& Life Goes On

“Aren’t people generally good?”
said my dad yesterday in yet another conversation between me & him & Guy regarding the ever violently escalating state of affairs.
Yes, I believe people are generally good. Babies are inarguably good & we all once were babies. It follows that in order for someone to turn bad, evil, hateful, violent, some element of programming, brainwashing, abuse or trauma must have been impressed on the pure goodness of that small being.

I’m sure I’m not alone in feeling split a million ways because I belong to all the causes now. This fractured feeling plays right into the hand of the powers that be that benefit from the vulnerable, ineffectual state that engenders in us. Hopelessness & fear are the sharpest tool for the powerful. I have felt both. But now I just feel angry.

Angry because I have consented to acts of oppression, terror, violence, cruelty & greed not because I gave consent, but because it is implied through my silence. I haven’t really understood that until now. I have been silent because I haven’t wanted to be wrong. Because I don’t understand the complexities of what’s happening politically, culturally, religiously or socially. But being wrong doesn’t scare me anymore since what’s right right now looks pretty wrong to me. One doesn’t need to have a doctorate in foreign affairs to say that the abuse, othering or killing of any man, woman or child is wrong. It doesn’t matter who started it, who wants it to end, who is good, who is evil, who is right, who is wrong. I believe there is never justification for intentionally harming another human being. The ends never justify the means. You can’t kill for peace.

I feel like I’m writing a fourth grade paper now. These are the lessons we learned as children. Where are the children inside of the adults who are making these decisions? As foolish & elementary as it seems to write these basic truths, I realize it has to be done. We have to go back to the basics. We have to be humble & interested & open as children again. We have to speak simply, speak truthfully, speak clearly.

I felt daunted at the thought of writing this because of how layered and complex the issues appear, but maybe that’s the trick we’ve been fooled into believing. That entire articles and essays and theses must be written to pull apart what brought the world to this point, but maybe the opposite is the case. We need the simplest statements, the least said.

Which is why I am no longer embarrassed to say, again, & forever until it is…Peace Now.

∞∞∞

I am home in Virginia after a couple months of traveling & have been watching what’s unfolding in Los Angeles & the world at large with twinges of guilt and sadness twisting my stomach throughout the day.

Meanwhile, the mockingbird is tending to her second nest of chicks. The first 4 nestlings were blown lifeless in a wind storm a few weeks ago.

The struggle to survive and perpetuate life is difficult and fragile enough as it is without the intervention of willful & strategic destroyers. And yet the birds must have hope to persevere in the face of tragedy. As an integral part of this same web of life, we are here to nurture and sustain.

Even if it’s considered naive by society, the answer is to be hopeful. Nature is hopeful. Life goes on.