You Didn't Get Mad When...

I heard this read this morning on the radio (KPOJ's morning show with Carl and Christine). Wow. I went on line and found it several places. Like Carl and Christine did, I am leaving the parts off that I found on line that include any name calling and swearing. It is also not clear who the original author is. In addition, I am deeply aware that, sadly, the below is a partial list, leaving off significant things such as suspending Habeas Corpus, fixing the science to deny Global Warming, the destruction of the environment through passage of acts like "Healthy Forests" and "Clean Skies" Initiatives, harming rather than helping schools through No Child Left Behind, etc., etc., etc. I am posting this, not to point fingers at an "Other", but rather to shine a light on where priorities, awareness, and energy have been or not been. The time has come, I believe urgently, to join hands and support one another in growing in consciousness and heart-centered action that is focused in some way on creating a world that works for all. Our planet needs human beings who are courageous enough to be informed and who truly care about what we learn. May we each increasingly recognize, own, heal, and transform all that keeps us from living with greater compassion and lovingkindness. May we grow in our capacity to be effective agents of precisely those changes which are most needed in the world...

Peace ~ Molly

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You didn’t get mad when the Supreme Court stopped a legal recount and appointed a president.
You didn’t get mad when Cheney let energy company officials dictate energy policy.
You didn’t get mad when a covert CIA operative was outed.
You didn’t get mad when the Patriot Act was passed.
You didn’t get mad when we illegally invaded a country posing no threat to us.
You didn’t get mad when we spent more than $600 billion (and counting) on said illegal war.
You didn’t get mad when $10 billion-plus disappeared in Iraq.
You didn’t get mad when you saw the Abu Ghraib photos.
You didn’t get mad when you learned we torture people.
You didn’t get mad when the government illegally wiretapped Americans.
You didn’t get mad when we didn’t catch Bin Laden.
You didn’t get mad when you saw the horrible conditions at Walter Reed.
You didn’t get mad when we let a major US city drown.
You didn’t get mad when the deficit hit a trillion dollars.
You finally got mad when… when… wait for it… when the government decided that sick Americans deserve the right to see a doctor. Yes, illegal wars, lies, corruption, torture, stealing your tax dollars to make the rich richer, are all okay with you. But helping other Americans? No way! ....

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Responsibility does not only lie with the leaders of our countries or with those who have been appointed or elected to do a particular job. It lies with each of us individually. Peace, for example, starts within each one of us. When we have inner peace, we can be at peace with those around us.

When our community is in a state of peace, it can share that peace with neighboring communities, and so on. When we feel love and kindness towards others, it not only makes others feel loved and cared for, but it helps us also to develop inner happiness and peace. And there are ways in which we can consciously work to develop feelings of love and kindness. For some of us, the most effective way to do so is through religious practice. For others it may be non-religious practices. What is important is that we each make a sincere effort to take our responsibility for each other and for the natural environment we live in seriously.

~ HH the Dalai Lama
The Nobel Lecture, December 11, 1989