There is a lot going on in the world. My sister Amy is not healing well after her surgery.  Her pain is terrible and she keeps getting headaches. I am taking her an hour away (the other side of Cleveland) for another appointment with the surgeon. She insisted, because I insisted. I am doing ok from my procedure. One of my sons in law was in Oklahoma City and last night an earthquake knocked him from the bed to the floor.

 

The world is a mess in many ways. Racism, bigotry, intolerance, meanness, unkindness. I am stopping here because there are pockets of love and caring all over the world. There are places where people try to understand and accept each other. I believe that blogging is a wonderful way to expose yourself to new people and new ways of thinking. In America, we are being sorted. Many Americans live with people who look like them. They work with people who think like them. They spend leisure time with people who are like them. Without exposure to others we become insulated and all we experience reinforces what we see, hear and think. But we need to be open. We need to listen to people who look and sound different.

 

There are many people all over who want to control what we do and how we live and love. We can’t let it happen. Many things have been rewritten and are not true. People of different faiths are everywhere. There are misconceptions. Jesus was not a white man. He was Jewish. He lived in the Middle East. He never advocated war, he never turned his back on anyone who needed help. This Jewish man, who was raised Jewish, interacted with Arabs, Romans, Bedouins, Syrians, and Persians. He taught what he believed to everyone including the Jews.  Was he right or wrong? Was Mohammed, Buddha, Zoroaster,  Sufi mystics, Shiva, or any other cherished facets of Divinity right or wrong? We all have our beliefs and we should. What they have in common is love, forgiveness, respect for the sacred, and tolerance for all the Aspects of God/Goddess/Divine Energy.

 

I would ask each of you who read my blog to help make peace, tolerance, love, acceptance, understanding in your world. Your special place in our world. I would ask that for one day, everyone lives by these principles and see if you don’t feel renewed. Finally, I am sharing this video because no matter how bad life can appear, there are always pockets of such brilliant loving goodness that they outshine the deep darkness that seems to be everywhere. It isn’t. I repeat, it isn’t. It never will because whatever aspect of God/Goddess/Divine Energy you believe in it is stronger than the sadness and darkness in the world. Every prayer, of any kind helps, every act of kindness, every act of forgiveness, every moment of generosity shines so bright that it chases away the darkness. Namaste.