Alone But In Community
ServiceSpace
--Bela Shah
2 minute read
Nov 10, 2015

 

Tejas and I just came back from a "Fall Gathering" organized by Commonweal. It was a gathering of social justice activists from literally all walks of life coming together through shared poetry, song, wisdom, and stories...I feel what made the gathering so rich and powerful was the invisible current of the heart running through every interaction we had with each other. As a result, what was missing from the gathering was arrogance, resumes, and business cards...because we were connecting at the heart, what we cared about and why we cared about it naturally emerged and connections were made in a meaningful way. I also smiled softly to myself when I saw the ethos of everything Tejas and I have learned from the Service Space community finding its way naturally into this gathering. On the last day, when I wasn't looking, the next thing I know is that Tejas has organized all of the gifted persimmons into a huge heart shape in the center of the floor. When everyone asked him, "Why a heart shape?", Tejas shared a Jayeshbhaiism, "When you have to choose between love and fear, choose love."

In his closing remarks, Michael Learner also shared some powerful wisdom about creating change in the world. I'd like to share that here as it resonates with what I've learned from Service Space: "All of today's problems, including global corporatization, climate change, and wars will still be there...these problems will still be there but a creative response is possible. We must live in alignment of wisdom (head), love (heart), and service (hands) to attempt this creative response. This won't be easy and it will require sacrifice but but we must choose the prophetic profession, the profession that leads from behind and does the work that receives no recognition. This work you can only do alone and you can only do it in community. Without a community, the inner work is impossible to keep going. Through this collective inner work, we can create "liberated zones", where communities hold space to create their creative response. Prepare to live in hard times, but prepare to live in joy."

Enjoy some of the gorgeous photos captured at the gathering by its official photographer, Tejas Doshi:






 

Posted by Bela Shah on Nov 10, 2015


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