Oh... I am overwhelmed by the power of this story. What a teacher... I also sat there in the classroom and could only marvel and feel touched by the exuding energy of this gift to the students and myself. I knew I would forever keep it in my heart and accept love of expression as something that is real and can be awakened by people who carry the depth of the living message.

Thank you so much sharing this. I think you know exactly the importance of it ...

...

I haven't even come close to having a similar experience. I can only give you a sad, yet very powerful memory. The week before my mother died and was in hospital, I brought some things from home from her bedroom. Her hymnal, some of her books, a framed picture. My mother was dying, I knew it. She didn't want to eat any more, but my sister kept spooning her the disgusting porridge. My mother, who had her spoon to her mouth twice sickened, barely able to speak, suddenly stopped, pushing my sister's arm aside and just said, "You, will eat!". This decisive gesture expressed so much, these three words were the clear message that she had decided. I could not believe that despite her smashed body, she radiated this power and was still able to convey a spark of humour. A few seconds of astonished silence passed and then my sister and I broke out laughing. My mother had set us free. She took the burden off our shoulders to wish us that she might live on. She was strong and beautiful at that moment.

Later, when she lay dead in the chapel, I witnessed the over 80-year-old neighbour leaning down to her, giving her a loving kiss on the mouth and saying: "My dear Lindachen, I will miss you". These two women hadn't been friends, my mother had never really talked well about her and in the decades of living next door I had never seen a warm hug or a friendly chat over the garden fence.

And yet... People who seem neither warm nor friendly... are.

These old women have worked in their gardens and have always gained from the living what it was good for.