I went to the Mansion yesterday to teach my weekly meditation class (and meditation), and we had another full house and growing interest. Meditation is catching on in the Mansion.

Two of the residents said that whenever they started to fight with someone, they went off to a corner and meditated and calmed down.

I said this was a great application of meditation, a great alternative to anger and argument.

The topic I chose today was the idea of giving and receiving and the dignity of both. I quoted Pope John Paul II who offered an essential direction for people who wished to work for peace and reconciliation.

“No peace is thinkable,” he said, “as long as the world remains divided into two groups, those who give and those who receive.’

He added that fundamental human dignity is found in giving and receiving. This is true for individuals, nations, cultures, and religious communities.

I looked up an essay by Henri Nouwen on the same subject, and he wrote this: “A true vision of peace sees a continuous mutuality between giving and receiving. Let’s never give anything without asking ourselves what we are receiving from those we give, and let’s never receive anything without asking what we have to give to those we receive.”

I thought of this yesterday when the residents surprised me with ice cream and a cake to celebrate my birthday, which they all seemed to know about. Because of my diabetes, I couldn’t eat either, but the gift meant a great deal to me.

I had given, I had received; it was in beautiful balance.

We talked about this idea and then meditated for seven minutes. I could feel the peace and calm setting in the room.