I have just signed off from our sixth session of the Resilience and Acceptance course. Last week, I must admit that I struggled with accepting the state of the world right now, accepting the reality that we are already heading for the sixth extinction, and that it is too late to prevent it. It felt so very sad, such a tragedy. This was not just a story, but something all the people living now will experience soon. I thought of my grandchildren, and of young people all over, just starting in their lives and having to tackle the unraveling of culture that has already started. All week I vacillated between being angry and being sad. And I didn't start our homework for tonight's class until this morning. However, it was just what I needed to shift out of that dark mood. The focus in this week's class was on indigenous wisdom. We saw video clips of many indigenous elders explaining their view of the earth, their guides for living, their long history and traditions, and their an...
I just had a birthday and received lots of beautiful cards. My favorite said in colorful handwriting: I’m so glad to be going around the sun with you.” And that phrase makes me smile every time I look at it. What a great sentiment. Stepping back from our crowded busy lives and seeing us as a collection of beings living on earth and traveling around the sun. Thinking more broadly like this helps me when I get wound up by reading the news. It is almost more than I can take to find that so many people in our country, intelligent nice people, don’t see what chaos is being wrought in our government. They think our president is doing fine. That makes me feel a bit crazy. How can humans see things so very, very differently? It’s like we’re living in a science fiction dream, and we’re moving toward the crisis. But then I take a deep breath, remember that after all, we’ve been here a long time. And sometimes we take wrong turns and then have to deal with the consequences. And then I look a...
This is a rainy day in Iowa, and rain is just what we need right now! We’ve been diligently watering a massive number of bushes and small trees that we’ve planted on our hillside, and rain would be a “godsend”. The sun has just come out as I sit by my south window, but if the weather reports are right, we’re due for some more rain tonight. Because it was wet outside, I’ve been working at my desk, catching up on current events and doing some research on religion. What started me off was a post on Joe Biden, celebrating his ability to respect every person, putting no one ahead of anyone else, including himself. And I resonated with that. I know evaluating his term in office is a complicated thing, but his basic goodness is inspiring to think about. I don’t know anything about Joe’s religious beliefs, but I know that he cared about everyone in this country, whereas it is clear that the present people in office do not. And this made me think about the divisions that so often oc...
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