Music Dear friends,
Very often we find that life can present us with challenges.
For all of us,
Certainly some of the time,
Life can be something of a test or a challenge.
Of course,
If there was no challenge,
No test,
We'd die from boredom,
And that's not a very exciting prospect.
The question is,
How do we deal with obstacles and difficulties and opportunities which life presents to us?
Sometimes on bad days,
The tasks ahead of us can seem overwhelming.
We feel that we are caught in the middle of some type of dense jungle.
It is that thought,
And the idea that we need to help one another along,
Which is the inspiration for this talk.
So I'd like us to imagine for a little while that we are in a jungle and trying to make progress.
We are trying to find a way through to a clearing,
An oasis where relaxation and peace and happiness can be found.
Although this is a talk rather than a meditation,
I invite you to take up your meditation position as comfortably as you can.
Begin by just closing your eyes and taking in a deep breath,
Consciously filling your lungs with life-giving air and then breathe out fully.
I'll pause now to allow you to repeat this exercise one or two or three times.
Welcome back.
You are alive,
Amazingly alive.
So we give thanks for the fact that you are stunningly alive here,
Now,
In this place.
Just become aware of the fact of your existence and you'll notice that it's nothing short of pure magic.
Now,
Refreshed with that life-giving air and that thought concerning your uniqueness,
Imagine that you are in a little group of worried travellers lost in a dense jungle or a forest.
We would never agree that an aeroplane should be piloted by a committee.
Someone has to lead,
So in this situation,
Why not you?
So you take in one deep breath and you decide you will offer your services.
You resolve to be,
For this group,
A light in the darkness,
A rock of steadiness in a storm,
A fateful guide along the way.
So on we go,
In search of the clearing,
With you leading the way,
Making your path,
Clearing foliage ahead.
Your group may be confronted with low-hanging branches and tendrils.
You may find dangerous obstacles and potential hazards as you struggle to create something in the nature of a track.
You work on these,
Opening the path so that the members of the group can follow more safely and more easily.
There are tangled branches and roots rising up from the ground.
Each of these a potential booby trap that might trip people up.
So you systematically grapple with the obstacles,
Knocking them to one side.
Night falls and it's necessary to light a campfire,
Carefully so that you won't cause a tragedy in the forest.
You and your companions sit down and you find support and refreshment in one another's company.
Food and drink are shared,
Stories are told,
Songs are sung,
Music played.
The wearied are refreshed,
The timid reassured.
Progress is reported and you settle down for the night before waking up later on to day two.
Each day presents its own challenges,
But the group have agreed to replace the word challenge with the more hopeful word opportunity to make the tasks easier to tackle.
A type of find and replace all with positivity in mind.
Some people find it difficult to navigate a stream,
So you lay down some stepping stones and once again a little more progress is made and the group moves on.
Boulders are encountered so you need to mobilise the stronger members of your group to clear the obstacles.
On the journey certain people are sure to raise doubts as to the direction of travel.
Some even question the need for travel at all.
Why don't we stay here,
Stay put?
They need reassurance that although this is not the only way to the clearing,
It is one way and the destination is fixed in your mind.
This is the way you will lose people who wish to follow a different path when some alternative routes suggest themselves.
This could be a cause of worry,
It could even give rise to self doubt,
But in your moments of quiet reflection you renew your determination to press on.
You are the leader after all.
And then,
Without warning,
You fall ill and you discover yourself dependent on those whom you have led up to this point.
You find you have to accept help and you accept it gratefully,
Reluctantly maybe.
Your illness is a reminder that we have to learn to accept constant change.
The only thing that is unchanging in this life is change itself.
Constant change,
As they say,
Is here to stay.
When you first set out on this path you never questioned your own capacity.
You never questioned your health,
Much less the possibility of your own mortality.
These thoughts just never arose.
In your youth you are full of energy,
Flush with enthusiasm,
Alive with vision and irrepressible determination.
Now,
With some surprise,
You look around and you notice that you are leading a group of people who are mostly fitter than you are.
Many are younger by far than you are.
And you suddenly have to come to terms with the reality of your own decline and the inevitability of your own end.
These are thoughts and concerns that never crossed your mind in your youth.
It's not easy to see oneself displaced by others,
Outpaced in virtue or in performance or in fitness,
Health,
Having to step aside in favour of the young.
As has been said,
How bitter is the contemplation of one's own eclipse?
With the passage of time all of us have felt that secret pang,
But we've learned from it.
We have become aware of our own undiscovered weaknesses,
Our buried tendency to want to be in control and to remain in control.
In other words,
We have become aware of our own tendency to pride and even inflated ideas about our own self-importance.
But let's forgive ourselves by calling it youthful and therefore excusable,
Innocent pride.
But finally,
The passage of time allows for reflection on the main lessons to be learned in life.
Now,
With the clearing not very far away,
You gratefully accept the help of others,
Tentatively at first.
Finally,
And with a graceful letting go,
You find yourself the former leader,
Now being led.
You,
The former path-clearer,
Having the path cleared for you.
And inexorably,
You yourself being carried by others to that clearing and across that threshold that you have sought for so long.
The message of this talk is that we all need to hold out a helping hand on life's journey.
It is,
As the song says,
A long,
Long road from which there is no return.
So on the way,
The idea is that we share and we care for one another.
And the lesson for us is that a time comes when we each need to find the humility and the grace to accept the help of others.
We need to give others the courtesy of allowing them to help us in our time of need.
A time which,
In the end,
Comes knocking on all our doors.
May you find the inspiration and the strength to be of help to others on this amazing journey that is your individual life.
And may you graciously accept the help that others will generously offer you in your time of need.
This giving and receiving of help is proof of our common humanity and a noble characteristic for which we should be constantly grateful.
May you be blessed by being both on the giving end and the receiving end of kindness always.
Namaste.
Thank you.
