ALL talk about love, unity, peace, harmony, etc., would
sound hollow unless we learn how to enter into the minds and hearts of the
people. Until then, our affirmations of these values are like clutching at
straws, chasing the wind, grasping at shadows.
It’s truly amazing to see many of us contented only with some physical,
emotional, or even social, political and economic maneuverings to effect
what we hold most dear in life—our love for one another, our concern for unity
and things like those.
We need to enter into the mind and heart of everyone because that is where love
and unity start and are maintained and developed. The mind and the heart are
where decisions are made and convictions reinforced.
More than that, it is in the mind and heart where the fundamental relation
between us and our Creator, and among ourselves, is established and kept going.
They comprise the very core of our ultimate identity. We are what our mind and
heart contain. We are where our mind and heart are engaged.
When efforts to build love and unity are not rooted in the mind and heart of
the people, then these efforts would just be hanging by a thread. A little
disturbance, and everything falls apart. They don’t last long. They cannot go
beyond the limits of space and time. They cannot leap into eternity.
Of course, considering that our mind and heart are created beings, we have to
understand that their true essence is when they are grounded on God, our
Creator and Father. That’s when they truly become the principle of love and
unity, since the essence of God of whom we are his image and likeness is
precisely love and unity.
Consider Christ’s words. “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in
me and I in him will bear much fruit, for without me you can do nothing.” (Jn
15,5) And, “I pray that they all may be one, as you, Father, in me, and I in
you, that they also may be one in us...” (Jn 17,20)
This union and relation with God is not a matter of genetics nor of some
social, political maneuvers, etc. It is spiritual, and made real in us, always
with God’s grace, through the workings of our mind and heart.
We need to train our mind and heart to get engaged with God in all
circumstances of our life, whether we are high with successes and victories or
low with failures and losses.
We have to constantly ask ourselves what our thoughts are, where the trajectory
of our desires is, etc. Do they begin and end with God, or they simply revolve
around ourselves and the things of this world?
In our effort to help others to be truly instruments of love, peace, unity,
etc., we ought to somehow know their thoughts and desires. We have to learn to
read minds and fathom hearts.
It’s not an easy task, but neither is it impossible. With the proper motivation
and with the proper skills at observing, listening and understanding others, we
can manage to see where the mind and heart of the others tilt.
Obviously, everyone has to be encouraged to be simple and transparent,
reassuring them that it is worthwhile to be so, since to be otherwise would
just complicate our life and bring us to undesirable ends.
Thus, it is important that we continue to make more channels of communication
with God and among ourselves, and that they are always open and available. How
important it is therefore for all of us to learn how to pray, how to meditate
on God’s word and how to have personal chats and confidences among ourselves.
This is a big challenge for all of us today, since even if the communication
technologies are practically proliferating, the irony is that they seem to be
making us more self-absorbed, and egging us to be more self-seeking, rather
than truly communicating with God and with everybody else.
We need to correct this phenomenon by seeing to it that though these
technologies are very useful, they are not supposed to replace our
heart-to-heart conversation with God and with everybody else.
There are now even parents who don’t know their children well, precisely
because they don’t anymore have family get-togethers, and much less, personal
conversations.
When we manage to enter into the mind and heart of others, we will soon realize
that we are in the best position to guide and help them.
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