Recently I listened to a conversation with Rachel Naomi Remen on the  On Being Podcast 

She talked about the difference between fixing and healing and told an ancient story from the Jewish Kabala, as told by her grandfather:

“It is told that in the beginning there was only the Ein Sof – God’s hidden essence, the holy darkness source of life… Then, this world of a thousand things emerged from the heart of the holy darkness as a great ray of light contained in many vessels. But there was an accident and the vessels containing the light of the world broke. The wholeness, the light of the world, was scattered into thousands of fragments of light that fell into all events and all people where they remained deeply hidden to this day.”

Her grandfather taught her that we are here because we are born with the capacity to find the hidden light within all events and all people, to lift it up and make it visible once again and there by restore the innate wholeness of the world. Healing the world is our task as humans.

The Jewish tradition calls this “Tikun Olam” – repairing, restoring the world to its wholeness.

But this task can feel overwhelming. It is easy to feel helpless and powerless these days.

Often I feel helpless. I am haunted by the sense that I need to do so much more, that what I am and what I’m doing is not enough. With so many overwhelming forces all around us, I feel very small and powerless.

Rachel Naomi Remen reminds us that we are not helpless; we have much more power than we imagine. We cannot “fix” the world, we cannot “fix” other people, but we can heal the world that touches us, one heart at a time, because we all have the power to be kind and to listen generously.

I recently had the honor to offer a keynote and workshops at an international youth led conference in Israel, at EMIS (Eastern Mediterranean International School).

After the keynote, where I mostly told stories, a young 16 year old with dark eyes glistening with emotion, came up to me.
He shook my hand and didn’t let go, “Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.”
“Where are you from?” I asked.
“I’m from Rwanda.”
“Oh, you must have seen a lot.”
Still holding on to my hand he said, “Yes! Yes, I feel like I have so many stories inside and I don’t know how to tell the stories… there is so much…”
I said I hoped he could come to the workshop to tell his story and he smiled, “Oh yes! I signed up already!”

During the workshop the following day, he shared his story with two other listeners. They were hanging on his every word as he told of his childhood, of war, loss and grief. When the sharing time was up he protested, “But wait, that was just the beginning!” Both listeners protested too – they wanted to hear it all. So time was extended until he finished his story.

Since I was facilitating I only heard little snippets and wish I could have heard his entire story. But my priceless reward was watching his face filled with light, even as his eyes filled with tears, and watching the faces of the two others as they listened with such generosity, soften with compassion.

At the conclusion of our time together, the 16 to 18-year-olds from Vietnam, China and Brazil, Rwanda, Palestine, Israel and Russia, Armenia, Bosnia, Germany, Denmark, Hungary and Lithuania, talked about how surprised they were to discover that their stories could touch others, and how important listening was.

There was a sense of deep connection and calm in the room, an almost sacred stillness as these young people reconnected with their power to heal the world one heart at a time, by listening generously.

When we listen generously to the stories of others, we are restoring to them a sense of human dignity and restoring to ourselves the sense of our real and valuable ability to make a difference and a connection to another human being.

When I feel helpless I listen to the wisdom of storytellers and healers like Rachel Naomi Remen and remember that perfection isolates us and drives us apart.
I cannot fix the world but I can help heal it. I can listen to the stories around me and create safe, supportive spaces for people to listen generously, face-to-face with others, and connect with their own dignity and power.

Have you had an experience where you were able to listen to the story of someone you didn’t know and then felt closer to them or more connected?

Has someone ever listened to you in a way that helped you feel your dignity as a human or helped you feel validated?

Who can you listen to today?

Happy holidays and a light-filled, story-filled New Year!