It’s a blue-sky day, one of those beauteous blue-full, joyously jocular, splendidly splashy, exceptional days – I long to shout LIFE IS A GIFT in unmistakable letters across the blue shiny yonder, to imprint them indelibly on your mind, so you’ll –
Remember when the dark clouds roll in, on a day when life feels pissy and oh so problematic, to take a deep breath, and close your eyes, and gently pull the gray gloom aside, to see those big oh so true words I etched on blue for you, so that you’d never forget –
“The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena. Think of the endless cruelties visited by the inhabitants of one corner of this pixel on the scarcely distinguishable inhabitants of some other corner, how frequent their misunderstandings, how eager they are to kill one another, how fervent their hatreds. Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that, in glory and triumph, they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot.”~ Carl Sagan
Think about it. Has the Earth ever been without conflict between one faction and another? This jewel of a planet is a prize, but to whom? Do we honestly think it is merely humans that want possession of it? Or is there a much bigger story unfolding than we imagine? Is full possession of human beings also the ultimate prize for the power hungry?
When you think of human, do you think humans are capable of the sort of cruelty that you see before your very eyes? Perhaps a few, but most human beings do not wake up in the morning thinking, “Gee, I think it would be a really great idea to destroy people in another country today”. We simply don’t. We’re thinking about our work, our families, how to build a life within all of this madness. We love. And there’s the crucial difference. We love.
It’s our love for our families, our love of life that keeps us sane and going. But will love sustain us through all of this forever? I suppose in the higher realms, yes. But what about here on Earth, right now? While madmen are threatening each other with atomic weapons, and building robots that they hope will overtake human civilization, how do we factor into the equation? To those “inhumans”, we are mere cannon fodder in the pursuit of their domination.
Carl Sagan was right. We are too caught up in the minutiae of our lives, and not paying attention to the bigger drama unfolding before us. Yes, I think our love has the power to save us, but not in some fairy tale, Pollyanna way. Spiritual warriors love, yes, but they are also prepared to defend and protect that which they cherish.
Choosing to turn a blind eye to the potential devastation nuclear war could wreak is complicity on the part of humanity, and one we can ill afford. There is a very good word, it’s a very short and powerful one, but very underused. That word is “No”.
Divided We Fall
“Together we stand, divided we fall”, a lofty premise that has never really taken hold, at least not with humanity.
See how easily we are divided by self-serving leaders and media who know how to manipulate our fears.
“Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me”, a child’s retort for behavior we never outgrew.
See how easily we label and judge each other with broad stroke assumptions and misperceptions, rolled into hate.
We can blame the leaders if we want to, but, we need to look at the behavior we accept and perpetuate.
Artists keep us sane, bestowing grace and beauty upon a mad world.
In this modern technological world, some might say that art is pretty useless. After all [they might ask], in a society that prays to the almighty dollar, what true value does it really have?
My reply to them is, “Plenty”. Artists and their work touch our souls, in ways that many may not readily see or accept. They raise our lives up above the mundane.
Art speaks to our souls
Some artists paint simple pretty pictures; others create at the level of grand vision and spectacular works of art that the whole world embraces. Is one any more important than the other? If the little painting rendered by a child touches your heart, it is magnificent in its way as any famous masterpiece that may do the same.
Artists and art are about heart and soul. So I would argue, in this modern but ofttimes cold technological world, we need them now more than ever.
Susan L Hart / Author 