April/May 2003
Waging
Peace Through Global Conversation
Lynne Twist
Confronting
Empire
James Twyman
The
Empire Needs New Clothes
Thom Hartman
Sharing
the Spirit of Peace
Congressman Dennis Kucinich
Confronting
Fears So We Can Contront the Empire
Robert Jensen
War
Dances and Media Complaints
Danny Schecter
Sharing
the Air Waves
Suzi Aufderheide
Wild
Grace: Nature as a Spiritual Path
Eric Alan
Recognizing
the Voice of Healing in the Twenty First Century
Dr. Darryl Pokea
Walk
In Peace
John Darling
A
World To Be Born Under your Footsteps
Debi Smith
You
Just Can't Imagine It Unless You See It
Rachel Corrie
A
War Without Balance
Steve Niva
The
Shining Stars Festival
Annette Rasch
School
of Interbeing
John Darling
Ayurvedic
Cleansing and Rejuvenation Practices
Myrica Morningstar
The
Movie Mystic
Stephen Simon
The
Yearly Round
Richard Moeschl
Cosmic
Calendar
Salina Rain
A
Citizen's Response to the National Security Strategy of the United States
of America
Wendell Berry
Deborah
Mokma, Editor
"The starting point for a better world is the belief that it is possible." -Margaret Mead
There are admittedly times when I consider the possibility of not being able to see a better world in my lifetime. But, like Desmond Tutu, for the most part “I am a prisoner of optimism.” I can usually push away doubt, even pessimism, and see the crises facing us today as motivating forces for the change so many of us know is essential for our survival as a species.
The words of people like Mark Morford, editor and columnist of the San Francisco Gate, help provide nourishment for this kind of positive view:
“Stop thinking this is all there is … Realize that for every ongoing war and religious outrage and environmental devastation and bogus Iraqi attack plan, there are a thousand counter-balancing acts of staggering generosity and humanity and art and beauty happening all over the world, right now, on a breathtaking scale, from flower box to cathedral … Resist the temptation to drown in fatalism, to shake your head and sigh and just throw in the karmic towel … Realize that this is the perfect moment to change the energy of the world, to step right up and crank your personal volume; right when it all seems dark and bitter and offensive and acrimonious and conflicted and bilious … there’s your opening. Remember magic. And finally, believe you are part of a groundswell, a resistance, a seemingly small but actually very, very large impending karmic overhaul, a great shift, the beginning of something important and potent and unstoppable.”
A reader recently called from Hayfork, California and left a particularly well-timed message on my answering machine which provided more inspiration:
“There are so many more people who know we must make changes in our nation and in the world than any one of us believe. Go out and talk to real live human beings and you will see there is a big difference in awareness now compared to five years ago. What is questioned is what they can do about the problems in the world without dropping everything in their lives to go and be an activist. All of us can be activists to some degree, and the old Yiddish saying comes to mind, ‘A little and a little makes a lot,’ and that’s very true of everyone doing what they can, as they can, to deal with this mess. Never mind where it started, when it started or how it started, or what went on behind our backs while we were busy living our lives, this is how it is now, and this is what we need to deal with.”
Change will come—when enough of us are ready to make it happen. When enough of us tire of the results of waging war. When enough of us realize that allowing a few shortsighted, greedy individuals to make decisions for the rest of us will, in the long term, bring only suffering to most of humanity.
Wendell Berry explains it well when he says “We can no longer afford to confuse peaceability with passivity. Authentic peace is no more passive than war. Like war, it calls for discipline and intelligence and strength of character, though it calls also for higher principles and aims. If we are serious about peace, then we must work for it as ardently, seriously, continuously, carefully, and bravely as we now prepare for war.”
It will take a grassroots effort to accomplish this. The war in Vietnam was halted when enough people joined in the protest (even Richard Nixon admitted this). But we must do more than just stop individual wars. Thom Hartmann makes this clear:
“If we are to hold a vision of America that doesn’t depend on foreign sources of oil and doesn’t require the enormous expenditures of money and blood to project and protect empire, simply saying ‘stop the war’ isn’t enough. We must clearly articulate a vision of what America could be in a world in balance, a world at peace, and a world where the planet’s vital natural resources are protected and renewed. This is the ultimate family value, the highest patriotism, and the most desperately needed story to guide the next generation of Americans.”
Please join us. We need each other now, more than ever.
