Ran into my friend Lew the other day. He is a longtime Buddhist practitioner who sometimes teaches at the Metta Institute. He shared a short teaching with me which helped in a conversation I had with an injured friend.

“Without the misfortune of my illnesses I would not be able to teach in the way I do today, which includes advising and counseling people about illness and loss. So in a dharmic sense, my illnesses were also gifts. I got to find out what is really important, whether we’re talking about Buddhist practice or life in general.” -Lew Richmond