True Power

This is an old poster, so my website is – debhawken.com,
but the DebDancingStar page is still available on Facebook.

That was a really funny moment, the coordinator of the event asked some of the greatest thinkers of our time what love meant. They looked so flummoxed, but each came up with an answer of some sort. I was sitting there thinking ‘you have The Conference for Consciousness and Human EVOLUTION’ written up behind you and you haven’t even seen what you’ve written!

In this world at the moment, those who enjoy tangling with history think we went to sleep in 2022 and woke up in 1936. That was the last time the far right really gained traction as it is in the world right now. There was great unrest within many societies, Nazism was rife and not just in Germany, and despite some best intentions WWII broke out. That’s not to be alarmist, it’s just fact.

Fear breeds hate, hurt breeds anger, violence breeds reprisals, it all makes perfect sense. The problem is that if you speak to both sides, whether in a personal relationship or international one, they will have excellent reasons for why they feel the way they do, and those reasons will be true. Even Hitler started off fighting for a repressed society driven into poverty by WWI reparations, that was a just cause. He also protected the Jewish doctor who treated his mother during her final illness, and wouldn’t have him touched. Which shows there is right and goodness in most situations. Just more sanity would have been nice.

Russia is inexplicable I’m afraid, what’s wrong with the Soviet Economic Union? So much simpler, effective and beneficial to all, and far less expensive than war. The situation in the Middle East is way more complex. Created as a result of an atrocity and trying to get the Jewish people somewhere they felt safe and at home, where they belonged, which they do. Creating a new state was wrong, it would have been so much better to get the help of the Palestinian people to integrate them into a joint society, they are cousins after all. How it went so badly wrong I do not know.

Fluffy though this sounds, there is no other answer than connecting through their common pain, a joint apology to each other, respecting how much this has hurt everyone, and getting to a place of respect and rebuilding. Hang on there’s a flying hippopotamus going past the window and I need to grab a quick snap.

Realistic not sarcastic

Well okay the flying hippo bit was on the edge, but let’s face it, at this moment in time that kind of dialogue isn’t happening, and it’s easily understandable, I can’t imagine what all the innocents are going through, but I do know that I’d be holding myself back from not picking up a gun at the moment, with every fibre of my being, and I believe that peace has to happen.

How are you supposed to not be furious? To not want to strike back? I cannot imagine the pain and horror, but it can only end when the courage to love and respect overtakes the need for revenge and domination. That is literally the only way it can end.

All we can do

Is to pray for the innocents, remain as neutral as possible, and stand behind the calls for a ceasefire and talks. My only opinions are with the children, protect them at all costs, not just their lives, but from carrying unimaginable horror and anger for the rest of their lives, and teaching it to the next generation. Bless their little souls.

In our private lives we can do more. We can come from a place of love and respect, show people how to deal with everyday matters in a way where everyone wins. We can stand against violence, call for peace, but how can we realistically do that if we’re not coming from a place of mutual respect, and total lack of prejudice?

We must be fully inclusive ourselves. Consider skin colour to be gift wrap. Consider religion to be a private matter that doesn’t need to break out onto the streets. Consider gender to be something private. Respect each other’s ways and learn from them. Every person, society, country, has amazing qualities, but only the people can build on those qualities and add to them. We cannot leave the future to politicians, organisations, or interest groups.

We’re mainly multi-racial now, and it’s interesting. There is so much opportunity to learn first hand things we could only read about in books, or be taught by a teacher. I sat down with a Seikh lady when I first moved to the Birmingham area, and it was absolutely fascinating to learn about their culture. I hate the heat so I would never have gone to her ancestral land to see it, but through her I added to my knowledge base and understanding. I become more because of her.

In Western societies we do have some good ways that need to be strengthened and protected. People come to us for a reason and we need to deliver the safety and inclusion they hoped for. All of us. That means no skin colour, no religion, no gender, no culture, is fair game. We accept, learn, and grow. It’s not our business to do otherwise.

The closer and more integrated we can all become, the less likely the future will follow the same horrific path as our current world. Wouldn’t it be something to build an integrated world together, where race, colour, creed, religion, gender, don’t even need discussing. ‘Tell me about yourself’ is the only important thing.

What a beautiful world we have the power to create, if only we have the courage. Peace for all would represent humungous evolution…got to start sometime, why not now?

“If not you, then who?
If not now, then when?”
Hillel the Elder

Deb xx