An Experiment

This past Thursday I did an experiment. A simple thing, just wearing a t shirt. Black shirt, white letters, no picture. It reads, WWBD on the top line and under that it says, "What Would Buddha Do ? " Simple enough to understand. Checking my actions against the teachings of Buddha. Same concept as WWJD that was so marketable a few years ago.
What transpired by wearing this shirt left me speechless.
I kept thinking about the words of Christ written in Red and how he said we should treat people, including enemies. I believe the word he used was LOVE.In my experiment, I didn't want to be an enemy to people but just represent someone with a different approach to life and see what would happen.
To be honest I was shocked, left in a state of amazement, and not the good kind. Those around me, knowing what I was doing, were even more shocked.
Here is how the day went. In Tai Chi class, a woman in her 60's, daughter of a pastor, who just weeks before had a conversation with me and another gal while we all worked out on the Pre-core machines together. This woman talked all about how she never judges anyone and how she is so tolerant and went on and on how she knows how bad it feels to be judged. The discussion came from that fact that the other woman, raised buddhist in an Asian country but is now Christian, was sharing about her child that attends an SDA church here in town and is fighting the prejudice of not being SDA and attending their school.
Well this "non judgmental" lady, read the shirt I had on and laughed and snickered like a 10 year old the entire Tai Chi class, pointing at my shirt, making jokes about what the teacher was saying about Chi and on and on all the while pointing to my shirt.
This same "non-judgmental" woman, threw any degree of composure aside and had really lost her self in the moment and acted like a silly child, but like the story of some children watching another child stone its own bird, they all soon joined in, even if they knew it was wrong.
Walking through the gym, the glares were laced with daggers. Where was the love of Christ ? Where was the kind word that may have reached out to my heart if they thought I was really in need of being saved or something ?
One of the trainers came up to me and said, " you are indeed a brave person" she knew what I was doing, just because she knows me well. She was training a pastor when I first walked in and she said the venom spilled out of his mouth in rapid fire succession regarding me and not just my shirt, although he knew nothing about me. He showed no desire to reach out to me. You would think that if a person felt so strongly that they have the only truth, they would want to convert me, but instead, I was in their mind, "hung without a trial".
I suspect there are lots of folks that are not Christian, experience this type of behavior.
Later, a man confronted me in the health food store and came so close to me that I was sure he was going to scream in my face. He "demanded" to know what my shirt meant. People around, stepped back. Uncomfortable at his rage.
To be certain I was not just imagining these reactions, I wore the shirt all day long, even when I went out to eat with Emery, Casi and Melanie. They saw it too. One man, a few booths over, glared at me with contempt beyond words, in an instant I felt threatened. I looked back at him squarely, but he reeked of anger, the kind that would burn a cross on a front lawn. I said a prayer for him.
One sweet young woman, maybe 30 years old, came to our table, very timid, you knew it took everything she had to walk over to our table and handed me a small tract about Christ. She said, something about "Jesus told her to give this to me." I thanked her and smiled. Out of the entire day, one person shared the message of Christ with me, the rest and there were many many more than I have recounted here, they all were so hate filled, born of fear or something, they all condemned me before ever saying a word.
There is a lesson in this for anyone who is filled with hatred. Its ugly and its not Christ like. I wasn't even an enemy, but no one thought to ask.
You see, love should dwell in our hearts at all times. Fear driven hate is of the worst kind. You just need to look back through history at all the wars fought in the name of religion to see that. People burned at the stake, fields filled with dead bodies in the crusades, books burned, concentration camps with ovens and all from fear and ignorance and certainly no Christ like love in the hearts, only some pretense of righteousness. We just don't seem to learn.
My t- shirt experience taught me so much. It was certainly an unpleasant experience for me to be so scorned, and just once touched with the love Christians should hold in their hearts, but it reminded me too, of why so many Christians leave churches, this hatred I felt is not reserved for unbelievers only. Just do something or say something not to their liking and suddenly you are "evil". Evil comes from hatred. Hatred is born of fear.
By the way..... WWBD anyway, in a situation like I experienced ?

"Hatred did not ever cease in this world by hating, but by love; this is an eternal truth... Overcome anger by love, Overcome evil by good. overcome the miser by giving, overcome the liar by truth."
~Buddha~
and perhaps this one too,
"Consider others as yourself."
~Buddha~

If those two quotes sound a bit familiar, it may be because Jesus said much the same thing, many years after Buddha walked the earth.

"Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. From anyone who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt. Give to everyone who begs from you; and if anyone takes away your goods, do not ask for them again."

and this one too....

" Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."