In the dark we ponder…fears raise their heads, dreams of what could be are imagined, and we reflect on the state of our days, years, lives, and world. In the dark anything is possible.
In the Northern Hemisphere our days shorten this time of year, in fact, today is the shortest day of the year. It is a good time to reflect.
We, as a culture, worship the light…artificial lights dim our night skies. “Progressive” nations show up on the space satellites at night as bright beacons while nations like Nicaragua show a dim point of light - if any at all. In our home and at the Center we have outside lights on for the night watchmen and this time of year we don our home with Christmas light. After supper last night we lit the first Chanukah candle.
Good is light. Evil is dark. And yet…it is the light that distracts us. We move through our days and nights almost blindly. It is in the dark we open up ourselves to unspeakable dreams and hopes – and yes, fears…fears we need to acknowledge and address.
So in this dark hour on this shortest day of the year I am going to share with you my fears and then my dreams. I fear:
· that we will never reverse the damage to our world that is making it uninhabitable for us and other species;
· that we will never stop exploiting and consuming resources that keeps almost one seventh of the world’s population living in hunger (http://www.worldhunger.org/articles/Learn/world%20hunger%20facts%202002.htm);
· that we will never rise up as a global movement and scream “no more war…no more bombings…no more terror…no more big nations invading, occupying, and dictating to smaller nations…ENOUGH!”;
· that we will never look at the corporations, the top 1%, the top 10%, the wealthy and say “You are the problem not my brown brothers and sisters”…and mean it;
· that we will never understand that until we are all free we all have chains,
· that until injustice is righted we are all in danger,
· and that freedom, justice and peace come with sacrifices and I’m not talking about sending our sons and daughters to fight ridiculous wars…I’m talking about the sacrifices of giving up the greed for wealth, power, and fear.
My hopes and dreams in this dark night? That we will. That maybe in the darkness prayers will be said, conversions will happen and
· we will one-by-one firmly cry “ENOUGH”
· we will one-by-one change
· we will one-by-one heal this gorgeous world, love its beautiful life, and reach out to each other.
The sun is up. The day has started. The struggle continues.
Happy Winter Solstice from all of us.
-Kathleen
