please don’t sit this one out. please do something that IS love this day. every word, every action is an opportunity, a privilege to be love in this world, to be a force for healing & hope, for goodness, for light during this time. whether it is protesting & marching, calling our reps, creating art, posting content, connecting one on one or speaking in groups, or simply being a presence of open-heartedness, of bearing witness & listening, of shifting the energy around us to calm steadiness & peace, we have power & we are being called to use it wisely in this time.
may our commitment to love & our practices embodying love, inexhaustible, rain down as healing medicine upon this suffering world.
may such love empower hope within others, & clarity in seeing that there is possibility beyond old patterns of harm & suffering, that our open hearts & wisdom can support a reality of equity, justice, compassion, & peace.
people centering love, empathy, kindness & compassion.
people devoted to democracy & the common good.
people who haven’t given up on the pursuit of equity & justice, on ever opening the to full inclusivity of all who have been marginalized, so everyone has a seat at the table.
…doing all of this, committed to all of this, even in the face of those who would destroy everything to gain & keep power.
may we, also, be such people in this time. in doing so, we are participating in hope, & with hope, a hope centered in love & community, all things are possible.
This is what we’ve been practicing for: the situations where the practice doesn’t come easily. When the winds of change reach hurricane force, our inner refuge of mindfulness, concentration, and discernment is the only thing that will keep us from getting blown away.
i read the Bible. i was baptized & went through two years of study & was confirmed in the faith in my younger days.
i am a Buddhist now, & i still follow Jesus’ teachings, because he showed how to BE love in this world. the Buddha’s teachings give me a way & practice to do just that – be love.
so i’m still all about that Golden Rule. i stand w/ immigrants & refugees this day & every day, & every hour of every day.
may all of our hearts open as Jesus & as the Buddha to those around us wherever they are from, in need, all sacred, all more worthy than our temporary constructed borders.
events are unfolding so quickly – aggressively, with cruelty & indifference to suffering. this can feel overwhelming & disheartening – which is the tactic of fascism.
but life has a way of regaining balance in the long arc of things, due to the goodness & love within the hearts of those who are grounded with moral integrity & love itself which is infused into every part of life & seeks such balance. that which burns most aggressively & fast, will also burn out sooner. nothing here lasts forever save for love. misaligned power & cruelty will find their end.
breathing. keeping focused. keeping our hearts open, our bravery quivering, with patience & endurance, contributing with others to the good, to that which is love & healing – compassion, kindness, & peace will prevail.