We wish for wellness and
a host of health and happiness
in a world that should
have known no other way.
I am of a mind that, that place
would not be hard to find,
even in this fucked up world we know today,
had we the desire to retire one thing
which leads to many other bothers it brings.
Not the centered self of being
but the self-centered
creature comfort living—
had we never forged that place
in flaming lusty greedy desire
we’d never had gotten to the gate
of loathing and destroying others
filling our souls with hate.
I think often on the Creators words
I think often on the Creators words
“…the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil…”
why was the sound good spoken before evil
and how did we come to the travail
of twisting them the other way round?
Need we feel tremendous and return grievous pain
Need we feel tremendous and return grievous pain
before we become actually ready
to live as we were meant to be—in peace again?
© M Durfee
6/10/13
It seems to have become more evil and not-so-evil. When I have these kinds of dark thoughts I try to remember the words of the Dalai Lama when he said to be happy that there is only bad news for that means that bad news is still news and not the norm.
ReplyDeleteCarleton it is not that I don't respect the Dali Lama or his nonviolent struggle to regain freedom for Tibet but:
DeleteA: I don't think in platitudes
B: In this case he is mistaken, we have taken the stupid and glorified it (think of starlets in court or rehab) and the truly bad news that assaults us daily we are no longer disgusted by. We follow it to see how close it comes to touching us and breathe sighs of relief when we find out that the good news is someone else is in the shit and not us.
We all wish for peace and harmony and many of us just need to be reminded of this ~
ReplyDeleteHappy week Mark ~
Thank you for you weekly blessing Grace.
DeleteI think we need to learn or re-learn that peace is possible among mankind's multitude of cultures but we do allow the minority to keep us embroiled in never ending strife, that is a show of our collective willingness to simply accept lack of civility as the norm.
... in peace again, you say ... when was there ever peace? ... still, I'd buy you a ticket for the peace train/ bus once it comes along ... I will ... anytime, my friend :) Love, cat.
ReplyDeleteCatwoman there are roughly 50 documented years in recorded history where the entire world was not at war somewhere. There was peace of mind and calmness of soul for far longer periods than that, but today this time of space, it is not the wish of them who have control to allow people out of survival mode. A population trying to get by, is a VERY distracted population.
DeleteThose who speak good and do evil are our biggest curse. Too many politicians among them for sure.
ReplyDeleteI would have to add almost every one who professes to be a member of a religion in that mix as well Charles. Think if there were no religions of any kind and every human was allowed to grow in their spirituality as life and days dictated without rules set down in a never ending progression of imprisonment of the mind how much more humbly mature we may have become.
Deletenice...really like your pondering around good and evil and how it became twisted...then again it was put in the hand of man...and we put self first far too often...
ReplyDeleteYou hit the key Brian, allow me to to put your self first and you do the same for another and so on we might all be riding on the same bus as kindness eh?
DeletePerhaps we only get moments of peace so we don't forget that it can and does exist Snippets of peace...ya, I'd take that.
ReplyDeleteMelinda I personally am of the thought that once a person knows that there is a place within that peace reigns they should and could always return to it regardless of the turmoil in the surround. A snippet is a tease I'd rather have never tasted well made food than to know it is there ans available but not attainable for all.
DeleteYeah, when will that happen? Seems to me that evil works very very hard to make sure that peace remains a concept and not a reality for us.
ReplyDeleteTalon without preaching; kindness happens in your life when you allow for it. It is a verb eh? When being kind at the right moment become so ingrained you don't have to think about it, that is when peace happens. Is it sustainable? I think it depends on how long you can think of yourself as being a kind person while at the same time not thinking of yourself and your kindness as a door mat. I think us older people have learned how to allow others to be kind to us but somehow there are those among us who view a simple act of kindness with suspicion.
DeleteThose are the ones I have concern for--that is the growing snowball rolling down the hill.
mark, even though i know what you mean and i object to much of today, i see the kindness and care you are talking about more often than not. in many ways i think because our faith in govt is so weak, rightfully so, we are becoming clans again; communities that take care of one another. my town of boston reacted that way at the marathon and has held onto the folks blown apart. i guess i'm saying it's bad but it's also good.
ReplyDeletelove
kj
kj I am a veteran & retired municipal worker, I lost my trust and faith in government long ago. My faith is great, strong but it is not in any human.
DeleteSome, maybe even a majority of people are becoming tribal for mutual support. With a 50% UE rate still in this city it is not unusual to have 7-12 people living in 900 sq feet.
I saw and was proud of Bostonians (Bruins?) who without regard for their own safety went to the danger zone and saved lives of strangers. Detroit though, a place I have not gone more than 50 miles from in a decade though is not Boston or NYC or any other place where that would happen.
I assure you (because it has happened and has been filmed happening) people here would be rummaging through the pockets of the dead and injured to secure for themselves whatever valuables they could and others would stand and watch. Someone may call the authorities but to actually do what Boston or NYC did? This place is generally speaking too hard for that kind of possible sacrifice.
One of many examples; A man was mugged and injured at a gas station, he was late eighties and after he was crawling towards the building to get help---no less than 10 people walked right by that old man crawling and bleeding, some looked but all kept right on walking past him. He did not die, but the attendant waited until he saw the blood on his floor before he called for EMS. He did not leave his bullet proof walled off counter though only called.
It's just so much easier to live in peace when we aren't in pieces.
ReplyDeleteThat can be a very hard and tenuous peace Alice.
DeleteGood question -- and from what I understand of humans, perhaps the answer is "yes". Maybe we do need to endure pain and uncertainty before we appreciate/cultivate peace...
ReplyDeletePearl
Pearl, I could have done very well without all of the hurt I have seen or felt but would I be the same if I had not gone through it all? Our nature generally is to want peace but only on our own terms and that is not a true or lasting peace. I have learned to roll with it, not much makes me crazy mad anymore (extreme ignorance pushes the limits).
DeleteYet as a lack of kindness, incivility breeds all negativity so does kindness bring the peace and all positivity. I think it begins with the individual but we are told, taught, forced out of our individuality and into whatever the groupthink of the hour is.
Such a human thing to collectively take messages of brotherhood and sisterhood and turn them away for selfishness. But there's hope, and faith, and goodness yet, and it ain't ever over till it's all over.
ReplyDeleteErik I agree but I don't think we should have to wait for a super nova gamma burst to destroy the earth's ozone layer before we turn the card.
Delete“…the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil…”
ReplyDelete...And when you pass the tree, you realize its branches of pantheism, by which time it's too late, because you've already been kicked out of the garden. Oh Sinner Man.
Just sticking with the one God religion of Judaism for the moment Ivan...In the Torah, Genesis, there were two trees spoken of, Adam was told he could do whatever the hell he wanted to do except eat the fruit from the one tree. What do you suppose the three major religions that sprung from Judaism would look like today if he had eaten from the Tree of Life?
DeleteBut were we meant to be in peace? I'm not sure... I observe the human nature and I wonder...
ReplyDeleteI love the title of this poem!
Vesper---I went for a run on sentence for a title (nyuk nyuk nyuk) Seriously though stop breathe and quiet all the thoughts running through your mind, everything can wait for a moment or two. Let go of everything, just for a moment all positives and negatives and let yourself just quietly float free of all human concerns---when you do that you will know we all were intended to be at peace with our own being and the being of others.
DeleteCain did not kill Able because he hated him, he killed him because he thought he would get what he already had but did not feel--love from the one he was sharing his abundance with. Regardless of the creators thinking, if he could have put his brother first as his brother put him first he would have had peace no matter if God liked a vegan or a meat diet, he became jealous rather than kind. He furthered man in our quest for knowledge of evil but it did not have to be so.
I think that maybe we humans focus too much on what we deserve and need to focus on what we must have in order to simply live a life in harmony with each other and the rest of the world. Hard to do--but I can set it as a lofty goal.
ReplyDeleteMark, I enjoyed the insightful comments as much as the piece! Whirled peas is also a hope of my own. xo
ReplyDelete