While on a late summer’s silent retreat this weekend and after a particularly deep and rich meditation for what seemed like hours, I decided to explore the facility where I was staying. I wandered into a sunlit corner lounge and found an empty room with a large-screen TV that at that moment showed the seating of the last dignitaries for Senator Ted Kennedy’s funeral. I didn’t leave.
I stayed for well over an hour as family members and dignitaries such as President Obama eulogized the man who served 47 years in Washington and was the only one of four Kennedy brothers to die of natural causes. Here is what arose within me as a result.
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Our lives are not ultimately measured by our imperfections but by the caring and compassion we express for others. We spend untold hours of our life struggling with our insecurities, when perhaps our very foibles are the keys to keeping us humble enough to reach out to others. I believe it is by our caring and compassion for others that we are truly measured.
Having been born into a rich family with the veritable “silver spoon” in his mouth, Ted Kennedy had no reason to be concerned for the poor and disadvantaged. Yet he did. He is an example of the best of affluence, the person who without the stress of meeting his survival needs was free to pay attention to the survival needs of others.
In light of the current dissention and conflict over providing guaranteed healthcare to every citizen, it would be well to consider his example as he lived the words Jesus spoke found in Matthew 24:40 – “Whatever you have done for the least of these, you have done it for me.”
If we could all, in our own little sphere of influence, express our caring and compassion without worrying about our personal imperfections, the world would indeed be a better place.
