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Tuesdays are a weekly highlight for me. I get the opportunity to join my older daughter for lunch. I go to her school, and I get to sit with a bunch of first graders and eat with them. If you have never had the opportunity to get a front-row seat to hear the conversations that take place at the lunch table, you’re missing out. It’s quite the experience.
For example, I usually get this:
First grader: “Mr. Schueller…”
Me: “What?”
First grader: “You said it!”
Me: “Said what?”
First grader: “You said it! We’re playing the ‘what’ game. You said ‘what!’ You lose!”
And on it goes. It never gets old for them, and to be honest, it really doesn’t get old for me either. I know that these years of youthful innocence are numbered, and I’ll take it in and enjoy it for all it’s worth.
In addition to the lunchtime antics, I frequently get reports on the daily happenings in first grade from my older daughter. It’s not unusual for her to fill me in on the latest “drama” that occurs in first grade. It’s usually on par with the “what game” stuff. Someone said they’d give them a pack of gum if they’d let them cut in line, and then they don’t follow through; kids taking things from other kids; arguments over whether someone really “hypnotizes” another student simply by looking at them for one minute straight…All that kind of “trivial” material that consumes the social life of a first grader. When compared to the worries of an adult, these “first grade worries” seem so insignificant and so small…
I think of our journey here on this planet the same way. Some of us on this planet are consumed in proverbial “what games” and so full of fear and worrying about what we stand to lose. Then there are some of us on this planet who are just oozing with spiritual maturity — their self control and patience is through the roof, and they are admired by many for their mastery of self and spirit.
I had the opportunity to do a phone interview with Nick Bunick, author of several books. In his book titled, Time For Truth, he says what he said to me during our talk, when I asked him what the meaning of life was, and why we were here on this planet. In essence, he says to visualize a pyramid with a thousand steps inside of you, and at the top of this pyramid is the universal spirit/infinite wisdom/God. He says, “The purpose of your life is to climb the steps, one at a time, until you reach the top and become at one” with that universal spirit/infinite wisdom/God. Nick also says that he estimates the average person is at around step 200; some are lower and some are higher. Some are in higher “grades” and making higher progress on their personal pyramid, and some are in lower “grades” and struggling spiritually.
What are the means by which we can reach the top? By embracing “universal love and compassion.” That’s it!
Now, I know it’s easy to look around and cast a judgmental eye on those who do not exercise love and compassion toward others. It’s not hard to find people who are glaring examples of the opposite of love and compassion. Just turn on the news. However, we need to work on setting aside that judgment and passing that universal love and compassion to others, even if they haven’t come around to embracing it themselves.
It helps for me to simply think about those people as being in a “different grade” spiritually. They are at a different place. Just as we don’t get “angry” at first graders for being first graders, with their “what games” and “trivial concerns,” we can move away from being angry at those who don’t practice love and compassion. Just as an adult is not any better than a first grader — just older — a more “spiritually advanced” individual is no better than someone who is at a different “step” on their personal spiritual pyramid.
I usually endorse the famous quote, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do,” during those times when it’s so easy to pick apart and judge someone who is doing something differently than I would in that same situation. I’m no better. I may be in a different “grade,” I may be on a different “step” on my pyramid, but I can’t get angry; again, I am no better. That usually helps me get through it.
So, what step on your personal “pyramid” do you think you are on? Are you still struggling to embrace universal love and compassion? Is love and compassion something you can do on a part-time basis, but you still need work on making it a more full-time practice? I know that’s where I am…I am getting better, but I still need work on making it a full-time behavior. I have a long way to go, but I have also come a long way!
Climb those steps. Embrace that “universal love and compassion.” Refrain from judging others — just extend to them that same “universal love and compassion,” and help them on their way. That universal spirit is right there, within you — and the higher you climb on your own personal pyramid, the closer you will get to sharing with the world that wonderful you that resides right there inside of you!
Climb!
