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A Step In The Right Direction December 18, 2010 the United States Senate voted to repeal "Don't Ask Don't Tell" -- a step in the right direction... but why do we struggle so to fully embrace our ideals and vision of a nation of equality and justice for all? Yes, a step in the right direction, but what about the "Dream Act"? What about marriage equality? What about the right to organize in the workplace? What about limiting the power of corporations to buy politicians and elections? What about protecting this precious planet from the powerful who consider it their personal playground for the pursuit of unlimited wealth -- until they must inevitably die... and, of couse, can't take either their money or toys with them? What about a requirement for "news sources" to "fact check" -- and not deliberately misinform our citizenry? If we are, in fact, going to progress into a society and nation "of, by, and for the people", today should be a clarion call to get serious and get to work. Si se puede! 
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Imagine a world...  John Lennon. Music. Rock 'n Roll. Beatles. Yoko. War and Peace. Long hair. Bed-in for peace. Hero / anti-hero. House-husband. Love. Imagine.
Words, but more than words. John Lennon has become an icon for "fully alive, fully human". Not a saint and not perfect -- chuckle, chuckle -- that never entered his mind. But a man, a man with his music, with his poetry and voice. A man who grew into himself and into his voice -- who was willing to question and to stretch into new possibilities... While it is useless to wonder how we and perhaps the world would be different if he hadn't been murdered, it is not useless to remember and to accept the burden of caring about this world. Summoning the courage to "imagine", perhaps we might also summon the audacity to roll up the "sleeves of our lives" -- and change the course of history. It is not yet too late.  "The great unprecedented spiritual leap that humankind will have to take fast to save itself and the planet could only be possible if there were a correspondingly vast concentration of divine power here on earth to make that leap possible and to give human beings everywhere every kind of inspiration, encouragement, and help. That power, I believe is the light now active, through the grace of the Mother, everywhere, all over the planet." -- Andrew Harvey (Dialogues with a Modern Mystic) The Sacred Fire that is uniting a vigorous activism with an earth-centered and feminine focused spirituality will, I believe, overcome our sense of complacency and fear. Those who would have us retreat in silence before their privilege and power will, like the British in Gandhi's revolutionary India, change their minds if we remain steadfast in our conviction that this planet is worth saving! Profit and power, in the long run, are not sufficient for a meaningful for life. On the other hand, service to the common good and educating children in community wisdom, along with the truly rich "personal" pursuits of philosophy, the arts, music and poetry, and pleasure in relationships are the "stuff" of deep, sustainable, meaning and purpose.
The Sacred Fire of our personal and collective transformation begins with our assent to the likelihood of a benevolent Universe... Yes, and the grace of the Divine Mother and a Living Planet... |
AuthorRobert Daniel Smith was privileged to serve the homeless and marginalized for 30 years in California. He is living now almost within shouting distance of the Twin Cities. He is a poet, artist, writer, and long-time Companion of the Way still dreaming... Archives
May 2022
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