A solid foundation
Sun illuminates the Ottauquechee River in Woodstock. (Gareth Henderson Photo)
As I took a drive recently for some photos, I also took home a lesson about foundation. The soil, rock, and other elements under the surface are what we walk on, but it’s the sun – shining whether clouds cover it or not – that is foundational to life. Even when just one sunbeam breaks through a gray sky, that light touches everything around us.
Love operates in much the same way. Like the sun, it is always active – but its light can be hard to come by. In a moment, we can feel beset by swirling clouds of unrest, whether it be a local controversy or a national political issue that’s always on the news. It can all feel like a mountain of conflict that’s being built higher and higher, and entirely out of our control.
But there is something we can do. Instead of looking away, we always have the opportunity to look beyond the current conflict and our opinion of it – and look directly into that foundation of love that’s at the core of our very being. It’s a foundation made with the bedrock of compassion and goodness. There, we also find dependable strength and integrity that doesn’t wane when times are tough, that isn’t shaken by the winds of controversy, however daunting they seem.
This foundation of unfaltering love is tied to our innate goodness that propels us to do good to others, in deeds small and large. It enables us to love our neighbor, regardless of whether their opinions match up with ours. That’s because this love, this goodness, is already there. It’s already built within each of us, and it’s there for us to stand on and to use. Its fundamental role is to connect us with that same love and goodness within others. And it means we all have a foundation of good, the ever-present ability to be loving and to thereby connect with our fellow human beings for the betterment of all. Any conflict occurring in our lives is temporary, but goodness and love – those are permanent. And as such, we can make the choice today to step into those qualities and express them more freely. With that, we’ll be adding a little more peace into the world, each day.
— Gareth Henderson
