We too will probably have experienced how difficult it is to transform into action what we feel strongly at certain moments in the depths of our hearts and in the interiority of our conscience. A help can be to live together a thought that guides the days, knowing that you are not alone and that you are part of a global network. With this intent, the Idea of the Month was born in Uruguay by some people passionate about dialogue and the ideal of Unity.
Groups for reflection and sharing of experiences have grown up around these intuitions and, now, the monthly meeting is awaited all over the world. Could it just become a habit? A generic good purpose to be disseminated like many others on online virtual groups? This is certainly the biggest risk for initiatives of this kind. Let's not settle for empty words and repeated clichés. The English have the proverb: “actions speak louder than words”. In the Netherlands, the saying: “talk doesn't fill holes”. These expressions do not arise by chance. There is a word that protects against this risk: the word is "coherence".
In the book The Book Of Joy, the Dalai Lama and Desmond Tutu[1] in their dialogue they highlight some points that can help us live coherently. First of all: let's listen to our conscience. Everyone personally evaluates what the desires of their heart are which certainly have to do with those human values that give a sense of happiness. So ask yourself the question: is what I really want something just for me or also for others? at the service of a few or of many? for now or for the future? At this point: declare the intention for this day, with concrete commitments, even small ones: "today I want to greet everyone; today I will be less judgmental; more patient today...".
But where can we find the courage to do what our conscience tells us? We need to discuss with wise people, test ourselves willing to not always be right. When the decision is ripe, leave together. Regularly take time to recalibrate, renew, strengthen goals and don't let disappointments, poor collaboration, habits cloud or obscure them.
This was the testimony of an unforgettable man of dialogue - Piero Taiti - when he learned about the experience of the Focolare Movement. The trips to the citadel of Fontem in Africa, the personal relationship with the "focolarini", people who he felt he respected because they lived before speaking and worked with an open mind alongside those like him who did not recognize themselves in the same religious faith, were a meeting point of authentically and profoundly human values later found personally in his friendship with Chiara Lubich. Until the end, as a family man, husband, doctor, politician and trusted friend of many who recognized his moral caliber, Piero lived and transmitted through his deeds the strength of this authentic encounter.
Not words, but actions. This gives energy to a person. This makes you happy inside. By doing so, you are doing a service to others.
[1] The Book of Joy: Lasting Happiness in a Changing World, Tienzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama, and Archbishop Desmond Tutu with Douglas Abrams published in 2016 by Cornerstone Publishers.
