December 18-B, 2022

Loneliness--Aloneness--
comes about by being unseen, 
or, seen and unaccepted,
for who we are.

Too many of us hide,
conceal,
mask,
deny
who we are
in order to avoid
the isolation
of being rejected
and labeled "Unacceptable."

I make it a part of my practice
to see and accept people
for who they are,
how they are,
when they are,
where they are,
why they are.

The gift of recognition/acceptance
is a powerful affirmation
that we belong
just as we are,
and is a reminder to everyone
who is capable of being reminded
that the Buddha came 
as "one this come,"
and Jesus spoke of himself
as "the son of man,"
that is to say,
"one of you,"
"a plain, ordinary, human being
who is nothing special
by any reckoning"--
and said,
"Inasmuch as you have done it,
or failed to do it,
to one of the least 
of my brothers and sisters,
you have done it,
or failed to do it,
unto me!"

What made the Buddha and Jesus
the Buddha and Jesus
is the same thing 
that makes you, you,
and me, me.

And, anybody who doesn't know,
or care,
about that,
is afraid--or ashamed--
of being who they are.

A terrible, tragic, sad, thing
to be afraid, or ashamed, of.

Do your part in turning the light around
by seeing and accepting,
affirming and celebrating,
who you look at--
and look, smiling, at everyone,
unless doing so 
puts you in harm's way
(And that, too, is a stigma
upon who we have become as a culture,
a world).

–0–