“We can never obtain peace in the outer world until we make peace with ourselves.” ~Dalai Lama~
I have often written a Thanksgiving blog, usually about being, well, thankful and grateful and, of course, recognizing all that we are so fortunate to have in our lives. As I am writing this however, I’m filled with profound sadness. I’m sad for what we – as a country and a world – have become. I’m sad for all the misguided and ignorant and hateful among us. I’m sad for the darkness that seems to be enveloping us. It is disheartening and discouraging, and an insult to all the good and the beautiful which surrounds us.
I walk most mornings, along Old Tampa Bay, and watch the sunrise. It’s always beautiful. The myriad of colors reflected off the clouds and the water. Even when it’s gray and misty, and dark clouds race across the sky, it’s beautiful. Birds skirt along the surface of the water or feed along the shoreline. Some sing to each other, and to all who will listen, announcing the new day. Bats flit around, catching their last meal of mosquitos before the last remnants of darkness are gone. Sometimes there are dolphin and manatee in the bay, and even some small sharks, a fin gliding along the surface on occasion. The mullet jump, showing off their skills. The bay is sometimes like glass, reflecting everything around it. And sometimes angry, looking more like an ocean, with waves crashing along the shore. It is all invigorating and energizing and amazing and beautiful. And I am grateful.
I’ve seen beauty. I’ve been a few different places in my life. Seen some different things. And I’ve seen plenty of pictures of places and things I’ll probably never experience first-hand. Tantalizingly clear turquoise blue oceans. Steep cliffs with goats who climb almost vertically, simply to lick the salt off the rock. Kangaroos. Seahorses. Octopus. Platypus. Elephants. Trees that have lived for hundreds of years. Deserts with sand that moves in waves, an ocean if its own. Jungle canopies hiding life that comes in all colors, shapes and sizes, flying and walking, climbing and crawling. Life. Beauty. Abundance. It exists. And I am grateful.
But then, the other day, I heard about someone intentionally driving their car through a group of people marching in a holiday parade, killing at least six and wounding a large number more. And I found myself feeling sad. Wondering how people can do this to each other. Wondering where the hatred comes from. Where the darkness comes from. And why. Wondering how we got to this point. Wondering how we move away from this point. Wondering…
Lives just changed. Only took a few seconds. The six who lost their lives? They’ve moved on to the next iteration, whatever that may be. But there are six families whose Thanksgiving this year, and well into the future, will not be the same. Not be what they planned. Ditto for all the injured and their families. They need time to heal. Ditto for all the onlookers, who will forever have the image of death and destruction imprinted in their memories. They will close their eyes and see the event play out again and again and again. They will never be the same. And it will be some time before any of the survivors and their families will be able to share a Thanksgiving holiday without reliving the horror. If ever.
This is just one of the many horrors that are experienced daily, somewhere in the world. And the fear that feeds the anger…that feeds the hatred…that feeds the violence, well, it’s nothing new. Ever since humans developed tools, they began developing weapons to use against one another. Rocks, sticks, arrows, catapults, swords, guns, bombs, missiles. Now even planes and automobiles have become weapons of mass destruction. There is nothing new in the human’s ability to hurt and kill others. It is in our DNA. It has been here since the beginning and will be here until the end. We destroy each other and the environment which sustains us. And, I guess, in the end is doesn’t matter. We’re a blip in the life of this 14-billion-year-old Universe. A nano second of existence. Which becomes all the more reason to seek peace.
I know, from personal experience, that peace can only begin within. If I’m at peace, well, maybe that resonates with those around me and expand outwards. I work at it, every day. Trying to see the different sides of the coin – why others, who think differently than me, think the way they do. Trying not to judge, but to understand. Trying to be okay with everything. Trying to be at peace with the fact that we all see things from different perspectives. We live our lives based on those different perspectives and realities. And because our paths in life are different, our perspective, our reality, and our truths – those firmly held beliefs we live by (not to be confused with facts) – are different as well. Sometimes we forget that all those differences don’t change the fact that we are human beings. Skin, bones, muscles, organs, blood. At our base level we are all the same.
I don’t have any answers. I don’t know why people do what they do. I do know we are all trying to navigate this thing called life, some better than others. I know that I can’t know the good without the bad. Can’t know beauty without knowing ugly. Can’t know light without knowing dark. We need a relative point to understand what we’re seeing or feeling. And so, while I feel sad when I look at the state of our world, I know I’m feeling that sadness because I know what peace and hope and joy feels like. If we can see the horrors and still revel in the beauty around us, well, that makes us human. If we can share the peace within, by lifting others around us, and removing some of the darkness, well, that makes us good for humanity.
And I am grateful – this Thanksgiving and always.
Namaste 🙏
~jwb~