Initiatives of Change

A little over a year ago I had occasion to sit down with a respected IC leader for a heart-to-heart talk. One of my burning questions focused on a particular moral absolute in the IC “quartet,” that of purity. I felt I had a handle on the other three: honesty, unselfishness and love. But purity was eluding me. “What does this actually mean?” I asked him. His answer has been ringing in my ears, and across all dimensions of my life, ever since:

“To me, purity is the freedom to care.”

This surprised me. It was quite a different take from how I’d been framing the puzzle in my own mind. There was something unexpected about this definition, which took a fresh twist down an avenue of introspection I hadn’t yet traveled. Purity through freedom? Purity as freedom? I’d always viewed these two qualities as somewhat mutually exclusive. So in the days, weeks and months that followed, I meditated on this notion through the unfolding events of my life. It didn’t take long for me to find the brilliance in it.

A striking example emerged just last week, and I found myself ruminating deeply again on this conception of purity. I had started my day in an orthodox Jewish cemetery, to pay my respects through participation in a funeral, and had ended it rather late in a Shia Islamic center, to meet local Muslims through immersion in evening prayers. Each experience had been my first, and although I had deliberately sought out both, when the time came they frankly posed a hassle. My work day was full, as usual, and I was nursing a winter cold to boot. It would have been safer and perfectly acceptable to cling to my daily routine, ensuring completion of pressing tasks, safeguarding my health, avoiding cultural gaffs, relaxing with nighttime sitcoms, and keeping my precious bedtime – all for the sake of repeating my efficient production cycle the next day. Yet what would any of this really do to make even a small difference in the world? Staying attached to rote would mean giving in to potential fears – of failure, illness, endangerment, disapproval, rejection, dissension, loss of face.

As I retired late that night I reflected upon the caring connections I’d made that day in the Jewish and Muslim communities, simply by freeing myself up from fears and attachments. Since that pivotal conversation, I’ve learned that purity is at the very heart of things when we release the extraneous stuff which stands in our way of true caring—whether in our professional endeavors, in our volunteer service or in our private yet wrenching family struggles. But even more than this, I’ve discovered in purity’s pursuit an unparalleled sense of personal liberation.

Thus inspired, I continue to mark my progress toward purity by how well I allow my care to flow freely. And as I clear my life’s clutter to make way for this, I find I’ve never enjoyed “housecleaning” so much.

Laura serves on the steering committee of Initiatives of Change-Oregon. She also co-facilitates dialogues on racism as a volunteer with Oregon Uniting, an affiliate of “Hope in the Cities.”