The Impossible Day

It was quite a remarkable day and all anyone can remember, among those who can remember, was that it was a Thursday. No dates or years come to mind, though there are many conflicting claims. The weather that day was, in itself, remarkable: calm and cloudless across the globe. It was a day like no other among days to make you happy to be alive.

On this "impossible day," as it has been referred to, there was, just for that day, an end to suffering around the world. Not a complete end to pain, but the suffering that comes from it. As if the teachings of Buddha had immediately been laid at the feet of all of us: a great bouquet of fresh lotus flowers strewn across the landscape wherever living beings walked. A great awakening to the gift of life came to the hearts of all humans--wherever they lived.

There were no deaths that day and, because of it, no mourning. It was a day's respite from the cycle of life. There were no births that day, as if Mother Earth whispered, 'dear Children, you are too many for me to take care of!' Just for that day there was no fighting or violence. The soldiers could not lift their weapons, nor men lift their arms to batter those who trust them. For that day there were no homes bulldozed in Palestine, nor suicide bombs exploded in Tel Aviv. For that day the torturers could not lift their arms to beat their captives.

For that day, addicts did not feel the stinging pain of need. For that day, thieves stayed home and men with saws could not cut a single tree. For that day, the millions who hunger—from the sub-Saharan region in Africa to the lowlands of Bangladesh—felt no emptiness in their belly. For that day the executives of big business made no calls nor sent emails to crush the planet for profit and leaf blowers everywhere fell silent. For that day people from all walks of life were kind to each other and children played in parks and homes without bickering or complaining or crying.

The world was at peace and so, the news anchors of TV and radio were silent. They were befuddled and could not summon the courage to say that a miracle had visited the planet. But we knew in our hearts what was happening. For that day we did not need the media to tell us about our lives.
The religious praised God and Allah and Brahman and the Goddess. The atheists laughed and cried all day and the agnostics wondered aloud what their eyes and bones could not deny.

In short, it was as if the great spirits of all human history--Buddha, Jesus, Black Elk, Muhammad, Quan Yin, Moses, Krishna, and all Goddesses past and present--formed counsel and created a heaven on Earth. Just for that one day, what everyone had always thought impossible was real. Laid bare beneath our feet, as if our birthright.

The little I can remember I leave for you as a gift. I remember thinking to myself that finally I had proof: it is possible! We can make paradise here on Mother Earth! We do not have to die to find heaven! Paradise is ours to make. We glimpsed the possibility of it one amazing Thursday. The day before was ordinary and the day after was ordinary, but the day after the Impossible Day was ordinary only because we choose to make it ordinary.

I say all this because I see that we have forgotten what the Impossible Day has taught us. The Impossible Day was a gift to help us to see what can be done if we choose a different path. Now we have lost hope, where before we knew what it was like to have hope for one blessed, miraculous day.

I say all this because I believe that there is forgiveness in our hearts. There is, in each and every moment, the potential to decide to have hope—it is NOT something we have to wait for someone else to give to us.

I say all this because I believe with all my heart that who so ever says we cannot accomplish a paradise on earth is a fool that has never glimpsed the truth of their soul. Those who say it is impossible have not glimpsed their own divinity for even a moment. It can be done through the power that comes from collective will informed by compassionate cooperation. And more importantly, much more importantly, it is our destiny to make it real.