interdependent with all the life that abounds and is in danger on this spinning beauty we call home, may we LOVE our home for ourselves and others. may we take seriously the challenges before us.
the stark truth is, if we have small children or grandchildren, their lives will be adversely affected by the consequences of climate change. that’s the new reality. we have only a couple of decades. IF we don’t make dramatic changes in our consumption, use of energy, and way of life – especially in industrialized affluent nations, the very near future (2050 onward) will see severe consequences with some areas of the earth uninhabitable with mass migration, hunger, and extinction of species.
may our love and wisdom arise to meet this moment in time.
shot for approaching the wrong car in a parking lot.
shot for chasing a ball into a neighbor’s yard.
we have a choice in the reality we create.
we, in the US, are creating a culture of death, with a foundation built on fear where the only answer to that fear is violence. this is a delusional path.
a self-fulfilling hell of our own making.
be mindful! discern!
we who have been given this gift of life – how is this fear and violence, loving our neighbor?
how does this fear and violence, honor life?
there is an Indian Proverb ~ “All the flowers of all the tomorrows are in the seeds of today.”
what seeds are we, each of us, planting today? seeds of fear and violence? or seeds of love, kindness, faith in goodness, tenderness, and nonaggression?
6 million Jews murdered along with millions of others including LGBTQ, gypsies, the disabled, and Catholics, by the Nazis.
it starts with “othering” and denying the humanity of another. it’s starts with speech, with scapegoating rhetoric, and propaganda.
there is a rise in Nazism and authoritarian ideology, a rise in anti-Semitic hate crimes, along with hate crimes targeting other communities, in speech and action.
it is vitally important that we commit our hearts, minds, our words and action to calling out and pushing back against such hate and delusion.
never forget. never again.
may our love be resilient and steadfast, and our compassion fierce, in these times.
lifting this young man, Ralph Yarl, up in lovingkindness meditation and prayers for healing. may he be safe, may he be healed and well, may he be happy in his life, and may he be at ease and free from suffering. even so, he will carry this his whole life. horrible and unfair.
racism is a scourge, based in unreasonable fear, embodied in aggression and hate, blinding the holder of such delusional views from seeing the sacred, divine life in front of them – what was there to fear of this young man ringing a doorbell? can a young Black man not ring a doorbell?
racism always results in harm and destruction. there was nothing to defend here, no ground to stand on. it was the unreasonable fear, the racism of the 85 year old white man born out through a gun. no justification. now, may the consequences of such actions be born out for him as well and may his heart have a conversion from racism to love.
sometimes we are called to speak up and speak out. when we see harm, when we witness injustice, and our heart is moved to action, and it can bring benefit to others, we should honor it with our speech.
Right Speech is not only refraining from harmful and dishonest speech, but also engaging in beneficial, healing, kind, and compassionate speech.
sometimes Love is embodied in silent presence, but how can Love remain silent, when there is harm, injustice, and need?
our potential to stay open, tender, soft, empathetic, and kind, to abandon cynicism, to move with a balance of humility and confidence embodying love as compassion, sometimes fierce, is a superpower, a healing force that transforms hearts and benefits the world.
the other day, my nephew’s high school received reports of a rumored potential school shooting. they worked with the police to assess the situation and determined it wasn’t a credible threat. some children were scared to go to school that next day. what if, right?
i’m thinking about the trauma these children are experiencing. seeing mass shootings, having drills, seeing armed security guards, police or teachers daily, having to carry the possibility of dying, all while trying to learn, make friends, and grow.
we often focus on the lives lost, but what about the lives of those who have survived but have been traumatized physically and emotionally? i’m thinking of them.
i know someone who survived the 2017 Vegas shooting. at some point we may all know someone who has survived/not survived a mass shooting. maybe it will be us.
is this what we want? a reality where there’s access to a weapon that can mow numerous people down at a movie, a doctor’s office, a concert, a bank, a school, a park, a grocery store, a restaurant. what’s your plan? can you run faster than a spray of 30 or a 100 rounds?
all of this death and trauma, for access to a weapon that was made for war, then modified for commercial use so companies can make money feeding off fear and an unhealthy relationship to violence.
a poll in 2022, showed that 67% of Americans strongly or somewhat support banning assault-style weapons.
the traits of mass shooters have spanned race, religion, ideology, gender, orientation, motive. but they’ve had one commonality – the weapon of choice that kills the most people and does the most damage in the least amount of time.
why are we allowing access to a weapon of war, a crowd killer, even at the cost of children being slaughtered?
why aren’t we elevating empathy, thoughtfulness, warm-heartedness, kindness, compassion, common sense, and wisdom?
this moment in history is calling on us to RISE to this moment, this need, this crisis and answer with love and wisdom.
resurrection is always happening and available. it is path and practice.
to awaken into a new life of love and wholeness emerging from a life of othering and harm which always brings a type of death (opposite of union with life).
love has the capacity to hold and transform all. and love is calling us out of the graves we create. awaken, arise!
awaken and arise to the love and life already in you, that is you, my friends.
wishing all my Christian friends who observe, a blessed Good Friday. 🙏🏻
i invite Christian and non-Christian friends alike to view the crucifixion as a political act (in addition to a metaphysical, mystical, spiritual act if that is your belief). the crucifixion, after all, was state sanctioned violence. and in the case of Jesus, state sanctioned violence against a Jewish man who was teaching a message of nonviolence, a message of including the excluded, of reaching out to the marginalized, a message of the outcast as embodiments of the sacred, a message of loving one’s enemies as a way of embodying one’s love for God. a message of love that disrupts the status quo (which almost always brings suffering to someone) and destabilizes the hierarchy of power (that almost always oppresses someone).
and yet as the writers of the Gospels tell us, at every step, Jesus embodied nonviolence, even when facing the horrifically violent death of crucifixion. i recall the story of the Roman guard who comes to arrest Jesus prior to the crucifixion. Peter, Jesus’ disciple, cuts off the guard’s ear in defense of Jesus. who does Jesus’ rebuke? Peter, not the Roman guard! Jesus rebukes Peter and heals the ear of the Roman guard. imagine that! a path of nonviolence and healing, a path committed to inclusive love, even if it leads to death. it’s revolutionary.
it’s impossible to reconcile such a message of love and nonviolence with the violent, marginalizing, exclusionary rhetoric we hear today or with a love for weapons of violence and war, over the lives of children. Jesus’ message of love is still challenging us in these times.
may hearts open, may sanity arise, and may such a revolutionary love find a home in our words and actions.
The Metta Garden 