How many times I have been surprised, when meeting someone new, to discover that we have known each other all along.
I had that feeling again this last weekend, when I met up with a fellow Babbleholic at the Whidbey Kite Festival on Saturday. We drove for two hours, and another half hour on the ferry to get there, and spent a lovely afternoon with new friends enjoying the ocean breeze and the wonderful kites.
Earlier this year, a similar feeling, driving up to a different Babbler’s home, to be greeted by a smile that belongs to my grandmothers, my cousins, my family.
Feeling instantly safe, completely at ease, perfectly accepted (strange ideas and all) — what a gift! And how sadly rare in this world. I am generally ill-at-ease with people, even (or especially) with those I already know.
So, I don’t expect to be instantly comfortable with everyone. With anyone, in fact I am always startled when I come home to a new place, a new person. That sense of recognition of me in the space between myself and others…
Yet, there is a part of me that seems to know there is something in common… between one and another, between the other and my self.
How sad it would be to find myself always lonely with people — at odds with them, seeing only differences.
Perhaps the beginning of Peace is that point where “other” becomes “self.” Perhaps the essence of Peace is being comfortable enough with another person to both celebrate their unique qualities and point out their errors and strangeness… with humor, with love, intending not to chastise but to learn and support.
And the goal of Peace? Not merely an absence of war — absence needs to be filled.
No, the goal of Peace must be, ultimately, to fill the space between us. To know who someone is, and then to let the undeniably dangerous concept of Love fill the gap.
