over is myself – my choices – thus – I just keep plodding along! LOL – Thanks for ‘listening’ – and THANK you so ever much for asking a clarifying question on my prior comment! For myself? The fact you ‘asked?” tells me more about you/your heart than anything else! :). But that’s just me/one of my ‘I notice when this happens – it’s so rare, it’s really, really VALUED by me, now!” 😀
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You are very welcome. I read all my comments and will ask to clarify occasionally. I had clue how these sites were related since the blog is not organized by date. I agree that often those who follow Christian values do not identify as Christian. There are exceptions of course.
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