The evidence is all around me. I can hear it, if I listen. I can feel it. It’s a quiet, subtle sound that’s building and it speaks of harmony. It speaks of love. It’s picking up momentum and its voice is strong, yet gentle, unlike the other noise and chatter demanding my attention. It cuts straight to my core shining light on the darkness and fears I still need to face.
It’s always been there only I’m becoming more aware of it. I’m choosing to listen to it. What will you listen to and how will you respond? It begins with us.
Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Free Image Photo ― Tony Spina/The Detroit Free Press ― Courtesy of Mia Watkins Author – Alabama Blogs and Bloggers (http://www.al.com/blogs/)
Monday, we remember Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. for his commitment to freedom and equality of every human, no matter color of skin, gender, what you do or from where you come. He sacrificed his life proclaiming freedom, not with violence but with love. I believe we have made progress, since I was a kid growing up in the ‘40’s, ‘50’s and ‘60’s. But, it has been painfully slow.
It brought it all home to me on the severity of cruelty and hate, when I watched an old documentary on Turner Classic Movies the end of last year on the anniversary of Pearl Harbor. It was directed by Frank Capra on WWII and why we fight. Continue reading →
I remember several years ago at a group discussion one of the questions I asked was, “Do you think it’s possible for humanity to live in harmony?” I was surprised to hear how fast and loud their response was – a resounding NO! We talked about it more and it looked grim based on what humans do to each other, animals, wildlife and the environment. Is there no hope?
After awhile, they all turned to me and asked me what I thought and I must admit I didn’t have an answer for them at first, still recovering from their response. But as I thought about it I asked them, “What seems to be the one thing all humans desire?” They write about it, sing about it – dream, play, and talk about it – it’s LOVE. So, it seems logical to me that, if we all have a deep, inner desire to love and be loved, harmony is possible.
Why is it then that we can’t live in harmony if we desire love so much? Maybe it’s because we’ve forgotten – maybe what we have come to believe love to be really isn’t love. Maybe, it’s just our ego acting out disguising to be love. If we can’t realize our connection to everyone (no exceptions) then our idea of love has been misplaced and misguided.
“The atoms that make up your body were once forged inside stars, and the causes of even the smallest event are virtually infinite and connected with the whole in incomprehensible ways.”
Love isn’t: “If you do something for me, I’ll love you” – or – Love isn’t: “Behave and believe like I do or I’ll love you”. Love is allowing others to follow their path and process their life as they need to in order to learn and grow and through it all seeing that part of them that never lost its shimmer or gloss forever connected. We look at the package and love one another based on the package but it’s what it contains that is complete and whole. The love God imparted within His creation is never lost.
So, what do you think – “Do you think it is possible for humanity to live in harmony?” Don’t look at the circumstances in the world or even what’s going on in your community or home. Look at what God looks at and see what He sees and then answer. As John Donne so eloquently wrote:
“No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main; if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friends or thine own were; any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind; and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.”
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