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Strikes me it's often the 'little big people' who make the world a kinder, nicer place to live in. Think of the countless generations of parents who have worked hard to make life better, safer and sweeter for their children. The mothers who have gone without to ensure their children grow stronger and healthier? What about in a hospital where the doctors may get the acclaim and have greater skill, but so often it's the nurses who bring the humanity and tenderness to those in need?
Apart from those who know them personally, they may never go down in history as heroes, but those countless millions of people throughout the world and throughout the ages have MADE A DIFFERENCE! And all of us alive today who also care and are concerned about some of the current trends, can also make a difference simply by deepening our values and living our lives in accord with them. So many people I talk to are horrified by features like corruption and self-interest in politicians, religious wars, growing terrorism, break down in families and the list goes on and on. In the face of that growing tide, many people feel their lives can't do anything to stem it.
So this blog is just to say, that there are an awful lot more ordinary people at the base of a pyramid than those who are in the limelight at the so called top! And every kind act, especially deliberate conscious acts of compassion, can make a huge difference! And when the base moves, it all moves as we live in an inter-connected world!
After work last night, I spent an hour in the sun with a friend, mulching over some of the apects of our current times...and what we had been observing. One feature which we dicussed was the way people here in the UK ( and elsewhere) are becoming so disillusioned with leadership from the top down. Whether one is talking about religion, politics or health issues - there is a growing lack of trust in those who are supposed to be offering leadership. .. a growing sense that they do not really have the interests of the people at heart. Nowhere is this more clear than in politics...where self interest and keeping themselves in power seems to be a major driver. We were talking about the possibility of change being effected from the 'bottom up' rather than 'top down' - not as a revolutionary, reactionary sort of force which history has often shown to be destructive, but as an evolutionary pro-active participation in finding genuine new ways forward.
This morning I opened an email from Avaaz...describing "that across the planet, millions of people young and
old are flooding the streets and mobilising online, to reject corruption and
injustice and speak of a more beautiful world. A new Twitter hashtag in
Brazil tells the story: 'OGiganteAcordou' Translation: “The sleeping giant has
awoken" As one example,the Brazilian Senate is voting to give any 500,000 citizen
petition, the power to directly introduce measures to the government.
This is a fascinating area and one in which so much more could be explored but in true blog fashion - short is best ...more to follow!!!
It's been some time since I've posted a blog ...so good to start again today! One of the aspects of living in times of change is that we are seeing a massive breakdown in the status quo ...and it can be quite daunting watching the outplay of this as it appears on the news and media. One feature I watched actually prompted me to start blogging again. This was a news item saying that more young UK soldiers have died from suicide than they had from attack from the Taliban. Somehow this was a bit if a heart stopper for me ...and it struck me again how much easier it is to see the breakdown of the old rather than the appearance of this brand new human possibility - which like all newborn life appears small first...and therefore is more difficult to detect than the avalanche of things going askew.
It has been much quoted this week that the Pope in his final speech had said that he had sometimes wondered whether God had been asleep on his watch. What an extraordinary thing for any Pope to say and indicative of just how extreme are the goings on in our time. It struck me as a very brave thing for him to say ... and I admired his frankness. Struck me too how strange it is to reflect the mess which humans can make, back on to God ...perhaps a more sensible way to think is that God, the universe and humans too ... are all in a growing situation .. not perfect ..but with the ability to grow and refine and to move forward ....surely this is the greatest gift of all ... and in a world which is so full of problems...perhaps one simple goal is to be a positive player within this unfolding situation..whatever our race or creed ?
Had an odd little wake up call this week....Small domestic incident but really made me think !My kitchen swing bin has been driving me nuts as the lid kept coming undone ...and each time, it happened it was a bit irritating and I kept putting it back together and thinking , must remember to get a new one ! Then I stopped and looked again and though how ridiculous..you haven't even tried to mend it .. which I then did within five minutes and with only a piece of thread! Perfect job and back in working order...and so satisfying ! Thing is, it made me think how quick I am to throw anything away at the drop of a hat ..this attitude that everything is expendable and throwaway so permeates life today ... and I just thought to myself, I do not want to think like that because with it comes a lack of value, and lack of creative thought !
I went to a lecture recently on sustainable issues. In relation to climate change, it seems scientists have a chart which goes from grave, very grave, runaway to irreversible ... and their current assessment of our situation sits between very grave and runaway. If we don't take urgent action now, it will be in the irreversible category by 2050. The forecast being that without strong steps being taken within 20 years, the climate will be 4-5 degrees hotter by the end of the century. Pretty serious situation, especially when so many governments are what he referred to as sustainable illiterates! It's a strange thing .. and I've felt it myself at times, that one can hear the facts ...yet they don't really register in real terms of evoking a response. Why is that ? Are we just so flooded with information and imagery .. often horrendous things like violence and famine...that we've developed this ability to shut off from the impact of the truth staring us in the face?
It was inspiring this morning to read in my mail, some words by Edgar Mitchell, one of the many astronauts who had a life changing experience upon seeing our beautiful blue planet from space. He described himself as "a pragmatic test pilot, engineer and scientist" Yet after his "breathtaking experience of seeing planet Earth floating in the vastness of space" from Apollo 14 on the moon, he had an instant direct knowing that life in the universe is no accident. His vision of the future reads like this :- "The union of head and heart, insight and instinct, will ensure that science comes to comprehend the non-material aspect of reality as well as it knows the material, our knowledge will become wisdom, our love of power will become the power of love, and the universal human of cosmic consciousness will emerge."
It's fascinating that so many space travellers come back changed people...and fantastic that we can now all visualise our planet from space .. and perhaps reach for that universal perspective, in whatever form it may take!
