Delays

Sometimes the synchronicity of events is both inspiring and humbling.   I was reading a book on the plane the other day where the author wrote of a meeting she'd had with a Muslim woman.  The author herself had just been ordained as an interfaith minister and was enjoying the conversation when the woman she was speaking with remarked that all people should be as accepting as the author was.

In reading this I was reminded of how the focus and faith of my life is also of acceptance.  I looked about the plane and seeing that there was no one to dive into such a conversation with I settled back to enjoying the rest of the book and the flight.

But perhaps I should take a step back.  My journey had encountered a number of delays.  When we were about to take off we were held up by a man who'd arrived late.  Taking off some 20 minutes later we arrived late as expected from a 4.5 hour flight.  When I went to get a car home I found myself waiting in the wrong queue, and 30 minutes later found myself in a taxi heading home early in the morning. 

As I sat down in I felt myself in a centred, loving place.  I had spent much of the flight meditating, and as I settled back for the final stage of my journey I was very clear on the reality that these many delays were in Divine order.

The road conditions were icy.  The driver informed me that he would be driving very carefully and hoped I did not mind (another delay obviously).  I was genuinely at peace when I replied it would be no problem, and that the world would be a better place for his thoughtfulness.  He then explained that he had 7 children waiting for him at home and he appreciated my patience.

You might notice that I had many opportunities to get frustrated but because of my choice to stay centred and my spiritual practice I was open for what was to come.  I celebrate this growth on my part - I have struggled with such events in the past.

With the ice so gently broken the conversation continued.  Karim (this was the driver's name) and I started to talk about the world and the state of it.  To each comment he made concerning the challenges of the world I offered the perspective that I could settle for 'being the change I wanted to see in the world.'  It wasn't long before Karim spotted the spiritual context and the conversation shifted to Islam and what it meant to him.  As I conversed with him I spoke from a place of acceptance.  I commented that the world perhaps had missed the subtleties of history and the many hundreds of years of scientific and academic accomplishments by the Islamic world.  I also commented upon the fundamentalism of the crusades, and how that most of the major religions have undergone some violent phases in their history.

Looking directly at me in the rearview mirror he said, "There should be more people like you in the world.  Your attitude is an exceptional one and it is a pleasure to have met you."   Needless to say the passage I was reading only a few hours earlier jumped into mind.  Apparently I can manifest fairly quickly when I put my heart into it.  But the key message here is that had I not been in a place of true peace, and in the right taxi at the perfect time, I never would have had this wonderful conversation.

Karim, thank you.  I consider myself on a path of sharing love, acceptance and peace with others.  It is very touching when a stranger tells me that my coming from such a place makes me (in their minds) an exceptional person.  I do not need to be told this to live as I do, but it touches my heart when I am.

Delays
You may be later than expected,
delays may grab and shake your mind,
to frustrated destinations,
through inflated sense of time.

Think now for a moment,
of the truth of time and space.
Why let heat of moment's passing,
infringe upon your grace?

Regardless of delays,
that in truth do not exist,
the only present predicaments,
are centred moments missed.

When you come to know this,
your journey will ebb and flow,
time will change its meaning,
and space will shift to know.

Copyright (c) 2009, Carmien Owen