Nightmares and prayers
I had some really wacky bad nightmares...whales swimming to the shore and getting frozen in ice/disoriented by the change in weather, seals trying to get away from starving killer whales and me having to cross an ice bridge. It was all very upsetting and disturbing...there was a lot of death of ocean life. It has made this morning start of really in a grumpy sad way.
I think I had this nightmare because I've read some disturbing things about zoo's (the sad and insane killing of a giraffe and fed to the lions...like the lions don't have another food source) and sickening images on FB shared by people who mean well and want to raise awareness, I think. Honestly, I don't think sharing disturbing images helps anything unless you're asking me to sign a petition or write a letter...they usually don't. It's mostly done to share the how disgusting some people are. I don't like that and I feel it's actually a kind of mental abuse. Yes, bad things happen to animals and people. Do we need to see it? No. Does it help by viewing an image? No. Do we need to acknowledge bad things happen? Yes. It's very important and it's important to talk about it and see who is doing this and they should be caught and punished.
Then, there is all the sad things happening in Russia. I'm glad I protested the Olympics for their treatment of stray dogs and their own people. I do not think we should be supporting and participating in countries that are violent to Gay people, oppressing the poor and so on. It's wrong and we become part of that wrong. Now, we hear that the Ukraine is being invaded and people have died because of oil and money. It's wrong and we should be saying no to this. I'm worried about this and praying things are resolved but it doesn't look good. All I can do is offer up a prayer for Peace, for stepping away from violence and domination and for people to compromise and let go of power in order that people aren't hurt.
I think I had this nightmare because I've read some disturbing things about zoo's (the sad and insane killing of a giraffe and fed to the lions...like the lions don't have another food source) and sickening images on FB shared by people who mean well and want to raise awareness, I think. Honestly, I don't think sharing disturbing images helps anything unless you're asking me to sign a petition or write a letter...they usually don't. It's mostly done to share the how disgusting some people are. I don't like that and I feel it's actually a kind of mental abuse. Yes, bad things happen to animals and people. Do we need to see it? No. Does it help by viewing an image? No. Do we need to acknowledge bad things happen? Yes. It's very important and it's important to talk about it and see who is doing this and they should be caught and punished.
Then, there is all the sad things happening in Russia. I'm glad I protested the Olympics for their treatment of stray dogs and their own people. I do not think we should be supporting and participating in countries that are violent to Gay people, oppressing the poor and so on. It's wrong and we become part of that wrong. Now, we hear that the Ukraine is being invaded and people have died because of oil and money. It's wrong and we should be saying no to this. I'm worried about this and praying things are resolved but it doesn't look good. All I can do is offer up a prayer for Peace, for stepping away from violence and domination and for people to compromise and let go of power in order that people aren't hurt.
"Lead me from death to life, from falsehood to truth. Lead me from despair to hope, from fear to trust. Lead me from hate to love, from war to peace. Let peace fill my heart, my world, my universe.
Amen."
When I despair,
I remember that all through history
the ways of truth and love have always won.
There have been tyrants, and murderers,
and for a time they can seem invincible,
but in the end they always fall.
Think of it - always.
mahatma gandhi - early 20th century
Wage peace with your breath.
Breathe in firemen and rubble,
breathe out whole buildings and flocks of red wing blackbirds.
Breathe in terrorists
and breathe out sleeping children and freshly mown fields.
Breathe in confusion and breathe out maple trees.
Breathe in the fallen and breathe out lifelong friendships intact.
Wage peace with your listening: hearing sirens, pray loud.
Remember your tools: flower seeds, clothes pins, clean rivers.
Make soup.
Play music, memorize the words for thank you in three languages.
Learn to knit, and make a hat.
Think of chaos as dancing raspberries,
imagine grief
as the outbreath of beauty
or the gesture of fish.
Swim for the other side.
Wage peace.
Never has the world seemed so fresh and precious:
Have a cup of tea and rejoice.
Act as if armistice has already arrived.
Celebrate today.
wage peace - judyth hill - september 12, 2001
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