Yumi and I are sitting in front of our building. It is Day 12 of the Resistance. We are watching in amazement as hundreds of people are marching together.
They are young and old. They are black, white, brown, yellow. They wear masks and carry signs. “No Justice. No Peace. Black Lives Matter.”
And this sign about Mr. Floyd’s last words:
The street is littered with empty water bottles and other trash. I notice a woman bending down and picking up the trash, putting it in big black plastic bags.
I walk over to thank her. “That is what I can do,” she says.
And so I tell her: “I will never be able to thank all the people who did what they could do when my parents fled the Nazis. A glass of water, a bed for the night, a bandage for a wound. And so today I say thank you to you.” With deep understanding, she said, “I love you!”
As I look around I see people doing what they can do, like setting tables filled with water bottles, sunscreen, snacks. I think of Rahul Dubey. the man who opened his door to 70 demonstrators to spend the night so that they would not be arrested for breaking curfew. You can read more about him and what he did, here.
Yumi and I also stood with them during the protests on the steps of the Masonic Temple that is close to our apartment.
All these people are incredible humans.
What comes to my mind is the word “crisitunity.” The meaning of “crisitunity” is to discover the seeds of opportunity embedded in a time of crisis. It is like the Chinese word for crisis, which is composed of two characters: “wei” danger and “gee” opportunity.
An ancient Chinese saying tells us: “Great blessings lie ahead for the one who knows the secret of finding the seed of opportunity within each crisis.” Albert Einstein expands on this idea and says: “Out of clutter find simplicity. From discord find harmony.” And he adds: “In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.”
Like so many others, I have been wondering: “What else can I do at this vital time?” And, I have been asking myself: “Am I doing enough?”
And then the Kosher Choreographer (my nickname for G-d) placed this message from the poet, Lindsay Young on my desk:
I know my Lane. It is loving my 29th husband with every cell of my being, and it is giving the couples who land with me a place to practice living in deep connection. Yumi and I have embraced the “crisitunity” of living in a global pandemic, and we are safely settled in our nest, with brand-new “muscles” for living life even more fully.I am back to doing my beloved work with couples. It took some time for me to fully embrace the possibility of working virtually. And I have done so with renewed vigor and an even deeper sense of purpose, born out of our shared human “cristinuity.” I can say with total confidence that I am definitely occupying my Lane, and doing there what I can do.
I am putting on the horizon the vision that all of us around the planet do what we can do in our own Lanes to ensure justice for all.
We pray that, inspired by this “crisitunity,” we will all together birth a planet which is journeying step by conscious step toward relational maturity and a return to connection, essence to essence, with one another.