Seeing beyond the noise
A view of the Ottauquechee River from River Street in Woodstock, Vt. (Gareth Henderson File Photo)
Fittingly, on the most frigid morning of the year, I happened upon a documentary on Saturday about climbing Mount Everest. What a breathtaking history, of determination, learning, overcoming obstacles, and of those who reached the summit and those who did not.
What struck me the most about the history was the collective fellowship among all Everest explorers, from George Mallory and Andrew Irvine right up to the present day, and how they did not view each other through a lens of victory and failure. Instead, they’ve shared a mutual sense of community as fellow mountaineers and explorers, forever joined together by the virtue of the journey. In the earliest expeditions, their equipment was woefully unprepared for the conditions, and yet great achievements were made. The driving force was something bigger than themselves, and it was that spirit that urged them on to heights many thought were impossible.
Today, the world finds itself on a long journey, and, like those climbing Everest, we can’t tell what the outcome will be. The fabric of society indeed feels awfully strained, not only because of the pandemic and the economy, but also the partisan division that seems to grow more acute with each passing day. There is a strong focus on who wins and who loses with each decision made, each bill passed, each ruling handed down.
However, at the same time, we each have an opportunity to take our own experience, our own consciousness, beyond the present struggle and know that goodness can still unfold amid challenges. We can help bring any situation to a higher place — a healing place — by bringing thoughts of love and goodness to it, because thoughts of peace impact the whole situation for the better, even from a distance.
With that approach, we can advance beyond a view limited to personal gains and losses into a new space where everyone can benefit from a wholesome sense of community that works for the good of everyone.
We are greater than any conflict, or any apparent victory or failure. We’re part of the world’s grand journey, and as such, we exist within a network of lovingkindness that is continual, available to all, and constantly with each of us. Challenges abound during life’s uphill climb, and hope can at times appear distant. But the sunlight of good still shines for us all. And the more our minds remain open to even the slightest glimpse of light shining in, the more we will see that love is shining all around us, everywhere.
— Gareth Henderson
