Peace in the New Year
Monday, December 31, 2007
My Friends,
Difficult times, indeed! The assassination of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto has sent chills down the spines of all who hope for peace in 2008. And, we pagans cannot stop and wonder whether it was her gender, as much as her message of democracy, that her assassins found so abhorrent.
We are all well versed in the politics of patriarchy. We have, since the Burning Times, had first-hand experience. But, as we approach a new calendar year (our spiritual new year occurred at Hallows), we are reminded that the Universe seeks the balance of all things in nature, of all polarities: masculine and feminine, dark and light. We look upon evil as the result of those people, groups and nations who do not embrace this balance. Theirs is a world not of resolving and integrating these polarities, but of trying to eliminate one extreme while occupying another.
Their attempt is futile. For trying to demonize your opponent, only removes you from compassion, connection and humanity, all things that bring us into harmony with our world, and into happiness. And the results of this “splitting” are devastating for everyone.
Honoring “polarities” means integrating them and dealing with the complexities they present. Seeing yourself as one with ALL. This is the opposite of the “polarization” that we see today, and one that we all find tempting. We are not, in polite society, supposed to mention revenge. But many of us feel this urge. It is a trap. It is our psyche trying to cut out the “evil” we see and eliminate it. Of course, we know, that revenge only breeds more pain and suffering. This is because we are connected to those on whom we would perpetrate the revenge and our negative actions will only reverberate back to us in some way, often magnified.
Let us hope, in this new year, that our world will begin to see that harm and malice cannot be dealt with by drawing lines. We must protect and defend the Way of integration, connection and peace, the way of the Earth. But, we must not do so in a way that polarizes, for this will only make things worse.
I invite you all to raise a glass to a new year filled with understanding, balance and harmony, with a desire to recognize that all people are seeking happiness, regardless of how misguided they might be. It is not compassion for compassion’s sake; it is compassion for peace.
Let us toast peace and, in keeping with our beliefs about balance, toast with a friend!
Bright Blessings,
Difficult times, indeed! The assassination of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto has sent chills down the spines of all who hope for peace in 2008. And, we pagans cannot stop and wonder whether it was her gender, as much as her message of democracy, that her assassins found so abhorrent.
We are all well versed in the politics of patriarchy. We have, since the Burning Times, had first-hand experience. But, as we approach a new calendar year (our spiritual new year occurred at Hallows), we are reminded that the Universe seeks the balance of all things in nature, of all polarities: masculine and feminine, dark and light. We look upon evil as the result of those people, groups and nations who do not embrace this balance. Theirs is a world not of resolving and integrating these polarities, but of trying to eliminate one extreme while occupying another.
Their attempt is futile. For trying to demonize your opponent, only removes you from compassion, connection and humanity, all things that bring us into harmony with our world, and into happiness. And the results of this “splitting” are devastating for everyone.
Honoring “polarities” means integrating them and dealing with the complexities they present. Seeing yourself as one with ALL. This is the opposite of the “polarization” that we see today, and one that we all find tempting. We are not, in polite society, supposed to mention revenge. But many of us feel this urge. It is a trap. It is our psyche trying to cut out the “evil” we see and eliminate it. Of course, we know, that revenge only breeds more pain and suffering. This is because we are connected to those on whom we would perpetrate the revenge and our negative actions will only reverberate back to us in some way, often magnified.
Let us hope, in this new year, that our world will begin to see that harm and malice cannot be dealt with by drawing lines. We must protect and defend the Way of integration, connection and peace, the way of the Earth. But, we must not do so in a way that polarizes, for this will only make things worse.
I invite you all to raise a glass to a new year filled with understanding, balance and harmony, with a desire to recognize that all people are seeking happiness, regardless of how misguided they might be. It is not compassion for compassion’s sake; it is compassion for peace.
Let us toast peace and, in keeping with our beliefs about balance, toast with a friend!
Bright Blessings,