the at times subtle, persistent, & consistent normalization of cruelty we are seeing is part of the insidious nature of fascism. yet, fascism depends on people cooperating with the abuse of power. may we be a people who see clearly with awareness & wisdom. may we be a people who open our hearts to the suffering of those harmed by the cruel, oppressive abuse of power we are seeing. may we be a people who are centered & moved in love to be courageous & resolute.
in a time when those wielding oppressive power are constantly escalating, creating chaos, provoking discord, & would have us running around panicked, doom scrolling & descending into the violence they want to elicit, it can be a powerful act of resistance to simply sit & come back to our bodies, come back to our breath, & come back to the warmth of our tender hearts. tending to our well being, buoys us, brings clarity, providing the strength & resilience we need to continue bearing witness, speaking out, & taking action for the benefit of others. we sit so we can stand up. we sit so we can speak out. we sit so we can be instruments of peace without losing our peace, instruments of love without losing our capacity to be love for a suffering world.
there is much harm & suffering happening. there is much gaslighting about the harm & suffering. but the truth is still present beneath the lies & state propaganda. we must be clear-eyed & open-hearted in this time. hold to the truth, hold to love.
friends, i choose to live by vow. that is to say i am committed to a path & practice of love toward all without exception even as i stumble along this path. it’s a practice of love engaged in calling out cruelty & harm, bearing witness to the suffering it causes, working to end the harm & heal the suffering. it is unshakable. therefore, i will not debate cruelty. i will not debate harm. i will not abide with fascism. there is no “except” following the command to love our neighbor. one cannot expound, “for God so loved the world” & not mean the whole world & all within it. so if anyone, including friends, are aligned with these or practice apologetics for these, out of love i will meet them with silence, & wish them peace & freedom from suffering. we’ve come too far & crossed too many thresholds at this point in my view, to debate cruelty & harm, & to abide with any movement toward fascism. to engage in such a way at this point, as if cruelty & harm & fascism are legitimate, gives air to them & feeds the beast. i don’t see that as a beneficial use of my energy, or love.
may open hearts, wisdom, & love prevail in this time for the benefit of all.
i will continue to mark the anniversary of Jan 6th as a day of remembrance & mourning. a day that showed clearly what may be to come, yet wasn’t honored as the warning it was. though there is continued effort to rewrite history and gaslight us regarding the riotous insurrection, i will continue to remember, i will continue to bear witness, i will continue to repost my reaction & thoughts from that day. i will honor the Capitol Police who died & who were injured.
history will remember. life itself will hold the memory.
friends, please take the time to listen to HCR’s explainer regarding this administration‘s actions towards Venezuela earlier today. it is only a half hour long, but gives historical context, including World War I & World War II along with the aftermath & the implementation of a rules based world order after those wars. of course she does so in her consistent very clear minded, clear voiced, sober & non-hyperbolic manner. it is important for all of us to understand context, both for our own country & for the world. knowledge & context helps us discern through the narratives being presented.
