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May 2007
As we go through our daily lives, each of us is the giver and receiver of numerous blessings, but most of the time we’re oblivious to both, says Dr. Rachel Naomi Remen, the author of My Grandfather’s Blessings: Stories of Strength, Refuge and Belonging. In her book, Remen suggests that becoming mindful of these gifts, which she calls “blessing life,” and one’s ability to both give and receive them, is an important element in living a meaningful, fulfilled life. “Many simple, ordinary things that we do can affect those around us in profound ways: the unexpected phone call, the brief touch, the willingness to listen generously, the warm smile or wink of recognition…Big messages come in small packages,” she says. Remen is a Bay Area physician who has worked with chronically ill individuals for 25 years. In anecdotes and stories in the book, published in 2000, she recalls the lessons she learned from her patients and her grandfather, an orthodox rabbi and Kabbalah scholar who taught her the true meaning of blessings and service to others. Blessing life is a state of mind that isn’t easily reached in today’s culture, which reveres control, self-sufficiency, competence and independence, Remen admits. “As individuals and as a culture we have developed a sort of contempt for anything in ourselves and in others that has needs, and is capable of suffering. It is not a gentle world.” People with serious illnesses, explains Remen, often let go of the mental garbage that clutters their lives. They create openings – often for the first time – that enable them to be aware of what they receive from others. Remen encourages her readers to get deeply and personally involved in things they care about. In retrospect, she notes, she won’t remember the times she was “cool,” but instead, “I will be armed only by the times I cared passionately, risked everything to make a difference and knew who I was.” “Repairing the world may require us to find a deep connection to the life around us, to substitute the capacity to befriend life for our relentless pursuit of greater expertise. « Previous Article |
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