May it Continue


May the brown earth and green leaves
thrive in color and in grace.

 

May it Continue

 

May the clear air and the cumufocirrus clouds
be there in the sky and in each breath, always.

 

May it Continue

 

May the water made of sweet minerals and salt
in small streams and large rivers
flow forever and forever flow to the seas.

 

May it Continue

 

May the beautiful birds of Hawaii and
the luminous parrots of Peru fly far and fast
and may their number grow.

 

May it Continue

 

May the sun shine warm and bright

and the moon give light at night—-shining from shook foil.

 

May it Continue

 

May the deer and elk, the antelope and the ibis
move and migrate, leap and lope across plain
and wooded plateau.

 

May it Continue

 

May the whale and the dolphin and the manatee
swim deep in dark oceans and lagoons and sing.

 

May it Continue

 

May the elephants forever in families roam,
trunk to tail, trumpeting bliss.

 

May it Continue

 

May waves of warm frost linger in bush and blaze
that puts fire in the peat of loam. And let lick cry from ripe vine.

 

May it Continue

 

May the rose climb through
the cold murmur of morning dirt.
May dark mulch coax tendrils from sleep.

 

May it Continue

 

May wild words come flying from green coils and
may each breath rustle through the beard of blue moss
in the sound of song.

 

May it Continue

 

——–Thomas Rain Crowe

 

 

 

                              Photograph and copyright by Barbara Mattio, 2016,

 

 

The World has new needs in 2018


For thousands of years, religion has been used to promote different political and economic issues. Religions have often been abused and twisted to make them fit what is needed.

The Dalai Lama is speaking out now about what the world needs to counteract the increase of hatred and violence that have descended on our world. The Dalai Lama is the refugee who has been the world’s longest refugee. He has been a refugee since China invaded is home country of Tibet in the 1959. He and many of his fellow citizens fled for their lives to India. They continue to reside in India to this day.

He has been a tireless advocate for peace and non-violence. His motto is that “He has no enemies, just people he has not met yet.” He has toured the world doing speaking engagements. I met him in 1989. He is a quite fascinating individual.

He has been looking at the world and its values. The world’s morals are changing due to the Nationalism being found everywhere in the world. Does religion address these issues? The Dalai Lama does not think so.

For centuries, violence has been committed and justified in the name of religion. Religions have often been intolerent and often still are. Religion is often abused by many even by religious people. Often their purpose is to further political or economic issues. We need a new form of ethics that goes beyond religion…anyone’s religion. The Dalai Lama speaks of an ethics that goes into a new form. A secular ethics for over a billion atheists and an increasing number of agnostics. These ethics would address human spiritualality. Humans need inner values, no matter what religion we have, we believe in life, benevolence,and affection.

Human beings need inner values and ethics. Ethics run deeper and are more natural than religion. We must learn that humanity is all one family. We are all brothers and sisters: physically, mentally, and emotionally. We are focusing far too much on our differences instead of our commonalities. After all, every one of us is born the same way and dies the same way. It doesn’t make much sense to take pride in our nations and religions–all the way to the graveyard. Ethics run deeper and are more natural than religion.

Mahatma Gandhi said, “Be the change you want to see in the world.”

 

Life needs to be filled with beauty. Photograph by Barbara Mattio 2018