Ripples

I have been thinking today about my own perspective of the world.

Sometimes I think the past is rosier because it is safely tucked away in memory. It is no longer subject to speculation, hope, expectation, or fear. The only part of it that can be altered is how we remember it.

There are periods of time though that are not rosier for their passing. These are the challenging times that hone our abilities to cope with unwanted circumstances.

One thing is certain about periods of time, rosy or challenging; time will flow, it will pass by us, through us, and we will be swept along with it. The now is not the forever.

When I think of my Grandbabies, I don’t muse about the world they will live in. I do not rail against the fates of power and greed; I waste no prescious time with those elements of human hubris. I do think about doing what I can, when I can, to make the world the kindest, most compassionate, and hopeful place it can be. Although I delight in giving my Grandbabies gifts, toys and treats and hugs and kisses, I know that doing what is right in my little bubble in the world is also of great importance to their future.

My contributions are invisible, because they are, and will remain, of little consequence to the machines of power. Sometimes I share them with Attila, who already loves me and thinks highly of me, because I know he will just appreciate them, and not need to broadcast or make use of them for any attentions or gain. It feels good to be known in this world. In turn he shares his contributions with me, an honour I cherish.

I watch those who rail against injustice with harsh words, pithy rage, ridicule, and other forms of psychological violence, in the name of cause, and I wonder that they actually believe that this behavior will yield peaceful settlement of conflict. I do not believe that any approach, engaging power and greed, is particularly successful in the long game; I look at the conditions of life for most humans on this planet and I know that no sweeping victories have been won on the front of human decency.

Sometimes I wish I could share what I see in the way that human social systems have structured themselves. But language does not allow this. Words cannot brush my observations into images that others can see.

Today a stone has been dropped into the water. Ripples will radiate to change the surface of the world we live in. Beneath that distorted surface, where much suffering may take place, human decency rests, light filters through, life continues.

I will always be grateful for and cherish Renee’s last word to her friends, Love.

Worldly Distractions

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Date: 9:00 AM EST Friday 20 January 2017
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Quote

“The size of your audience doesn’t matter. What’s important is that your audience is listening.”
Randy Pausch