Right Relationship

It's important to remember our place, our relationship to all things.  

This line of thinking sparked a memory of an old story and I credit Ken Cohen for bringing the story to my attention in his book, Honoring the Medicine.  Here it is:

An elder and chief from Vancouver Island, British Columbia, was invited by the Pope to visit the Vatican as a representative of her nation.  Grandmother was pleased with this recognition.  The Pope took Grandmother on a tour of the magnificent buildings, art, and archives.  Later, when it was just the two of them and they were in the basement of the Basilica, the Pope pointed to a closed red door that was barely visible among the rows of sacred texts.

He explained in a hushed whisper, "Only a few great leaders have seen what lies beyond that door.  I escorted the Dalai Lama into that room, and now I am going to show you."  The Pope opened the door.

The splendor of the Vatican contrasted sharply with the simple view that greeted Grandmother: 15-foot square chamber in the center of which were a wood chair and a small table.  An antique looking gold colored telephone was on the table. 

The Pope pointed, and said, "Ever wonder how I speak to God?"  Knowing that Grandmother would welcome a chance to speak with the Almighty, the Pope continued, "It's a long distance call, but it reaches.  You only need a credit card," he smiled.

Grandmother shook her head with regret and explained, "I am poor, so I must decline the honor."  Yet, she was filled with gratitude for the offer.

A year later, while the Pope was visiting Western Canada, he received an invitation to attend a longhouse welcoming feast in his honor at a small village on Vancouver Island.  The Pope accepted and was pleased to see his friend.  After the nightlong festivities, as dawn was breaking, Grandmother invited the Pope for a walk around the village.  The cool fog was just beginning to lift and he could see the cedars and the sea.

To his surprise, he noticed a small simple cedarwood shack with a red door.  The Pope was incredulous. "You don't mean to tell me....?"  "Yes," replied Grandmother, calmly.  They went inside, and the room was barren, except for a red telephone sitting in the dirt. The Pope smiled and Grandmother said, "You won't need a credit card though. From here, it's a local call."

The stories told by indigenous people do such a wonderful job of teaching us to remember place, with each other, in our community, our nation, on Earth, and in the cosmos.   Wherever we are, we are there.

Humility

Today is extraordinary.  Not because we have snow here in Seattle, the first of the season, and not because we are coming into the Holidays, with all of its festivities. 

Today is extraordinary, because I sit here typing on my computer looking out my Southward-facing windows onto my little porch with my plants all sprinkled with snow and I received a visitor.  The most beautiful hummingbird, green and red, came right to my door, pecked his beak on my window as if looking to get inside, and stayed there flicking his wings, looking right at me, for what seemd like minutes, probably seconds, but I stopped breathing, in those seconds.  I'd never been that close, though separated by a pane of glass, so close. 

When I started breathing again, a big smile spread across my face.  I felt like that little kid I once was, and then more grown up and not so little as time flew by, waiting impatiently on Christmas Eve, in and amongst all the bright tiny lights and the happy colored wrapping paper, that air of expectation, and awe, and wonder.

I have the lightest of hearts right now.  And it made me think what is means to be humble, to have sincere humility. The tiniest little creature, with what I understand, has the most valient of hearts.  And its own super powers - the ability to fly backwards! 

I know that Level 5 Leadership comprises humility and will.  I am pleased to have had this reminder from the hummingbird today, a true symbol of what leadership - and joy! - can look like this, in these times.