Life or Comfort?

1930's

I read today of a Nazi Prisoner who was imprisoned at a camp. Was it because she was an unmarried woman? Was it because she was Jewish?

I know now that Nazi camps imprisoned Jews, Catholics and those who were not white men. But I haven't read enough to know what the initiating reason was other than to create the myth of men being in control. Which ultimately meant creating a society of fantasy - we are all white. Obedient and strong.

This is playing out in the Trumpian America. 

If we are all good obedient strong citizens we shall make America great.

The idea of Christianity struggles with this in America. But it means, in my opinion, we can assume we are all the same if we look the same and therefore everyone will think the same as I think.

The truth is a monotheistic dream.

I prefer MLK's dream. And the fact a highly educated religious man was murdered because of the colour of his black skin,  is very disturbing to people who seek to live in peace.

Peace won't be available to us if we seek to feel superior and murder those who are smart, articulate and loving.

As a child who thought herself "not good enough" then in her fantasies said to herself, I will save the world.

Our imagination could at least inform us of our errors.

Thank You Danielle - there is hope yet

 https://daniellemoodie.substack.com/p/the-cost-of-hubris-how-exceptionalism?utm_source=podcast-email&publication_id=3059853&post_id=191494973&utm_campaign=email-play-on-substack&utm_content=watch_now_button&r=pwb38&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email

You Possess A Rare and Beautiful Gift

 No I am not about to get slushy or fill this page with sweet thoughts.

I was raised to believe I would never amount to anything. I was once a lay chaplain in the Unitarian Universalist church. Before that I became a wife and soon after that, a mother. I am now convinced that living a loving and responsible life is the reason. 

The people who said I would never amount to anything were mothers and housewives. My own mother believed our power was in the things we did and believed. My mother was also a singer, a dancer, a cook and housekeeper.  

She raised four children, loved and respected family but never spoke about her values. She relied on "feminine mystique" and was loved by many but the word LOVED was never used. 

In Britain at that time people did not use gushing words. This was England where many lost their lives or loved ones during WWII.'

I can hear one of my three children sigh. Because my writing is "preachy". I love all my children and grandchildren. They are part of my family who remind me that life matters. More than that, they are smarter than me.

I love the people who care about health, my mental health, the people who keep the Nanaimo Unitarian Fellowship going and the doctors and nurses who care about my health. I love the Jewish people, the Christian people, the gardeners, the tree trimmers, the producers of vegetables and TV programs. I love the neighbours who visit when my husband has to do his duties around the home and garden.

I love the people who have offered to take me to the synagogue when they were going. I love the mechanics who fix things. I love the neighbours who let me know when they are going shopping in case I need a lift. I love the woman who visits the tree in my back yard and trims it each year, the family who fix other broken things. 

This is a long-winded way of saying I love humanity.

Flowers or Man

I thought I would write another poem here.

But I did this instead

 

In all the media coverage that entered my computer

I think about a photo of Greta Thunburg

with an ad on top of that

saying she is struggling with her health

surrounded by advertising for things you can buy.

This is not the first time I have compared

life to the images bought and paid for

by corporations selling their products.

How are we? What will tomorrow bring?

You may think this is a blank space but I think it is an opportunity to write some words down to remind all of us who we are.

Who are you?

How do you feel about the state of this world? How do you feel about your family? Are they doing okay? 

What if I told you your purpose, your life, is yet to start?

You are here to bring humanity back to life.

To stop judging others, the news headlines, the "rulers" and "leaders".

Yes we all have  a problem. This world is a mess. Men who think they are ordained to lead us, to fix the problems.

No I can't tell you who you are or why you are here. I have been scanning opinions all over this computer and I don't know what the answer is.

For centuries we have told ourselves to think. Get it right. What is the problem?

Is it anti-semitism? Misogyny? Greed? Capitalism? Fear? Poverty? 

I think it is the endless competitions to win. We can't just live our lives. We must leave the world a better place than we found it.

It is the endless arguments that fill up our heads.

What do I have to do to prove .... stop!

You do not have to prove anything. You have to live your life?

I'm not the expert I think I should be!

I'm not special in a fantastic way.

I am special in a quiet thoughtful way but not more special than you.

Yes you are special.

Every raindrop is special.

How do I know that? I feel it.

Feel you ask?

How do you know, how can you prove.

I am not here to prove, I am here to help humanity see its worth.

No this is not self aggrandizing. I am not special any more than all other living things.

How do I know I'm special then?

We are all special. Even Donald Trump!

What way am I useful? What can I offer this world? How can I save it from nuclear war? From egocentric "leaders". 

This planet is at risk of being destroyed by egocentric egos.

What can I do about that? Who can I influence to not do any harm?

Human history is plagued by egos believing its their duty to teach us a lesson?

How do we influence men who are a threat to our planet? We are still fighting against "the jews", "the Catholics", the "Oligarchs" and the warriors dreaming about how to save the world by controlling it.

For centuries humans have dreamt about how to save this planet with its critters fighting for food and shelter.

We invented "the jews" as a problem that we must "deal" with. Even though they are smarter than us.

But we have an imagination that keeps us awake at night imagining what they may do to us sometime in the future. This is antisemitic. And so it is antisemitism keeping us awake.

Or people of colour who are loved and successful.

Or our children when they grow up and no longer need our protection. Or our neighbours who might be suffering and secretly scheming to take something of ours away? Or an ex who is still angry about leaving. Domestic violence is on the rise we are told?

Feminists? Neighbours? Christians? Transgender people? Strangers? Immigrants?

Just how safe are we? 

No-one can tell me the day and time my life will end. What should I do?

Without Emotions to Balance Our Fears

 We shall use our thoughts carelessly.

We can imagine all sorts of cruel scandals invented by The Other. There's enough there to keep us talking for days. We have a long history from the Romans to the Nazi's.

IS THE WORLD DISINTEGRATING INTO CHAOS?

Or is it just the human mind?

Is our world becoming chaos? Or is it our human ego?

Does it seem like the news is a tight list of everything going wrong? Can humans be blamed for this? Are we so fixated on our own interests, we cannot understand the world any more?

The newspapers write as though climate change, weather, the economy, the planets, are all here to serve us? 

Or, is it, those who follow astronomy and the daily news, see the world as something we own and therefore it should take care of us?

Are we trapped in a patriarchal pattern where man is king and everything else is here to serve him?

What are our major fears? 

Can we do anything about climate change? Can we teach our brothers and sisters to be unpaid servants to our interests?

Do we cry? Or have our tears dried up?

Does fear or anxiety make things worse? Do we harm our world by worrying about ourselves?

Is it possible for humanity to see the universe as something we should take care of?

Mostly when life on this planet seems to be in danger it's when humanity gets so scared it seeks to kill everything to "prove"  we are in charge?

Can we put our arms around everyone we meet to help bring the anxiety level down?

How can love save us when most people are not in our town?