Poetry group this month with Ilene and Carol jumped off with the theme of forgiveness. Ilene said once she got into forgiveness, it hit her, “ok, this is the deal.” She led forgiveness workshops and wrote, “nothing is as deeply raw as the time leading up to the act of forgiving and nothing comes from a deeper well. Forgiveness exemplifies the path of the spiritual life in all its fullness, beauty, and demands.”*
I like that she included “demands” on the list. Carol agreed, and said, “yes, it’s not all duckies and bunnies!”
This is a typical poetry group discussion, where we go from checking in with one another, to one of us reading poems, to all of us talking about whatever comes up from the reading and listening. Our monthly meetings last about an hour and a half.
I have been thinking about something a long time and I wanted to ask them, my panel of people. Mostly because they won’t laugh or joke it off, they will consider my question and answer it. Sincerely.
What is generosity of spirit? What does being a generous spirit mean?
Ilene says the word safety comes to mind. Someone who is generous of spirit feels safe to be around. She said, “they feel safe themselves, and so we feel safe to be around them.”
It might explain why some people can’t access a generosity of spirit. They might not feel safe enough to feel or express generosity.
The theme of forgiveness came up again when I asked my friend Kristi about this.
Kristi said “a generous spirit is one that is able to extend forgiveness to others. The generous person is able to reflect, to see the other’s perspective, and to understand that all of us make mistakes. “
Suddenly it occurs to me as I write this that I am receiving a lot of generosity of spirit from others. What I hope to do with this is take it in and recycle it back out. I want to reflect it back to those helping me and to others who I have no idea what they are doing, but they are here, along with me. We are together in some way.
Finding delight fuels generosity. If I’m delighted, I’m generous, giving. I need to be open and available to delight.
Generosity is stored in the lungs. That is what one qigong book said. It’s great to use this word in meditation, or just while breathing. The lungs expand and promote generosity. I think singing also generates expansion, generosity.
My take-away from these conversations is that we need safe people, we need generous people, and we need very forgiving people. Let’s do what it takes to become these people, one breath at a time.
- Ilene Cummings, Forgiveness is Masterpiece
Photos:
Snow scene at 25th and Harris
The rest are from: Delta Ponds, my back yard, and Hendrick’s park.