“In the Buddhist tradition, generosity is the ground for everything else.”

Yvonne Rand

Chapter 7, “Serendipity” in Sue Bender’s Everyday Sacred: A Woman’s Journey Home reminds me about the importance of generosity. At this time of isolation, anger, and fear, remembering generosity makes sense. Let me explain. Serendipity is when things happen by chance in a beneficial way. Smack dab in the middle of Now, I need to be reminded about generosity. I need to remember that service is the antidote to anger and cynicism. I need to remember that way always emerges when we pay attention. I need to remember that love always wins. I need to remember and recognize the generosity that surrounds me and calls me to be similarly generous with others. Service, way, love, and birthdays are inherently generous.

Sue Bender came to Yvonne Rand with a question about why the image of a bowl was intimately and conceptually tied to her journey of writing Everyday Sacred. She was looking for a practice to give meaning to the image of the bowl, and Rand connected her question to generosity. Rand brought it all back to generosity. The idea that even an empty bowl is full and abundant. That feels like Meister Eckhart reminding us, “If the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is thank you, it will be enough.” Thank you is simple. Generosity is simple.