Thursday, February 24, 2022

Heartbroken


Heartbroken. 
Prayers for the people of Ukraine. 
Flashbacks of the trauma of Shock and Awe. 
Consciousness that the United States 
too often stands in hypocrisy rather 
than integrity, accountability, and truth. 
Awareness of the tragic and powerful 
dangers of Empires in collapse.

My stomach turned as I listened to Biden give his speech to the American people this morning. I listened to him rail against Russia for invading a sovereign nation and proclaim how our nation will always stand on the side of democracy, freedom, and liberty. And other bullshit. Just pissed me off! I had to go rant and swear and process the sheer level of hypocrisy with my husband. 

So here we are once again proclaiming our American exceptionalism. Yet, and as I read in The Intercept this morning, "The United States has criticized Russia for violating another nation’s sovereignty. But given its own track record of invasions, assassinations, and torture of foreign citizens, it may not be the best messenger."

And the wars rage on. And on and on and on.

* * * * * 

We Need a Caring Revolution 

We often think of peace as the absence of war, that if powerful countries would reduce their weapon arsenals, we could have peace. But if we look deeply into the weapons, we see our own minds- our own prejudices, fears and ignorance. Even if we transport all the bombs to the moon, the roots of war and the roots of bombs are still there, in our hearts and minds, and sooner or later we will make new bombs. To work for peace is to uproot war from ourselves and from the hearts of men and women. To prepare for war, to give millions of men and women the opportunity to practice killing day and night in their hearts, is to plant millions of seeds of violence, anger, frustration, and fear that will be passed on for generations to come. ― Thich Nhat Hanh, Living Buddha, Living Christ

A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death. Martin Luther King, Jr., Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community?, 1967  

During times of universal deceit, telling the truth is revolutionary. George Orwell 

The most violent element in society is ignorance. Emma Goldman 

When we hold on to our opinions with aggression, no matter how valid our cause, we are simply adding more aggression to the planet, and violence and pain increase. Cultivating nonaggression is cultivating peace. Pema Chödrön

Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter. Martin Luther King, Jr. 

Washing one’s hands of the conflict between the powerful and the powerless means to side with the powerful, not to be neutral. Paulo Freire 

Peace is not just the absence of violence but the manifestation of human compassion. The Dalai Lama 

All beings tremble before violence. All fear death. All love life. See yourself in others. Then whom can you hurt? What harm can you do? The Buddha 

The world is my country, all mankind are my brethren, and to do good is my religion. Thomas Paine 

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 

* * * * * 

Bless all beings. 
🙏 
Molly 
 

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