Peace Begins With Me
   Ideas and Inspiration
August 2010
Issue #32
Greetings!

Welcome to the August edition of 'Peace Begins With Me - Ideas and Inspiration'.

This month's story is a continuation of the experience I described last month when my car broke down and changed my day. The rest of the story is even more amazing in terms of its potential to teach important life lessons. I hope you enjoy it.

I  want to express my gratitude to all of you who took the time to vote for me in the 'Next Top Spiritual Author' Contest. I am delighted to share with you that I have succeeded in making it into the third round of the competition. I am one of twenty-five authors being considered as 'the next top spiritual author". Very exciting!

Thank you for your continued dedication to living peaceful and joyful lives.
 
Ted
Ask And It Is Given
The Lessons Offered By A Young Man
Ted standing
Last month I shared my journey to make peace with my day after my car broke down 'beyond Hope'. While this experience was a perfect opportunity to demonstrate mastery over my mental and emotional bodies, there is more to the story.

 

The evening prior to my trip to Kelowna I shared a meal with friends. At one point during the evening the conversation shifted to each of us expressing dismay and disapproval about "the kind of person" who would  attend the 'ultimate fighting competition' to be held the following day in Vancouver. 'Ultimate Fighting' is a newly evolving 'sport' where combatants face one another in an octagonal cage and are permitted to use any tactic or strategy to overpower their opponent.

 

Each of us lamented at the lack of humanity and the crude brutality of the event. We freely opined on the kind of person who would attend such an event. Most of our comments were judgmental, derogatory, and dismissive. The conversation might easily be summed up by Eckhart Tolle's expression - "We've arrived (at higher consciousness), sorry you haven't."

 

The next day was the event I shared in my July newsletter - traveling to Kelowna, sunroof open, sun shining, my favourite music playing and then the 'check engine' light coming on. About one hour after I flagged down a passing motorist a tow truck arrived. My car was winched onto the flat bed and we headed into Hope. The tow truck operator delivered my disabled car and I to a small, one-man repair shop at the edge of town.

 

As I stood at the entrance of the garage and peered inside the dim and dirty workplace I noticed a man with well-worn hands and grease smeared across face poking and prodding the bowels of a large pick-up truck raised on the hoist. Hanging on each side of the pick-up's four corners were large, over sized tires. Anxiously peering under the vehicle was the vehicle's owner - a young man.

 

What I gathered from their conversation is the youth had just invested thousands of dollars in a new transmission only to notice fluid spewing out the back of his pride and joy on his initial run. Disheartened and discouraged he gingerly drove his vehicle into this same shop to have the source of the leak repaired.

 

The youth and I shared a common bond. We were both at the mercy of this unknown mechanic. The bond of our shared experience drew us together. The young man described his frustration at having only just picked up his vehicle from the transmission specialist earlier that morning, and his concern he would miss his intended rendezvous with a friend in Vancouver. "What takes you to Vancouver?" I inquired. "My buddy and I are off to the 'ultimate fighting competition." he replied.

 

I laughed inwardly at the synchronicity of the universe, hearing my own judgments repeated in my mind from the previous evening's conversation. It was not lost on me that I had declared, more a statement of judgment than genuine curiousity, "What kind of person would go to the UFC event?" The universe, it seems, had decided to honour my request.

 

Eventually the mechanic performed his magic and the monster truck was ready for the highway. While the young man cleaned himself up I consulted on the status of my own fate. The mechanic explained there were no parts available in this small town to repair my vehicle. It would take a few days before the repairs could be completed. The best news was the young man was headed to the fighting venue located just two blocks from my home. I ran to the driver's side window of the departing vehicle and asked the young man if he would give me a lift back to Vancouver.

 

During our two-hour journey I decided to wade into the topic of the previous evening's conversation. "What motivates you to attend this event?" I inquired with as much neutrality as I could muster. The young man shared the following story.


"My best friend is in Vancouver. He's being cared for in an extended care facility. Two months ago we were swimming in a local lake and my friend dived into an area that was too shallow. The impact with the ground caused a severing of his spinal cord. He's paralyzed from the neck down." the young man explained as he wiped tears from his eyes. "I haven't seen him since the accident. I called him and said I wanted to visit him and asked what he would like to do while I was there. It was his wish to attend the ultimate fighting competition."

 

I was struck silent by the power and yet tenderness of the young man's story. And in a moment all of my judgments and assumptions about "the kind of person who would attend such an event" were shattered. It wasn't the violence and crassness of the competition he desired. It was his wish to honour the request of his wounded friend that was the motivation behind his actions.

 

The universe had skillfully reflected back to me a mirror of my own unconsciousness and lack of compassion; my own violence and crassness. And in that moment I was grateful for this lesson in my journey to become a consistently loving and peaceful human being.

 

In peace and joy,

Ted
Words of Wisdom
"There is nothing either good or bad, yet thinking makes it so"

William Shakespeare
Thank you for sharing these few moments with me. I hope they offer you inspiration, heart, and hope for the future. Together, we can make our world more peaceful.

If you have questions or comments, I would be delighted to hear from you. You can email me at [email protected]

 Sincerely,
 
Ted Kuntz
Author, Peace Begins With Me
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