We're in it together

I found myself pondering today what taking refuge in the community means. Cynthia and I were brainstorming ideas for encouraging people who've dropped out of the life of the Center to come back. I want so much to let them know that we're here to be a part of their support system. Then I came across this marvelous poem by Maya Angelou:

Alone

Lying, thinking
Last night
How to find my soul a home
Where water is not thirsty
And bread loaf is not stone
I came up with one thing
And I don't believe I'm wrong
That nobody,
But nobody
Can make it out here alone.

Alone, all alone
Nobody, but nobody
Can make it out here alone.

There are some millionaires
With money they can't use
Their wives run round like banshees
Their children sing the blues
They've got expensive doctors
To cure their hearts of stone.
But nobody
No, nobody
Can make it out here alone.

Alone, all alone
Nobody, but nobody
Can make it out here alone.

Now if you listen closely
I'll tell you what I know
Storm clouds are gathering
The wind is gonna blow
The race of man is suffering
And I can hear the moan,
'Cause nobody,
But nobody
Can make it out here alone.

Alone, all alone
Nobody, but nobody
Can make it out here alone.

The basic meditation principles of compassion and loving-kindness mean that we don't have to make it alone. We're here for each other. And that's what the Center is all about. It helps to meditate with others. It helps to interact - to share and to listen to each other's awarenesses and insights.

Just being together makes all the difference.