June 23

HUMILITY MONTH: DAY 23: “Every person that you meet knows something you don’t; learn from them.” ― H. Jackson Brown Jr.

My lessons have sometimes come from the most unlikely of places and people and times. I have worked with some of the biggest social misfits and “untouchables”. While they do not have leprosy, they are unwanted by many social groups and have been put into places where they can be kept “safe” from us and we from them.

I work with addicts, severely mentally ill people, the homeless, and convicted criminals. While I do not use these labels for them, most people do.

I call them by their names and can carry in my heart a great deal of love and companionship for these folks. Why? Because I do not judge them on what they do; I love them because they are God’s kids and have sometimes forgotten that.

As have I. I got to this recovery thing with no sense of being God’s kid. In fact, I was sure I was the least likely person to ever find a concept of God in this thing. And I have truly been schooled by those who most people avoid at all costs.

My “family” in this world today consists of people who were rejected and thrown away by the culture in which we live. I certainly was. I was rejected and thrown away by my family, my peers growing up, anyone who met me in the first half of my life wanted to stay as far away from me as possible.

To say that I have been taught by those who are socially thrown away is an understatement. I have learned so much unconditional love by holding another person who may not appear to have all their faculties. I can comfort them and be comforted by them. Their ability to see through the BS around them is extraordinary.

I love it when I encounter one of my clients in a social setting and they frighten other folks, who watch in horror as I hug them and talk with them. A few minutes before, they may have appeared to be completely detached from reality. They remember me most of the time. Their heart remembers my love for them and they respond. We all do.

I was so terribly broken and depleted when I got to this thing. And I was given acceptance and love from the very first day. I began to thrive, like a plant that was dying of thirst.

And I have been a champion of those who are broken and depleted since that day. I have seen, first hand, the healing powers of love and kindness triumph over punitive measures and fear. And I have learned the most amazing things from the amazing people I get to meet.

I have learned that love and heart are the only things that matter. That I don’t care about how much you have or have had, what you do in the world; but only how it is done and what you love in this world.

We are all fed by our interactions with others. The exchange of energy and love we get from each other is addictive and powerful. It happens when we have 5 minutes to listen to someone’s heart, to look into the eyes of the people we talk with, when we can honestly share with another the hope they are desperate to find. These happen in a place of no judgment and total acceptance.

And they happen, quite often, when we are open to learning something new and letting it live in our lives for a moment. What are you learning today?