My “paying job” is to encourage people to participate in public, political life – to act like citizens (whether they have papers that say they are citizens or not).  I use all kinds of angles or approaches to appeal to them such as their self-interest, the social justice teachings of their religious traditions, and their desire for the common good.  Some people choose to participate and some don’t.  I sometimes wish I had a magic wand that would free people from their resignation, helplessness, cynicism, and/or over-extended schedules.  But there’s really no mystery about why people participate; it’s because they can.  They can see possibility. They can find the energy.  They can step into the space of movement and action.  They have the power to participate.  “Power” comes from the Latin word “poder” which means, “to be able.”  For me, the most interesting question is: What makes human beings able? 

As I look to my own experience I can see times when I am able to participate and times when I just can’t.  Without exception, the times I can’t participate are times I’m identified with some aspect of fear.  If I’m at a meeting not participating, if I’m at a party wishing I were somewhere else, if I’m not signing up to help in the kitchen at the Monastery, or if I’m simply daydreaming during meditation, I’m not participating because some part of me is afraid of what is going on in Life.  When I was 4 years old I was taken to a photographer’s studio to have my picture made.  My caretaker dressed me in a beautiful red velvet dress and curled my hair.  I knew something big was coming up.  When I stepped into the studio the big cameras and the bright lights and the strange thing they were telling me to sit on were just overwhelming and quite frightening.  Despite their urging, pleading, and bribing, I could not bring myself to smile and look like everything was okay.  It wasn’t okay! I was scared and being asked to act like I was happy!  My caretaker, who I loved dearly, was so disappointed that I hadn’t smiled and looked pretty for the camera.  I felt so miserable and had no language or concept to help me understand why.  Today, I have that picture of myself hanging in my living room.  I am frowning and looking distrustfully at the camera.  And I look absolutely precious.  That is a part of me I so love to reassure.  She gets to participate in all the big things in Life that she wants because I can be there to make sure she’s okay – really okay.

It’s that reassurance that makes people able.  I project that we all have scared parts of ourselves that hold back, run away, get distracted, keep busy, go unconscious, etc., so they don’t have to face the big things in life alone.  The good news is that they don’t have to!  We need never feel alone.  Doing this practice has made me able to participate in Life because I have proven to myself, over and over, that I’m not alone, never have been, and never will be.  I can step into Life and powerfully participate in all ways and means.  With a good mentor around, a person can participate in just about anything, even getting her picture made.