Recently a friend posted her dismay that she had been attacked for being too nice. That’s right, too nice! I suppose the world has arrived at a place where we must always choose a side, no matter the issue. If you’re too nice, clearly you’re not on the side of the haters.
Beginning in 2020, suddenly we were deluged with extreme fear over disease. But the worst disease of all may extinguish humanity in its entirety, if we don’t put a stop to it.
The disease is called “my ego need to be right”. As long as we force each other to choose sides and then attack each other for those choices, there will never be any meeting ground for healing and building. We will constantly be stuck in a state of tearing down, doomed in a fatal downward spiral to a black void.
Imagine a time in future when aliens visit Earth, a beautiful place lush with flora and fauna, but strangely void of other life forms. And in their exploration of this lovely planet, they come upon a huge headstone that reads, “Here lies Humanity. Sadly, they killed each other with their need to be right”.
Personally this is not a future vision that I want to see manifest. As the poet Rumi said,
“Out beyond ideas of wrong doing and right doing, there is a field. I’ll meet you there. When the soul lies down in that grass, the world is too full to talk about.”
Yes, we could make the choice to create a meeting place. Imagine everyone with a unified commitment to constantly see, evaluate, and discuss many points of view, without judgement or a need to “have it all my way” or attack.
It would be a beginning… We’re just a stone’s throw away from getting it right. But first we must stop throwing stones at each other.
“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.
Questions fade unasked, the knife of silence runs deep, future relinquished.
If you are someone who has always counted on things around you to simply be fixed, somehow, by someone else, those days are gone. Our world and reality are in extreme transition.
Time to start really paying attention to events, the unfolding, and not only to what you see, but also what you don’t see. What’s missing?
Time to watch for the incongruities, the inconsistencies, the little details between the lines. Do not persist in looking straight ahead with blinders on. See what is there on the periphery, hiding almost out of view.
Time to question, question, question.
Time to start taking personal responsibility for your future.
And most of all, time to listen to your gut, what your own inner wisdom tells you.
Inspirational Quotes:
“The important thing is to not stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existence. One cannot help but be in awe when he contemplates the mysteries of eternity, of life, of the marvelous structure of reality. It is enough if one tries merely to comprehend a little of this mystery each day.” ~ Albert Einstein
“Judge a man by his questions rather than by his answers.” ~ Voltaire
“It is not that I’m so smart. But I stay with the questions much longer.” ~ Albert Einstein
“There are years that ask questions and years that answer.” ~ Zora Neale Hurston
“Those who can make you believe absurdities, can make you commit atrocities.” ~ Voltaire
Why is from Humanity’s Lament: Poetry for Our Times. Download it free.
Susan L Hart / Author 