"May we move from the unreal to the real. May we move from darkness to light, from fear to strength, from ignorance to knowledge. May we all join together on a path to oneness. May we agree to disagree. May we bring an open mind into every moment."
I always want to write about something more than compassion, love and gardening. I have so many interests and thoughts...concepts I want to share. Today, I was sure it was going to be about the Hutchinson Effect (moving mass with sound), then at the last minute, I hear or read something - like the quote at the top of the page. Off I go into another tangent - not being able to help what seems to be coming through me from somewhere above my hair - I write about something I won't usually get into. But being that it was election time and because I don'tusually get into any kind of political discourse - I'm surprised that I feel I need to write about this. So here goes.
Just when it seems that so many citizens of the world are fighting for some reason that only God must know, the fact that fighting and disrespect is prevalent and continues during election time is disappointing and heartbreaking. I have no idea why anyone wants to vote for someone that is blaming, trashing their opponents and showing disrespect for another human being. Why would we want someone like that to represent us? I would think that the people we want to represent us should be held up to a higher moral standard. For me, it has to do with love and compassion.
When I look at business models or human beings that have made a difference, I don't think of name-calling politicians. I think of Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Pete Seeger and Martin Luther King to name a few. As far as organizations go, the model for AA is stellar. Their whole paradigm is to live the "Big Book" and profess attraction rather than promotion. Not campaigning butattraction rather than promotion. This seems to work as they manage to keep things honest in a place where former thieves, liars and who knows what, are left to govern themselves. If you are honest, not influenced by the almighty dollar - maybe just maybe the righteous human might get a chance to speak their truth. But money is only part of it. If we vote for people that are calling each other names, bragging about what they have done, barrage us with ads and phone calls, take campaign money (I cannot tell you how opposed I am in this regard) - then we get what we deserve. We can't be against war while living in a warlike state. We can't say we hate people that vote against same sex marriages - or else we are the same as the people that we are rallying against. We can't say we believe in a better world when we continue to do the same thing we have always done. Hate begets hate. Period.
This is no longer about Democrats and Republicans, conservatives and liberals, gays and straights, blacks and whites, the west and the east - This is about us!!! Get it! We are all one. One and the same - there is no separation. If we hurt our brother, we hurt ourselves. Don't we?
Hate is never overcome by hate; hatred is only overcome by love. I know that I must look into my heart and mind and see what I -- individually,collectively, societally -- am doing to alleviate or to perpetuate these problems, and how I might become part of their eventual solution. I think an eye-for-an-eye retaliatory approach is not the most measured response at this time. Remembering that an eye for an eye only leaves both men blind.
Martin Luther King said that we have two choices: to peacefully coexist, or to destroy ourselves. How true as I don't believe that war begins on a battlefield, war begins with the cupidity, hatred, prejudice, racism, ignorance and cruelty in the human heart. This is because the true battlefield is the heart of man. If I want peace in the world -- and I do -- I need to face this fact and learn how to deal with anger, hatred and disarm my own heart, as well as work in larger contexts towards peace in our time. I need to think globally and act locally, beginning with myself and others -- at home, in the family, as well as outside at work and in the community, reaching out more and more in broad, all-embracing circles of collective caring and responsibility. This is the path to a more peaceful future for all of us.
I am not professing that this is an easy road. It isn't. With a world that is hell bent on filling us with fear opposed to hope, faith and love, it does seem, at times, the task becomes impossible. So as much as I try to give everyone basic respect, I fail often and have done so recently. I never feel good about it, and take a daily assessment on how I could have done it better.
I will continue to practice what I have been taught - Love my fellow man and have faith in the Divine - not the other way around. Today is a time to pray for wisdom and have reflection on what is most important in my life. To think about what steps I might take towards nonviolence within myself, my own life and towards a more peaceful world.
I love you all
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