Office Space And Shadow Dancing.

Halloween helped resuscitate my heart this year. A few days before Halloween a friend sent me a message asking if I could help take six giant bags of candy off her hands, and get them in the hands of others. When I met up with her I could see the angst in her eyes, and I could hear the determination in her voice as she asked me, “Could you please find some kids or families to give this candy to?”

She seemed desperate to give.

She told me how much she loves Halloween because of the joy she receives in dousing kids with piles of sugary goodness. Giving energizes her and lights her up in such brilliant ways.

Which reminds me of an ancient teaching.

The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are generous, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are stingy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!

When we see the world through the lens of generosity, when we give and pour out goodness to others, then our inner being will shine. But if we see the world with stinginess, then we will experience an eclipse of the heart and soul.

Fascinating.

This ancient saying was originally written in the Greek language, so if we excavate the depth of the language, it provides us with endless insights and connections for our lives today. The Greek word for body is sōma, and it can mean ‘that which casts a shadow.’ So if you are stingy, then we will not see a shadow because you have essentially hidden your body from the light. But when we say yes to generosity, we cast a shadow that dances up and down the streets of life. And our streets could sure use some energetic shadow dancing.

The Greek word for generous is haplous, and it can mean ‘good fulfilling its office.’ How great is that? Goodness has a job to do and it’s currently stuck in cubicle land waiting for people to accept the assignment. Goodness is waiting for you and me to raise our hands. Generosity is searching for a body to find expression, otherwise it is simply staring at a broken fax machine in eternal office space.

The Greek word for stingy is ponēros and it means wicked or full of annoyances. To choose stinginess is to be a person who walks around viewing life through a lens of annoyances. You know, to be a Negative Nellie or Pessimistic Pete.

This offers such a profound invitation when facing a pandemic that feels relentless in its swelling and swarming.

This friend of mine, who enthusiastically chose to make sure that good fulfilled its office, was radiating from the inside out. And she provided a dancing shadow into my world, which was simply moving to the soundtrack of joy. Her light seemed to provide extra wattage when held next to the many stingy bulbs out there. You know, the ones that have been flickering for being asked to restrict their first world luxuries and conveniences in order to serve the broader community. A flickering bulb is annoying to everyone in the room. Sweet fancy Moses, can someone please change that bulb, it’s giving everyone a headache … and possibly covid.

Generosity. Goodness. Light. They are all sitting together in the employee lounge, simply waiting for Nellie and Pete and you and me to choose shadow dancing, rather than the blinking bulb of stinginess.

May you choose to tighten or change the bulb found in the lamp that is your life.