THE WOODCARVER
Khing, the master carver, made a bell stand
Of precious wood. When it was finished,
All who saw it were astounded. They said it must be
The work of spirits.
The Prince of Lu said to the master carver:
"What is your secret?”
Khing replied: "I am only a workman:
I have no secret. There is only this:
When I began to think about the work you commanded
I guarded my spirit, did not expend it
On trifles, that were not to the point.
I fasted in order to set
My heart at rest.
After three days fasting,
I had forgotten gain and success.
After five days
I had forgotten praise or criticism.
After seven days
I had forgotten my body
With all its limbs.
"By this time all thought of your Highness
And of the court had faded away.
All that might distract me from the work had vanished.
I was collected in the single thought
Of the bell stand.
"Then I went to the forest
To see the trees in their own natural state.
When the right tree appeared before my eyes,
The bell stand also appeared in it, clearly, beyond doubt.
All I had to do was to put forth my hand and begin.
"If I had not met this particular tree
There would have been
No bell stand at all.
"What happened?
My own collected thought
Encountered the hidden potential in the wood;
From this live encounter came the work
Which you ascribe to the spirits.”
- Chuang Tzu from The Way of Chuang Tzu by Thomas Merton
Lees die gedig oor en oor. Laat die gedig toe om jou te lees. Wat gebeur hier? Mens kan tesisse daaroor skryf, maar wat druk dit jou op die hart? En dan lees jy hierdie woorde van Paulus.
Ek druk julle dit op die hart:
Laat julle lewenswandel in ooreenstemming wees
met die roeping wat julle van God ontvang het.
Ef. 4:1
Die ouer vertalings van die Bybel gebruik die woord “regskapenheid” as daar gepraat word van integriteit. Volledige eerlikheid. Onomkoopbaarheid. Parker Palmer skryf van die “rejoining of soul and role”. Daar op die plek waar my “onstage performance” en my “backstage self” een word. Al is dit vlietend en vlugtig. Waar ek uiteindelik ‘n onverdeelde – ‘n HEEL lewe – kan lei. Is dit wat Paulus bedoel as hy maan dat ons lewenswandel in ooreenstemming wees met die roeping wat ons van God ontvang het?
By InVia het ons ‘n paar “voertuie” (Enneagram, Onderskeidingstydperke, Bergskool, Sirkels) waar ons hoop dat ons sentimeter vir sentimeter, sirkel vir sirkel, stilte vir stilte, sekonde vir sekonde, hierdie gaping tussen ons siel en ons wiel – “dis hoe ons rol!” – nouer kan maak. Die afstand tussen dit wat regtig diep in my lê en dit wat ek sê en wat ek wil hê. Miskien is dit integriteit. Van integer of integral wat beteken heel, kompleet, of selfs meer akkuraat: in sy onbeskadigde, onvervalsde, onverminderde, suiwer, egte, waaragtige, opregte vorm. Nie eerstens een of ander morele kode wat ge”crack” moet word of status wat verkry moet word om die hiernamaals te verdien nie.
Richard Rohr verwoord dit so in my voos geonderstreepte Falling Upward:
The first task is to build a strong “container” or identity; the second is to find the contents that the container was meant to hold.
The first task life hands us has to do with establishing an identity, a home, relationships, friends, community, security, and building a proper platform for our only life.
But it takes much longer to discover “the task within the task,” as I like to call it: what we are really doing when we are doing what we are doing.
It is when we begin to pay attention, and to seek integrity in the task within the task, that we begin to move from the first to the second half of our own lives. Integrity largely has to do with purifying our intentions and being honest about our motives. It is hard work. Most often we don’t pay attention to that inner task until we have had some kind of fall or failure in our outer tasks.
As integriteit – jou glo en jou doen so na aan mekaar dat niemand die verskil sal ken nie – begin by die suiwering van ons intensies, moet ons eerstens die vraag vra:
Maar wat as my lense bewolk is?
Wat as my karakter (my doen en late) spruit uit die katarakte van my oë (my glo)?
Wat as my glo nie in Liefde gesetel is nie?
Want liefde is my ware regskapenheid en die enigste met integriteit.
"Does it – my glo en my doen – square with Love?" vra Richard Rohr
Die tweede vraag gaan oor volledige eerlikheid oor my motiewe. Rumi se woorde, amper 800 jaar gelede, bly my by: “If you are here unfaithfully with us / you’re causing terrible damage.”
Ronald Rolheiser skryf op treffende wyse oor integriteit in privaat en in die publiek:
The quality of our persons depends upon the quality of our private integrity. We are as sick as our sickest secret and we are as healthy as our most private virtue. We cannot be doing one thing in private and radiating and professing something else in public. It doesn’t matter whether others know our secrets or not. We know and, when those secrets are unhealthy, we hate ourselves for them and our hearts harden as we live with our lie.
We should never delude ourselves into thinking that the things we do in private, including very small actions of infidelity, of self-indulgence, of bigotry, of jealousy, or of slander, are of no consequence since no one knows about them. Inside the mystery of our interconnectedness as a human family and as a family of faith and trust, even our most private actions, good or bad, like invisible bacteria inside the bloodstream, affect the whole. Everything is known, felt, in one way or another.
Others know us, even when they don’t exactly know everything about us. They smell our vices just as they smell our virtues.
Ronald Rolheiser
Ons kan dit ruik, anderkant woorde of bewyse. En dis, weereens waarvoor al die voertuie – Enneagram, Heart Quests, Sirkels – daar is: Om “uit te kom” voor jy uitgevang word. Om jou siel te verwelkom voor dit verwilderd raak en jou siek maak.
Ek sluit af met ‘n storie, ook van Chinese oorsprong soos die gedig aan die begin:
There was a Chinese Emperor who, having no children, wanted to find a successor. Thousands of children came to the palace to learn that the Emperor was going to choose one of them as heir. He gave them all a seed and told them to go home, plant the seed in a pot and tend it for a year. In a year’s time, the Emperor would judge their efforts and choose his successor. One boy named Ling received his seed and returned to his village. His mother helped him choose a pot and plant his seed. Ling watered his pot every day. Once a week, the children of the village would compare their plants. After a few weeks, there were signs of life in all but Ling’s pot. The weeks passed and Ling continued to water his pot every day. After a few months, the pots really came to life. Some had trees, some flowers and some leafy shrubs. Poor Ling still had nothing growing in his pot, and the other children made fun of him. Ling continued to water his pot every day.
After a year they all returned to the palace to see who would be the heir. Ling was worried. “What if they punish me? They won’t know I watered it every day, they’ll think I’m lazy.” His mother looked him in the eye and explained that whatever the consequences were, he had to return and show the Emperor his barren pot. Ling and the other children entered the palace. By now, some of the plants were looking magnificent and the children were wondering which one the Emperor would choose. Ling was embarrassed as other children looked at his lifeless pot and scoffed.
The Emperor came out and looked at the many impressive trees, shrubs and flowers on display. When the Emperor came to Ling. He looked at the pot then he looked at Ling. “What happened here?” He asked. “I watered the pot every day, but nothing ever grew.” Ling muttered nervously.
After a few hours, the Emperor stood in front of the children and congratulated them on their efforts. “Clearly, some of you desperately want to be Emperor and would do anything to make that happen, but there is one boy that I would like to point out as he has come to me with nothing. Ling, come here please.” “Oh no,” thought Ling. He slowly walked to the front holding his barren pot.
The Emperor held up the pot for all to see and the other children laughed. Then the Emperor continued, “A year ago, I gave you all a seed. I told you to go away, plant the seed and return with your plant. The seeds that I gave you all were boiled until they were no longer viable and wouldn’t grow, but I see before me thousands of plants and only one barren pot. Integrity and courage are more important values for leadership than proud displays, so Ling will be my heir.”
Frieda van den Heever