Narrow Gates
Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road is easy that leads to destruction, and there are many who take it. For the gate is narrow and road is hard leads to life, and there are few who find it. Matthew 7:13-14
As a youngster I was fascinated by gates whether they were rickety old gates dividing the cow’s pasture field at my grandparent’s farm; pretty picketed wooden gates delineating someone’s finely manicured yard; a schoolyard gate that opened onto larger than life statues of angels and other sacred figures; or hidden iron gates in a park that fueled curiosity enough to seek entrance into exquisite botanical gardens. I was intrigued by gates.
My life experiences have demonstrated that we walk through many gates and find ourselves on similarly narrow roads to wisdom. And those pathways get narrower as we get closer to the fulfillment of our destinies. Not all of the passageways are uplifting but they can surely lend some insight into our lives and the directions we choose if we are open to the numerous lessons as they unfold.
Often there are surprises! Like the time me and a fellow artist hatched an idea to conduct a summer camp for inner city youth. While others thought we were insane, we secured grant funding to teach dance, art, and jounaling to about 24 school age children. They learned about form through movement, drawing, and reflection. Looking back I think we all benefitted from the experience.
The other part about walking through gates of wisdom is that no one can walk through them with you; the space is very narrow. Up to the entrance, if you are fortunate a few wise souls appear to guide you to the doorway. And it is their unconditional love and counsel that provides emotional and spiritual support to guide you into the light, but the rest of the journey is yours.
If that doesn’t sound like good news, it really is. Initially, at each gateway you feel very vulnerable and once the gate closes behind you it’s very dark for a while. Backing out is out of the question. That is okay because you are free to walk forward and create your own beauty, goodness, and joy; carrying with you the counsel of the angels, wise spirits, ancestors, and faithful guides who showed up when needed to take care of you and pointed you in the direction of your highest potential.
When I think of the wise souls who have befriended and attended to me and the gifts they shared of nonviolence and justice, insights from their own lives, the wisdom of poets, the language of truth, and virtues of honesty and integrity I’m humbled. In their presence I developed a sense of my own values, hidden gifts, and aspirations awaiting birth. Those seers served by exemplary behavior as much as by words.
All I had to do was be quiet. Be quiet in the mind, listen with the heart, and see with new eyes which I was bound to do out of respect. I’m reminded of a recent documentary I watched about the Indigenous culture, where through the example of the elders the younger tribe members learned fundamental skills, like respect, along with other ‘R’s of relevance, reciprocity, and responsibility. Just focusing on respect refers to every human being, other creatures, and plants of the earth. Some of the skills are taught through storytelling. We as a country might be inspired by their practices and adapt some of their teachings, especially storytelling, freeing ourselves from devices and actually engaging in eye to eye human interaction.
Wendell Berry an author who has spent most of his life studying the paradoxes of American injustices and calling attention to those on the margins uses the term “neighborliness” as in getting to know people around us through sharing stories and life experiences that are meaningful. In his recent book, The Need To Be Whole Patriotism and the History of Prejudice he brings refreshing insights to some of the dilemmas of our time, especially race relations. Berry speaks with particular wisdom presenting several doorways to hasten healing in our nation; not by banning books or dismantling statues but by neighborliness and a genuine attentiveness to getting to know others, beyond differences. He places a lot of value on
…people knowing one another, of being willing to know one another, of meeting face-to-face, eye-to-eye, and speaking to one another, in conversation of course …
which is becoming increasingly difficult. He feels this would change a lot of the irreverent behavior toward fellow citizens. Another practice Berry recommends is an investigative in-depth study of the Ten Commandments. According to Berry, if one were to know his neighbor he would not shoot him, be disrespectful toward children or women, destroy the ecosystem, exhibit aggressive behavior toward someone just because they disagreed on a particular issue, or engage in other heinous acts (that affect thousands of people) out of anger or outrage.
We can no longer be entertained out of the current crises that seem to persist in our nation. With more shootings, attacks on women, climate concerns, and a growing mound of divisive political wranglings, a more deliberate focus on getting to know each other, on being neighborly, just might be helpful.
Perhaps, reflecting on the words of Buckminster Fuller an efficiency futurist, visionary, social thinker, and wise sage are worth contemplating:
We are not going to be able to operate our spaceship Earth successfully nor for much longer unless we see it as a whole spaceship and our fate as common. It has to be everybody or nobody.
We who contemplate and pray for a better present and future are at another gate. How will we act? What will we choose?
What will the collective choose?