..Had this nasty cod/flu combo last week...did ya miss me?
When will we learn to love ourselves? I am intrigued by the events of the last week. Not so much for the events themselves but in the reactions they have elicited from people.
Without love, we seem cast adrift on the tide of the masses: action reaction, action reaction. Up the boat goes, down it comes...
Christian, Muslim, bound by the winds of change and the whims of those who would 'lead' us whether we really know how they got there or not..
Bang the drum, rally the masses, wave the flag...
Only through love can you shed your need to be told, for your freedom to know. Only through love can you show the world that acceptance begins when tolerance ends. Should Osama Bin Laden be dead? He is dead, so I guess that is yes. Should you rejoice? If you feel you need to, ask yourself what happens when you're finished rejoicing; what then? Ask yourself how many of the 311 million other Americans are actually dancing in the street with you. After that, consider that the next time you see people dancing in the street in Islamabad how many of the 1.21 Billion people from their country they represent.
If you are off-put by those who rejoice, ask yourself what is in you that is off-put. Not, what is in them that makes them want to. In the still small voice that engages in that discussion, you will find yourself. That is where love resides. It is in yourself, by yourself and in relationship to yourself that judgment resides. When you judge someone else, what criteria are you judging them by? Your perfection or your imperfection? If you are perfect, what difference would it make what anyone else does?
I know these things because I judge sometimes in a knee-jerk reaction and it feels terrible. I used to do it all the time, with all the emotion I could muster and then I felt even more terrible. When I don't judge I am closer to myself than at any other time. Closer to freedom, closer to love. When you practice non-judgment, its a heck of a cool game with a win/win every time. Are you always successful? Yes because the minute you catch yourself judging and put yourself in the other persons shoes you're one step closer to who you want to be whether you realize it or not.
The next time you refer to a Muslim or a Christian as they, ask yourself if you are a 'they'. Perhaps you'll say" if they means a Christian, I guess I am, or, if they means Muslim, I guess I am. Then try saying it without the word I and see how far you get. They don't dance in the streets. A collection of I's do. If not, than they represent you in everything they do.
The world is safer without Bin Laden in it. Not too many people disagree with that. How much safer it is, will have to do not only with each individual reaction to his death, but with each individual reaction to the reaction.
And finally I leave you with this video. A little beauty in a world where choice is as it has always been, right there with you! Stay beautiful. C ya next week.
http://wimp.com/brainautotuned
