I’ve been thinking of late about our justice system in light of the magnitude of condoned lying. I think of this in light of my mentor and dear friend Bob (Robert Kimball) who died a short while ago. Bob was at different times Dean and Professor of Theology at the Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, California. He was a rare light, speaking and writing about love and law privately in his later years.
He said this to me, and it stuck: “A society chooses its direction and ours chose Law to the Exclusion of Love.”
Love brings with it human touch and to Bob, “all touch is of consequence”.
Here’s what he meant by that:
When we touch others it’s difficult to lie. We can’t hide from showing ourselves and soften our hearts in meeting. And meeting, according to Martin Buber, is where the Sacred resides. We are in this image, but seem to have the ability to forget or diminish.
The Buddhists remind us that it takes daily practice to remember. Teachers like Gurdjieff teach that unless we do work consistently we will revert to acting as machines.
I believe it’s time for us to get to know our stranger—the person inside that we’ve been ignoring for so long. Our own bright light. It’s time to practice and do our daily work so we hold a bright light where it has dimmed.
