Thoughts on Equality

"Equality is the soul of liberty. There is,

in fact, no liberty without it."

As I reflect upon and absorb this quote, I also think of a quote by Oliver Wendell Holmes that my eldest son first shared with me several years ago: "I would not give a fig for the simplicity this side of complexity, but I would give my life for the simplicity on the other side of complexity." 

On the face of it, and from our various perspectives and experiences, it is easy to agree with this. On a deeper level, how do our beliefs in equality play out in the ways we live our lives, day to day, moment to moment? Are we mindful of experiencing compassion and caring and seeing the Sacred in others? Do we catch ourselves when we are sliding into a judgment of Us versus a Them, thus experiencing ourselves as separate from and perhaps somehow - subtly or overtly - better than another? Do we see the Founders in this country for both their wisdom and their large struggles to live the values they speak of? Do we recognize the many faces of inequality and work toward healing within ourselves and our world?

Striving to achieve the lived experience of equality for all is still an enormous struggle everywhere, certainly in America where the redistribution of wealth upward has reached profoundly obscene levels. What can each of us do about this? Do we have the courage and caring and consciousness to want to see, know, and act to lessen the experience of inequality, oppression, separation and suffering - beginning within our own hearts? Do we consciously then hold an ongoing intention to expand our circles of caring beyond ourselves, our families, our communities, our nation to be inclusive of all beings?

It is my perspective that we all fall somewhere on the continuum of more or less living the value of equality. It is certainly an ongoing process for me to recognize, intervene on, and transform the judgments I find myself in which are not in alignment with my values. 

It is not easy to work toward a more just and caring world. May it begin with me. And each of us. 

Peace and blessings... Molly

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War and peace start in the human heart - and whether that heart 
is open or whether that heart closes has global implications. 

- Pema Chödrön  

 In our time, when high technology guided by values such as 
conquest, exploitation, and domination threaten our very 
survival, we need economics driven by an ethos of caring.
We need a caring revolution. 
- Riane Eisler