if our commitment to serving, practicing, and being love in this world doesn’t move us to speak out on the harm we see, doesn’t move us into action to end the harm we see and reduce suffering in this world – especially when the harm and suffering are aimed at already marginalized communities from positions and systems of power – then it isn’t love that we are serving, committed to, or practicing. it is something else.
my heart. i’m feeling this loss with sadness & immense gratitude for her life & her presence in this world. she was the subject of my very first book report in school as a child & the inspiration for a lifelong love & respect for animals & nature. for many years i had wanted to be a naturalist & then a vet. the world is better from having Jane in it & seems somehow less with her absence, especially at this challenging time. may the legacy of her open heart, her awareness, her empathy & wisdom continue to shine bright & inspire for generations to come. bows of gratitude, dear Jane, may you enjoy well deserved rest in the fullness of love. ♥️🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼
Posted @withregram • @janegoodalluk With deepest sorrow, we share the news that Dr. Jane Goodall, our founder, mentor, and friend, has passed away. 💔
Jane changed the way the world understands animals, people, and the natural world. From her groundbreaking discoveries at Gombe to her tireless work for conservation and peace, she inspired millions with her courage, compassion, and unwavering hope.
Her vision lives on through the Jane Goodall Institute and Roots & Shoots, in the countless young people she empowered, and in the hearts of everyone moved by her message: that every one of us has the power to make a difference. 🌍✨
Today is a profoundly sad day for the planet. But Jane’s light continues in all of us.
We invite you to share your memories, tributes, and reflections in her honour. Together, we will keep her legacy alive.
🕊️ Rest peacefully, Jane. Thank you for showing us the way
those who are at the bottom, whether having fallen there or pushed there by society, can be our greatest teachers on how to love. providing opportunity to love, to open our heart & abandon selfishness, holding a mirror to the systems, structures, & priorities of a society who has forgotten the true value of life, its sacredness, its interdependence.
perhaps this is the great sin of Christian Nationalism that presents & promotes a warrior king Jesus of their own creation, who in their mind sanctifies aggression, violence, & relentless consumption & wealth at the cost of others’ wellbeing. rather than Jesus, the Christ, of the gospels who is presented as the suffering servant who defines the “other” as our neighbor, who seeks out those at the margins inviting them in, who prioritizes the poor & feeding the hungry, healing the sick, caring for the imprisoned, & raising from the depths of despair those who have been made to forget that they are worthy & beloved.
though NSPM-7 will be contested in court, people across political ideologies should be concerned. is any criticism of policy, economic or otherwise, now considered extremist? is any criticism of ICE throwing elderly people to the ground or disappearing citizens considered extremist? if we are LGBTQ+ or believe in a woman’s bodily autonomy, are we being “hostile” to “those who hold traditional American views on family, religion, or morality”? is any legitimate opposition to the President or US policy, now considered an attempt at “overthrow”? you may think you’re safe because you have “Jesus follower” in your bio, but are you really safe based on the government’s idea of what a Christian is? do you follow the same Jesus as those in charge, are you the correct kind of Christian? perhaps, though it seems to me you aren’t if you follows Jesus’ teachings on the least of these & his criticism on religious elite & empire. who decides what is extremist today? tomorrow? when will you or your family, or friends fall out of the good graces of the leader simply because you have & act on empathy, kindness, compassion, love? fascism’s appetite is never satiated. now is the time to speak out of love & with love. now is the time to stand in solidarity with values that are democratic & the best of what we believe the US has been & could be, because we love our country, because we love our family & friends, because we are called to love our neighbor.
may our eyes see clearly, may our hearts open, & may we be instruments of love in this time.
an offering, reminder, & call back to love to counter balance some of the energy & messaging coming out of yesterday. an attempt to discern through the noise back to what is true, but not politically advantageous in an age of rage, or for those fallen with power, & ideas of retribution, & domination.
we have a definition for love. we have a definition for those who are aligned with & whose purpose is love.
may open hearts & clear minds prevail, & may true, authentic love have the final word.
“You’ve been through fire, and now you carry water for others.”
~ Caroline Middlelsdorf
a bodhisattva is someone who vows to work endlessly to end the suffering of others & of this world. bodhisattvas can only do this because they have also been transforming their own suffering. we have the capacity of heart & sacred potential to meet our pain with open-heartedness, tenderness, & warmth – which is to say, love – transforming our own suffering, so we may be a benefit to others & this world. if the saying is true, “hurt people, hurt people” then it is also true that healed people, heal people.
right now, we are seeing a lot of people with unprocessed sadness, pain, & anger transmitting that hot energy onto & towards harming others, rather than transforming it within themselves. those who have not faced their own demons, see demons in everyone else. also, there are those with power who are & will seek to manipulate that towards their own selfish end goals. please don’t be played. instead – open to & embrace the alchemy of love available to us, & rise from the ashes of pain & suffering as bodhisattvas embodying the love & healing this world needs.
currently there is a lot of irresponsible & harmful rhetoric about going to war, retribution, & vengeance – & some from people who claim to follow Jesus no less. disappointing & dangerous.
it can be quite easy to get caught up in group think & emotions (especially when we aren’t working with transforming our emotions & have unprocessed rage), but we don’t have to go down such a path. each of us, can make a choice to anchor ourselves in open-heartedness, warmth, tenderness, & offer that love to others without exclusion. offering our love to others, does not mean that we have to like them or agree with them, it simply means we wish for them to be at ease and have happiness, to be safe & free from suffering. why wouldn’t we wish this? if hurt people hurt people, as the saying goes, then why wouldn’t we wish people to not hurt? we all benefit! ultimately love is not a feeling as much as it is a choice, a vow we can make. no matter the situation, we maintain our freedom & our autonomy to make such a choice. if we are serious about this & about our role in this life, on this earth, then no outside circumstances can move us from this vow. love is not only a valid & beneficial choice in these situations, ultimately it is the only valid & beneficial choice if we wish to survive & honor the sacredness of life.
this week has been heavy with tragedy, hypocrisy, hateful & inflammatory rhetoric, false accusations, opportunistic politics, & further erosion of norms & our democracy.
exhausting. so much of it, maybe most of it, is out of our control. but we do have – or should have – control over ourselves. we can practice self-regulation, self-discipline, open-heartedness, & yes – empathy. even if some think it’s a made up word or don’t believe in it. this week has made it obvious that many of us still have a lot of work to do in this area. but we should do so! we should do so knowing this stark truth – any moment may be our last.
The Metta Garden 