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\nIt's in the small acts that we build a life: the way we look at one another, the way we talk to one another, the way we listen. At these times when so much of what we rely upon is being called into question, what does it take for us to see that it's these small acts that also shape who we are? Can we learn to be the ones who, a step at a time, bring to the world exactly what we are longing for? Can we learn to be the ones who relate to one another with the dignity and sacredness that's the possibility for all human beings? This episode of Turning Towards Life is a conversation about reciprocity, kindness and simple acts of mutual recognition, hosted as always by Lizzie Winn and Justin Wise of Thirdspace.
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\nThis is Turning Towards Life, a weekly live 30 minute conversation hosted by Thirdspace in which Justin Wise and Lizzie Winn dive deep into big questions of human living. Find us on FaceBook to watch live and join in the lively conversation on this episode. We\u2019re also on YouTube, and as a podcast on Apple, Google and Spotify. You can find videos of every episode, and more about the project on the Turning Towards Life website.
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\nOur source this week is brought to us by Justin, and is written by Danusha Lam\xe9ris
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\n\n\n\nSmall Kindnesses
\nBy Danusha Lam\xe9ris
\nI\u2019ve been thinking about the way, when you walk
\ndown a crowded aisle, people pull in their legs
\nto let you by. Or how strangers still say \u201cbless you\u201d
\nwhen someone sneezes, a leftover
\nfrom the Bubonic plague. \u201cDon\u2019t die,\u201d we are saying.
\nAnd sometimes, when you spill lemons
\nfrom your grocery bag, someone else will help you
\npick them up. Mostly, we don\u2019t want to harm each other.
\nWe want to be handed our cup of coffee hot,
\nand to say thank you to the person handing it. To smile
\nat them and for them to smile back. For the waitress
\nto call us honey when she sets down the bowl of clam chowder,
\nand for the driver in the red pick-up truck to let us pass.
\nWe have so little of each other, now. So far
\nfrom tribe and fire. Only these brief moments of exchange.
\nWhat if they are the true dwelling of the holy, these
\nfleeting temples we make together when we say, \u201cHere,
\nhave my seat,\u201d \u201cGo ahead \u2014 you first,\u201d \u201cI like your hat.\u201d
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\nfrom 'Bonfire Opera', University of Pittsburgh Press
\nhttp://www.danushalameris.com/
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\n\n\nPhoto by Rod Long on Unsplash\n