Category: Be Human

Dipping Into Honey

I had some honey the other day. It wasn’t what I have grown to expect from honey. It had remarkable flavor. I could taste the flowers and it left me wanting more. As I continue to dip into that honey jar, I realize that what I enjoy is the love that went into making it.

In this blurred time when “civilization” is forced to reckon with tremendous failures, I keep coming back to this: I want to feel love. I want to bathe in the exquisiteness of being alive. And I want to share that joy of living with everyone. 

I want to feel the power of kindness. I want to know the depths of compassion. I want to dive into the freedom that no one can take away from me.  The freedom that comes from knowing who I am. Who I am. Behind the labels, behind the beliefs, behind the years of experience, behind what others think. Who I am. Knowing that has made all the difference.

In that knowing is my strength. In that knowing is my compass. You know, that moral compass that seems to be eluding many these days. In knowing my self, I can take action. Without fear.

I must keep walking, even when I fail. To be conscious even in the darkest of times. And to seek the light of others when I need and to offer light when I can. This I can do. Day to day, moment by moment.

It’s a tall order, I know, but it hasn’t kept me from wanting it. We always have choice – allow our humanity to be diminished or emerge victors of the greatest opportunity offered – to be alive and to stay in love. Dip into the honey, friends.

We Are All Frontline

2025 is coming in like 2024 went out. Earthquake in Tibet, fires around Los Angeles and Acra, are just a few of the calamities we’re facing. We, the human family. We, the ones who can learn from the past and develop strategies of coexistence on this miraculous planet – or we, the ones who succumb to division and greed. Who will we be?

A few years ago, the term “frontline communities” emerged. It referred to those who lived in proximity to dangerous environmental pollutant. Now, the term “sacrifice zone” is used to express a region that is offered up to the powers of corporate greed in the name of sustainability. But what is being sustained? The capitalist model of usury is the only thing I see that we’re sustaining. Clearly not the communities. Clearly not human beings.

We are willingly selling out our children’s future on earth – but wait – I heard today there might have been life on Mars. And the spin continued: previous life on Mars could indicate that a human family could possibly be sustained there. In the future. Your future? Hardly. Your grandchildren’s? Doubtful. But we are placing bets on these hypothetical futures while ignoring our present conditions.

We are rapidly going down the “unlikely to return” scenario, but not enough of us are noticing. 

Oh, Jimmy Carter got it way back in the 70’s when he told us we would need to use less energy. I watched my friends ignore the warning and instead backed the slick talking money man Reagan. I shook my head then. I’m still shaking my head now. 

We are all frontline people. The upheaval of the earth and the insidious and murderous violence perpetrated by human beings have made this so.

Some of us are just waiting our turn for our world to be upended. Some of us are preparing for the worst. But the wisest among us are working to restore the balance we have squandered – with one another and the earth. Who will we be?

May we rise to help one another. May we restore the dignity that is surely within us.

A Glorious Existence

After a bit of effort, I found the number of an old friend. We hadn’t spoken in a few years and so far we still haven’t, but his voice message made me smile. It was simple. He said, “I hope you are having a glorious existence”.

I had just come in from another foray into our old heirloom apple orchard. My trees have suffered from recent droughts, and truthfully many never fully recovered from the goats we had a while ago. But I heard an apple expert on the radio say that taking off the dead branches and nipping the suckers can give a forty-year-old tree new life. Perhaps another forty. I liked the sound of that.

So, as I wander through the orchard, I wrangle with dead branches and revel when I cut down the vines sucking life from the trees.  The multi floral rose and autumn olive are also threats, and I do my best to remove them, remembering my mother’s words, “Give it a lick and a promise”. It meant that after a quick assessment she would promise to return to finish the task at hand. Today as I was fulfilling the promise, I realized I could spend the rest of my days quite happily wandering through this orchard, caring for the old trees and planting new. 

The young saplings don’t always make it. The deer are prolific and eat them if they are not protected. Life has its fragility.

Planting saplings is a promise kept: to see the old orchard carry on. There is something defiantly delightful in maintaining these precious heirlooms. The hybrid ones may be heartier and look prettier, but they will never touch the sweet taste of the cider made from a variety of heirlooms.

So yes, my friend and to all my friends, I am enjoying a glorious existence in appreciation of the life I am being given. And I wish the same for all of you. Bring on 2025!

Send Aid Not Arms

Growing up in a Christian household, I took the benevolent teachings of Jesus Christ to heart. “Love they neighbor as thyself” (Matthew 22:39) was instilled in me. Fortunately, there were models of kindness and people of faith to counter the hypocrisy that too often accompanies religion.  

Today the stark divisions of faith versus belief have brought us to a grotesque masquerade of power which has nothing to do with “Love thy neighbor.” If that basic teaching were understood and practiced, those of Christian faith would be rallying behind an end to the Palestinian genocide, not remaining silent. Or even worse, there are those who champion the slaughter as the forerunner that beckons the “next coming”.

Zionism, the belief of the divine right to kill and displace people, has no place in humanity. Whether Christian Zionism or Jewish Zionism, those who harbor ill will and use God as their excuse to plunder and murder are not in keeping with the great possibility of being human.

Love thy neighbor as thyself. If we have not discovered our rich essence as human beings, we cannot love. We must know, not simply believe, that we are sparks of the divine clothed in temporary bodies and given this one opportunity to love.

It’s been over one year. People are being starved. The United Nations has denounced the Israeli tactics as violations of human rights and on December 12, 2024 passed a resolution demanding immediate ceasefire and expressed support of UNRWA. South Africa and most nations of the world have declared that Israeli leadership is conducting genocide. We, in the United States, are complicit in war crimes as our dollars, weaponry and intelligence continues to support the inhuman slaughter of Palestinians. And once again, the US and Israel voted against the resolution, which passed with 158 votes of the 193 member assembly. Nine votes against and 13 abstentions

Read more: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/12/12/un-general-assembly-demands-immediate-ceasefire-in-gaza-supports-unrwa#ixzz8uA7lIMYF

Soon we will be led by Christian Zionists chosen by Donald Trump.

The silence of Christians who are not Zionist must end. We need your voice to end this madness. Let us chose to send aid not arms. Let love of humanity win.

Support of UNRWA. Support of Human Rights.

photo of child – “Growing up in Gaza” – from Al Jazerra.

Don’t Throw Away Giving Thanks

ODE TO ALL THE QUEER AND TRANS FOLKS WHO ARE FIGHTING TO BE SEEN THIS HOLIDAY AND TO ALL OF MY INDIGENOUS FRIENDS WHO REMEMBER HOW TO CELEBRATE.

Forget the hype and all the lies about the first Thanksgiving. If you’re still believing in the good old Pilgrims’ story, it’s doubtful facts will sway you. No, this is not for you. This is for the ones who have forsaken giving thanks, because they refuse to partake in that story. It’s for people who have suffered through enough of these come together holidays and are rewarded with tense family moments. And so, they say, “No thanks.”

This is for the ones who haven’t reconciled the hatred and bigotry disguised as piety; and they haven’t found a way to hide their disgust.

I’m with you. Hypocrisy drove me from that good old religion long ago and I’ve never looked back.

But here is truth. Giving thanks for abundance or even the meager goodness that winds through our lives is an art. Feeling appreciation for the gifts that do come our way: the friendships, the sweet animals that grace our time here, the amazing beauty of this land we call home, the sincere and earnest people who find ways to care. All of it is worthy of our thanks. 

And that giving thanks can replace the hollow emptiness of isolation that haunts so many of us. The news these days are full of mean spirited and jarring inhumanities. Whole swaths of people are targeted and the cruelty is way beyond anything that I remember from childhood meanness.

You can abandon Thanksgiving, but not giving thanks. Give thanks for your heart that refuses to be diminished. Give thanks for the courage to continue to be your true self. Give thanks for those who came before you and endured. Give thanks for your life, because you are not an accident.

You are a jewel on the thread of Life. Never doubt that.

The Days Ahead

Pundits and pollsters are busy. People are expressing election fatigue and far too many are feeling hopeless. And regardless of outcome, there’s always more that we can do. 

We can extract from the news what is relevant and stop believing every word as truth. We can fact check all of it and challenge the sources that seek to divide us. We can stop listening to the voices that demand our attention and our allegiance and instead demand their accountability. The media creates and destroys heroes. And we have allowed it.

We can face the historical facts of how militarism and expansion of empire have always been with us; and bring an end to this barbaric story.

We can stop waiting on elected officials to do the right thing. We elect representatives, not kings. We must demand accountability. To do that we must pay attention. And above all we must care.

For the past year our tax dollars have gone to a country that has gone beyond “the right to defend itself” and engineered a genocide. For decades, the media kept from us the plight of Palestinians who are forced to live under Israeli occupation and are now being slaughtered. And today the same media minimizes the tragedy of Sudan. We must ask who is being served? It is clearly not humanity.

We must realize and care that our police forces are armed with military equipment and that people of color are often targeted and killed.

There is so very much that we can understand and challenge.

The earth is in critical states of flux and people are migrating to safety.  Our borders need human approaches, not more militarism. And when we are told “drill baby drill” we must demand a return to love of the earth and kindness to Nature, not conquering her.

In the chaotic days ahead, we will be asked to be human, to be kind, to share and to re -envision a better way for all.  This is not an impossible request. It is what we can do.

Restoring Our Greatest Strength

Somehow, we’ve wandered away from our humanity. Somehow, we must find our way back. Here are some thoughts on restoring our greatest strength:

Go quickly to those things that broaden your vision and extend your ability to love. Don’t become burdened by the ignorance in the world; and don’t pretend it doesn’t exist.

There’s dignity in empathy and compassion. These are our allies. Honor them.

Stop accepting the answers of others and dig for your own treasures within.

There are questions left unanswered because we have not found the right words to ask. Find the words and ask yourself the questions that you have forgotten. Those questions matter. The answers matter. You matter.

These are a few steps to take in becoming human, our greatest strength. Discover for yourself what is needed. The biggest strides are made by those who rediscover and reassert their humanity.  It’s time for big strides.

Be mindful of your surroundings and appreciate the Beauty of the Earth even as it is disappearing before us. It was meant for your appreciation, your care and your enjoyment. Revel in it.

If you must be silent, let silence be a statement of a depth of feeling; not of your acquiescence to the evil and fear that seems so very powerful in this moment. And if you’re ready to speak, be sure your words are piercing and precise. Hone your skills of humor and clarity. You will need both. And above all let your words be sourced by Love.

In all the complexity, there remains simple truth. Fear does not live there. 

I know many people are afraid right now. Personal lives are upended; communities divided; and we exist in a world seemingly hell bent on self-destruction. 

Becoming human is our way out.

We Are The Greatest Resistance

We always have choice. In this cacophony of endless dribble we endure, we still have choice. I don’t advocate hiding one’s head in the sand. I think it’s wiser to know what is about to kick me from behind. So, I make the choice to wade into the maya or illusion as it has been called. Into the pseudo reality that appears before me as vitally important and desperately urgent. Into this fleeting moment of time that I am given, I wander. I choose to bear witness to the glory and the ignorance of living life as a human being on this magnificent gift of a planet.

I choose to discover what are the secrets of my heart and in whose hand my heart rests.

This is no easy task. It’s a solitary journey. No one can reside in our soul. No one can know the ease or the difficulties we’ve faced or how often we’ve failed or how frequently we’ve touched the divine. The outside can easily mask the joy or the sorrow these vessels carry. It’s better that way. I don’t take this journey lightly; I know the risks. One slip and you forget who you are; and we are not brought into life to doubt it. 

No one is here by chance, but we must know that. The belief that we are insignificant is the greatest lie. Life is a precious gift. We live in a time when that has been forgotten and lives are disregarded. It is up to each of us to upend that lie.

This, then, is the task at hand: to walk consciously and with gratitude for the moment we have been given. And to know that in that singular act we are the greatest resistance. 

Be the lit candle.

Hats off to those who are upending the lie of human insignificance. Enjoy this WDRT Conversation from a Veterans for Peace, Brad Geyer as we speak about the unnecessary costs of war to humans and the planet. Peace is possible.

Tenacity

It is thought that ancient Greek and Chinese philosophers agreed on this saying; “The wheels of justice turn slowly, but grind exceedingly fine”.

And it is always hopeful to see the wheels turn…

After one hundred years, the last two known survivors of the Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921 may live to see justice. A few months ago, the Oklahoma Supreme Court dismissed the lawsuit brought by Viola Fletcher, 110, and Lessie Benningfield Randle, 109 as they sought justice in the brutal massacre they observed as children. But tenacity and justice work hand in hand and the US Department of Justice has launched a review of the two-day white supremacist massacre. 

Reports in 1921 estimated thirty-six deaths, but time has a way of counting what racist cover-ups won’t allow.  It’s now estimated the Black Wall Street Massacre took the lives of over 300 people and injured more than 800. Following the rampage, 35 city blocks of the Greenwood District – a thriving Black community – smoldered in flames and wiped out 1200 homes, businesses, schools and churches. The white mob who wreaked terror on the community included authorized deputies. Turpentine bombs were dropped from planes, the white mob looted the stores, and hospitals turned away the injured.

We now know that thousands of Greenwood residents were then forced into internment camps as the National Guard watched over them and as their families members were buried in mass graves. No one was arrested or convicted of the crimes. No insurance was given.

Viola and Leslie are the last known survivors of this insidious violence – one of the worst against Black people in our history.  Making this grind of justice even better; it was John Lewis who ushered in the Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crime Act of 2007, allowing cold cases of violent crimes against Black people, before 1970, to be reopened.

Thank you to the love, tenacity and humanity that ensures the wheels of justice grind on.

May we all overcome the ignorance of hate. 

And while we are thinking about injustice and violence – #FreePalestine 

Two Wings, Same Bird

If you have not realized that the United States is completely backing Israel’s crimes against humanity that began with Gaza, moved to the West Bank and now extends to Lebanon, then I ask you to wake from slumber.

The United Nations has been consistent in its condemnation of Israel and the Biden administration has continued to use “defense” as a cover for Israel’s brutal destruction of communities and all-out murders. It has been nearly one year that we have been witness to this genocide. It has been nearly one year that the United States has given diplomatic cover and billions of dollars to the terrorist nation which Israel has become.

As we remain divided between the two wings of the same bird, we are unable to stand united against crimes against humanity. In this case, the two wings are the GOP and the Dems, and the bird is militarism. The winds that keep the wings afloat are the lobbying dollars of the war industry and of the nations who benefit from the wars of resource and land theft.

Our politicians are bought and sold while our humanity wallows in moral decay.

The political arena is a circus with celebrated clowns, including the so – called third parties that emerge every four years adding confusion to an already broken system. And if you look closely, you can see that international players choose our election cycles to wreak havoc on innocent human beings – as we willingly comply by ignoring the essential for the macabre.

And what is the essential? Essential is the recognition of the primary needs of every human being: clean food, water, air, shelter and the possibility of peace. 

Polls show the majority of us want a ceasefire. It’s time we demand it.

Let us fly on the wings of peace.

The United Nations has repeatedly called for Ceasefire which the US has blocked. Now as we witness Israel’s unchecked bombing of Lebanon, the US and “allies” are calling for a three week ceasefire. We must ensure that Biden does not tell us again how “tirelessly” he is working for ceasefire. We must demand it.

“Lebanese Civilians Are Paying the Price” https://www.democracynow.org/2024/9/25/lebanon_aya_majzoub