sitting with this life, sometimes your heart must break. allow it. over & over again, allow it. offer it. allow your heart to break open, allow love to pour out. pouring pouring pouring, offering offering offering . a tsunami to overwhelm this suffering world with love, your love. then when love has been set free, love can fill your words, lift your feet & put your hands to work. reminding us, there is goodness, there is beauty, there is hope.
i posted these words this past Saturday at the conclusion of my written piece:
“we are at a crossroads & we have a choice in which path we follow: cruelty or love.”
i believe this in my bones & here are words from Roshi Pat Enkyo O’Hara that i think embody what the path of love looks like at this time, & perhaps all time, taken from her incredible book, “Most Intimate: A Zen Approach to Life’s Challenges.”
may we find our way & practice to a path of love, & may our practice of such love be a benefit to all life & all that suffers.
they love themselves, their agenda, their power & are blinded by their narcissism, & are at times either indifferent to or delighting in the suffering of others.
they say “peace” even as they spill blood.
may the Love that is without beginning or end, beyond yet within time & space, arise within our hearts at this dire & necessary time.
generally, i don’t talk in terms of good & evil, at least in regards to individuals. i prefer to look at their actions & whether they are harmful or beneficial. talking in binary terms can often feel too reductive & not representative of the complexities – the grayness of life. but as the actions of this administration become increasingly extreme w/ their ignoring of the Constitution & breaking laws, attacking diversity at every level, disappearing people w/out due process, dehumanizing immigrants along w/ trans & the larger group of LGBTQ+ people, targeting political opponents & free speech, militarizing ICE & the policing of our streets wreaking terror in communities, cutting desperately needed international food & medical programs resulting in mass death of the poorest – especially children, targeting desperately needed food & medical assistance here at home which will harm the poorest including children & the elderly, & doing all of this w/ such hubris & an air of smugness & levity w/ smiles on their faces, i don’t know what else to call it. there’s an insidiousness to what is going on that is in opposition to all i know to be loving & good, all i know to be sacred & divine, all i know to be humane in its best sense.
this moment is a moral moment, a deeply clarifying spiritual one, one that is calling us to choose whether we will align w/ immense cruelty, or life & liberating love.
i am pleading w/ all whom i know & to all whom my words reach – please choose love.
some reported facts to keep in mind as the drum beat towards war is gaining momentum & support:
-US intelligence agencies made the assessment that Iran is not close to having a nuclear weapon & has not yet decided to make one.
-under the Obama admin we had the Iran nuclear deal that put third-party agencies on sites to observe & report all nuclear activity & potential capabilities. diplomatically, this was 40 years in the making.
-Trump admin 1st term backed out of that deal. Trump admin 2nd term was currently negotiating a new deal w/ Iran. there was a 60 day negotiation period w/ a follow up meeting set for day 63.
-Israel under Netanyahu, against US wishes, made the decision on the day 61 to preemptively go in & bomb Iran. Israel now wants the US to join in military activity & regime change.
-now Trump admin are considering US military involvement, including the use of tactical a nuclear weapon.
this could have catastrophic consequences for millions of innocent people & it appears based on the facts reported, that this was neither urgent or necessary.
my hearts open, may awareness, clarity, & wisdom arise.
JUNETEENTH – Freedom Day – originated in Galveston, Texas, when Union Army General Gordon Granger proclaimed by order the freedom of enslaved people in Texas. this was 2 1/2 half years after President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863.
in 2025, we have a continued threatening movement of White Nationalism that has gained a seat at the table, implementing Project 2025 policy under Trump, w/ attacks on DEI & states making it difficult if not illegal to teach such history due to racism based in ignorance & fear, in an effort to control a fictitious narrative regarding US History.
in the spirit of JUNETEENTH & the divine truth that a free life devoid of oppression & subjugation is an inherent right for all, we must continue to inform w/ the truth of our history (all parts – bad & good) through political engagement, education, & art.
of note – the US Congress w/ President Biden signing into law on June 17, 2021, made JUNETEENTH a Federal Holiday.
there are some, sitting comfortable in their seats of power, who in their lust for power pursue war. indifferent to harm & destruction, they deny the sacredness of life & in so doing abandon their own humanity. they become builders of hell on earth.
are we not pulled in our hearts toward the cries of the innocent caught in the madness of war?
there is no moral argument that justifies the flagrant & often mass killing of innocent people, women & men, elderly & children, simply trying to live their lives, loving their families, working their jobs to put food on their table & keep a roof over their heads, enjoying their friendships & lives in the short time we have here. would we want less for ourselves, our families, our loved ones? their lives matter. they are not collateral damage in others’ war games.
if any of us claim to be Christian, we should not align w/ cruelty under the cross. it was wrong during the crusades, it was wrong during the inquisition, it was wrong during the forced conversion & assimilation of Indigenous & Native peoples, it was wrong when bombing abortion clinics, it is still wrong today when used to justify marginalization, oppression, violence, cruelty, harm, & destruction. these are not the Way of Jesus, the Christ. they are the way of empire. if we have any awareness & wisdom when reading Jesus‘ words, we see who he aligned with, who he lifted up, & who he attended to. it was with those who suffer, those cast out, those at the bottom. it wasn’t with empire.
today is the 250th Anniversary of the Army’s founding, by the Second Continental Congress in 1775.
setting aside the vanity parade by a would be dictator in DC, i’m grateful for the hundreds of years of service & sacrifice the Army & its veterans have given us, including my grandfather Albert Lass, Sr. who served in WWII, fighting fascism abroad. may we honor his & others’ sacrifice by fighting the arising fascism here. No Kings!
nonviolent protest is an act of love – of fierce compassion. showing up in whatever way we can, in solidarity with those who have been targeted & harmed, is a courageous display of empathy & compassion, which is love in action. this moment is calling for us to be love in action.
The Metta Garden 