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Dalton
Roberts |
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I have a dozen angry articles bubbling up within me about today’s headlines but I am so weary over us making the same mistakes over and over and throwing our weight around so arrogantly all over the world that I realize I am close to becoming a cynic. And this is no time for cynics. As Ann O’Shaughnessy says in a recent issue of Heron Dance (www.herondance.com) a cynic is often just a disappointed idealist. She further expresses some of my feelings in her article: “I am too soft for this hard world…I do not want to be the ostrich with my head in the sand…I need to set a different course by reminding myself that mankind has always been flawed, has always committed atrocities …(yet) love and light continued to exist anyway.” Maybe I will write some of those articles marinating in a deep inner anger but first I need to overcome both weariness and anger. We seldom contribute anything of worth to people when it spews from negative emotions. Realizing that mankind has always been flawed is not a comfort but it does help to center down n realities. Freud said we can know what a person is likely to do for the next 15 years by looking at what he’s done the past 15 years. That is a little less positive appraisal of mankind’s potential than I hold but the facts are that we are far from reaching our potential. We must shoot for some small tilts of the sail to change our direction. Many of today’s writers are saying we need a quantum leap in consciousness to survive the threats of disaster from planetary changes as well as militarism, nationalism and the proliferation of human robots of terror. A quantum leap would be the happiest day in the history of humankind but just a few tiny steps would hearten us right now. For starters we might cease thinking that being the richest nation in the world gives us the right to control people all over the world. We might start adding to our “God bless America” shibboleth the words “and God bless every little baby, every man and woman in every nation all over this earth and help us see we are all brothers and sisters. Help us respect the rights of others to have their own culture and ways of being without trying to cram our aggressive, consumerist values down their throats.” I love America like I loved my mother and father. My mother and father treated all their neighbors with respect and love and I want my America to be that good. To me, that is the highest level of patriotism – to love your nation so much you want to see it live up to its highest ideals. If we lived up to the best of our ideals, we would be the most respected nation on earth. True respect is not rooted in fear but in admiration. Yes, I am dismayed beyond words by the lying and the killing and the abysmal level of political dialogue in this nation. Instead of in-depth discussion of the very issues that will determine our survival, candidates raise an abominable mountain of money and invest it all in little nasty attack ads that appeal to current emotional triggers. We do not see the horrendous fact that the money controls candidates and deadens their ability to hear the cries of the people. It’s little wonder that so many don’t vote. But voting is now a necessity for those who love this land. It is the most patriotic act available to us. As Ann O’Shaughnessy said in her moving article, “I resolve to balance every dose of darkness I receive with an equal, if not greater, dose of light…I resolve to check the balance daily and provide myself with the silence and solitude I need to maintain it. I truly believe it does matter what energy we put out into the world."
Visit Dalton's website www.DaltonRoberts.com or find his collected writings at www.ipsfeatures.com.
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