From Mark via Shirt of Flame:
Picking up trash has allowed me to understand that you don’t start with serenity, you end with it. You have to really examine your life, and ask yourself what you are accepting that you can change; and what you are trying to change that you need to accept. You would be surprised at how much misfiling is going on -- with all of us.
I realized that if I can be kind to an inanimate object--the street--I can certainly to be kinder to real live people. There’s Louise, from the Congo, to whom I give all of the cans and bottles I collect. She practically supports a household back in Brazzaville. There was Chris Z., a heroin addict who lived on a mattress on the corner. I helped him get a license and find his long-lost half-brother. I make an effort to say hello to all the homeless, and often ask their names, because its’ a terribly thing to be invisible. Everyone needs to be seen.
It would be nice to go back to Europe, to travel the world. But it’s amazing how far you can go within a mile of your house, just by paying attention.
I love picking up trash because it’s taught me that living along spiritual lines doesn’t have to happen in a church or a synagogue or a monastery. I don’t have to be in the lotus position or on my knees. There needn’t be any daylight between having a relationship with God and all the day-to-day practical choices we make.
God isn’t over there, God is right here. God is now.
Go read the whole story at Heather's blog by clicking HERE. Mark also has his own blog, The Trash Whisperer, click HERE to visit him.
