The Others

It seems like there are always 'others'.
Bad people, stupid people, ignorant people;
people we don't like;
People it is ok to hate.

Perhaps their last name is Clinton,
Or perhaps their last name is Bush;
Or Paul, or Kennedy, or Obama;

Or perhaps 'the others' are a race;
Or a belief;
Or a gender;
Or a sexual orientation;
Or a nationality;
Or a class or category.

We hate them, and everyone who likes them.
We hate what they represent.
We put bumper-stickers on our cars awash in hate or contempt;

We post vitrol on websites,
We wear buttons and T-shirts that drip anger, lies, and hatred.

We tell jokes that dehumanize;
We repeat slander;
We mock;
We make angry, racist, sexist, and paranoid comments.

We find it hard to relate to anyone who likes the other.
Who sees good in them.

We can't countenance a single good thought about them.

And this is unfair.

It is unfair to the other.
It is unfair to those who love or appreciate them.
It is unfair to the world of people who don't want to pass a litmus test to even speak to us.
Or who find that in our presence their speech must be censored.
And it is unfair to us ourselves - because hate blinds us to the truth.

And the truth usually lies in a third place,
Distant from the hills and trenches of our petty wars.
And it is to the truth that we must find our way.

If we can be honest with each other,
If we can hear the voice of the other and not blot it out,
Not block it out with hate;
Not ignore it.
Not censor it.
Not turn it off.
Not walk away.
If we can be in dialog with the other;

We will be wiser people.
We will be richer people.
We may be kinder people.
We may find better leaders.
We can step aside from our anger.
We can cease our fighting.

But first we need to open the gates of our heart and truly listen.
And open our minds to truly hear.

May We Find Peace
LE

Returning Evil for Good

Why do some;
Shun you when you try to share your plenty with them?
Exclude you when you try to include?
Hate you in your efforts to help?
Return evil for Good?

One reason is that they need you to hate them.
They need you to be evil, angry, to be against them.
Their worldview does not allow for someone like you to be;

Nice,
Friend,
Partner,
Helper,
Companion,
Good,
Pleasant...

And the nicer you are, the more painful the dissonance between how they must see you and reality.

You can't be nicer than their grandma, their family, their spouse, their circle of friends. Your 'goodness' must be a lie, a scam, to lull their alertness, dull their senses so you can take advantage of them. They want no part of that, and need to strike out at you, make you stop, put you back into a steriotype that they can understand.

Don't make it easy for them by hating and excluding them back. It is hard work, but keep them on the spot as much as you can: be nice, be vulnerable, be weak.

Maybe, just maybe, they might start asking questions and come to different conclusions. They might change.

It has happened before.

Let us pray for opened eyes all around.

P.S. I myself am pretty lousy at this

The Voice of Evil

The voice of evil calls to us
Wherever it can reach us
It delights in death, despair and destruction
It raises up sin after sin before our eyes
Look! It says; Humans (even you) are hopelessly corrupt!
There is no use in building,
Everything will be swept away!
Everything you create is already dying, falling apart, will be destroyed!
Your neighbors are criminals, rapists, even pedophiles!
Everyone wants to steal from you!
Your very identity is at risk!
Cancer, murder, terrorism, death and loss!
Darkness, addiction, corruption and evil!

The voice of evil shouts at you from your TV, your radio, the newspaper and the internet. It repeats it's message of death and hopelessness over and over, and good honest people start repeating it themselves.

But there is a reason that the voice of evil must be so strident, and so unceasing, and that is because it is trying to drown out another voice; A voice that permeates all creation, that comes from every thing; A quiet voice, a humbler melody - that whispers to everything from everywhere;

Live
Love
Share
Give
Help
Grow
Build
You are beloved
You are wonderful
You are beautiful
You are wanted
You are needed
You can help
You make a difference
You are One

And in the end, the voice of evil is only a counterpoint to the one voice.
Nothing it said ever mattered in the first place.
It is forever on the outside,
Forever trying to obscure what is true,
Forever living in lies;
There is nothing permanent there,
It lies outside of the truth;
It is darkness and distraction;
It is cloud and mist;
It will burn away in the sun;
It will be swept away by joy.

Listen to the voice of joy;

Live
Love
Share
Give
Help
Grow
Build
You are beloved
You are wonderful
You are beautiful
You are wanted
You are needed
You can help
You make a difference
You are One

Peace to you who are One with Love

A Happy Mantra

Into the sweetest of souls, dark thoughts can come bubbling up, like blebs of oil from a forgotten shipwreck, rising in a clear tropical lagoon.

Sometimes it is easy to become focused on them. I think we recognise darkness when we see it, and we tend to know when thoughts are leading us astray, or when the thoughts are evil themselves.

For those who find themselves buffeted by negative messages about their worth, about other people's unworthiness, about appearance, all those negative messages that we find so common inside and out, I say, learn the lesson of the lagoon. Smother the negativity with love and life. Instead of focusing on the hateful, the denigrating, or the dark, express the light.

Find a happy mantra, or two to repeat and share.

I suggest 'Love' or 'Love as we wish to be Loved'.

It'll wash the dark away.

All my love to you.

-the bug chewer