You have to get below the roiling waves of anger
You have to stand shoulder-deep in sadness
Then you can water your compassion and embrace one person after another
Then you can see yourself in the person aggrieved
Then you can see yourself in the person afflicting the aggrieved
Then you can see yourself in the person remaining indifferent or afraid
Then you can learn three more of your true names
Then you can breathe in deeply all the tears
Then you can breathe out the faintest hint of a smile
Then you can transform sadness into metta
Then you can move very slowly
They you can speak very softly so as not to press someone’s buttons
Then you can look in each direction without fear
The you can know each elder is your parent
Then you can realize that each youth is your child
Then you can be peace in the very here and how
You can start now
This will take you decades
So, go ahead, smile—
This is the path
–from novel-in progress, Our Heroic and Ceaseless 24/7 Struggle against Tsuris
