I Have A Dream for Humanity

I find it so odd that, over the course of time, as humanity has tried to reconcile differences, heal old wounds, new and inherited, to move toward peace and equal opportunity, how can some still seek to covet power, and to achieve at the cost of others. When so many have shown the path to justice and liberty, there still are always present those who cling with angry claws to the very things that divide us still today... as though Humanity keeps flipping the coin of hatred and division. Neither side of such a coin is valuable. Like Dante's souls we still face the same challenges inherent in Human Nature. The Human Condition... prone to tear us apart... over and over again.

The founding of America was a great attempt to lay a foundation to over come this tendency of mankind. Setting into word AND law the opportunity for Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness, it recognized certain inalienable rights... Rights granted to everyone by God, not by man... No man, no Government should assume to be able to personally grant such rights. It is arrogant. It is corrupt. The Constitution was seeking to create a "more Perfect" nation... For the first time in the history of man, a place was created from scratch to allow the OPPORTUNITY for prosperity and life. We are not perfect but we try in earnest to improve. At least we are Free to Choose.

In America's past, we had our walls. And as we tear one wall, a new one is built. In a perversion of equality (seeking to make up for inequality) a new wall or division is created. We just seem to flip the same coin. Why? Why do we draw boxes and walls around groups, races, religions, political parties, sexual preference, professions, classes, etc? We categorize, generalize, victimize and demonize. These are divisive actions, not unitive.

It is not a small thing, in mankind, that each generation must learn the bitter lessons of the past in order to avoid the pitfalls of the future. Yet we never seem to learn well enough to keep the walls of inequality and division from being rebuilt, made taller or stronger. These are the eternal challenges of humanity.

In 1963, when I was three years old, a brave man...an individual, came to the feet of Abraham Lincoln to share his hopes and his dreams. When he said, "The Glory of the Lord will be revealed and the flesh shall see it together" he tore down those walls of Euro White and African Black. He said "together" The dream is not exclusive - it is unifying. It is not only for some, but for all. He asked us not to "judge us not by the color of our skin, but on the content of our character." Character cannot be seen on the surface. The surface can be deceptive. Character can only be demonstrated and revealed through our words and most importantly, our deeds. These notions, and thoughts expressed, with great humility, by Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. are are universal. They are eternal.

Freedom comes to those who open themselves up to it. A softening of the heart and mind must be accomplished to let peace and freedom in. Anger, vitriol, and resentment block the grace that flows as freedom. Freedom is an inalienable right. Freedom is a state of mind, expressed in Love and only Love... for fellow man, and all of God's creatures. No one or No thing is exempt.

Today...today and only today it is the very moment for to open ourselves. Today is always this day. It is now...this moment. The past is done. It is unchangeable. It is only a two dimensional record. Tomorrow, too is an abstraction of "What if's" It absolutely is determined by TODAY.

Just know that it is a lonely journey...an intensely personal journey. And as sure as we are born, then each of us must learn, grow, love and strive with every breath to live up to these principles. With every breath and every action we plant seeds for tomorrow. That is a great responsibility. In Canto XIII, we are reminded:

"Just as the blind cannot enjoy the sun,

so to the shades I saw before me here

the light of Heaven denies its radiance.

The eyelids of these shades had been sewn shut

with iron threads, like falcons newly caught,

whose eyes we stitch to tame their restlessness.”

(translation by Mark Musa)

Can we learn from the 14th Century? Can we SEE ? Or must we be blinded first in order to see?

Today ...today and only today is the moment to open ourselves to all possibilities. To open ourselves to creative solutions, fellowship, Love.

Today is all we truly have.

It is now...this moment.

The Past? The past is done. It is unchangeable. It is only a two dimensional record.

Tomorrow? Tomorrow, too, is an abstraction of "What if's" "potentials" "Consequences" (intended, unintended...) It is yet to be determined. It is malleable, changeable. How? Because tomorrow is determined only by TODAY.

We are born with all the time that is or ever was. We shall never have any MORE time. We have and we have always had, all the time there is.

Two Worlds

Inside me resides so many deep thoughts, so many observations,... so many, that it touches that deeper place of "knowing", of deeper seeing. I want to go deep within... down under the surface - to the silent depths of what is true, what is real...

A sudden burst of morning sunlight breaks through the emerald canopy. It filters through and glows with divinity. And I am transfixed.

I try to balance myself between two worlds. One is real and serious and profound. It is creative and silent. It reveals great things without a sound.. it fills me up. Like the still reflection on the water, it is calming and invites me to look under the surface.

The other is loud, active, somewhat superficial and, at times, trivial... with salon-style chatter of so many words with nothing to say...it leaves me hungry for silence. Most of us exist here - all mixed in - with pleasure and pain. It can be fun, but it is distracting and leaves me empty. I simply cannot go through life without seeking some sort of deeper truth and universal meaning. I have found that when I have touch upon these things, the strength of the divine is felt.

I struggle to balance between these two worlds. Happily nature brings me back in touch. It brings the "me" back...the artist, the creator, the seeker.

It is who I am.

The Dead of Winter is Alive & Well

" Keep a green tree in your heart and perhaps

a singing bird will come." - Chinese Proverb

A mist fills the morning landscape, lending a quiet mystery and restful beauty to my view. Like a downy blanket, it feels warm over the snow and wet ground. A single singing bird visits in the snowy landscape to remind me he is here. He sings because this is his dharma. He sings in advance of warm days to come. It all is a playful tease, hinting at spring, which remains, nonetheless, many weeks away.

By February, so many are tired of the cold, the snow, the grey days and heavy clothes. But I love my snow boots. I love the feel of cashmere and fleece. But realizing today that spring being six weeks away, reminds me to relax and enjoy the final days of winter.

It is easy to dismiss the end of winter... good riddance, right? Yet, I write this morning to remind myself to appreciate the sheer beauty that the natural world offers us in winter. To take comfort in the blanket of snow that holds the seedlings captive, the crocus dormant and all of green life, patiently waiting to burst forth when it can. This is the quiet time, the regenerative time, the time of stillness. A time to marvel how the squirrel digs his nuts he buried 6 months ago... to observe how the icicles grow, making marvelous sculptures. Yes, the harshness of winter may wear us down, but not if we use the time wisely... like nature... being dormant, being quiet, yet preparing for the energetic period of spring. Beauty exists all around us at every moment. It just is there -here - waiting to be seen... almost yearning to be noticed.

The Bright World

Today I think of Dante's description of "The Bright World" and my thoughts begin to dwell on those of Beauty, of light and of the earth and I sink into my true self - my artist self - then I think of of the dark world where many so blindly live... the destructive places, the holes and the dirty trenches - where like cockroaches - some humans dwell.

Do they not recognize the bright world - why do they persist to live in the destructive hell holes?  Thieves, addicts, abusers, cheats, traitors...

Our youngest arrivals - bright and full of promise - reflect the bright world in their sparkling eyes.  Yet for so many the sparkles will fade.  When does their world turn?  Why do some slip in the cracks -  fall into the hell hole?  Why do some follow - others even jump?  And my heart fills with such deep sadness knowing that the only way out is thru pain and suffering - like Dante's Journey.  Some will make it back to the bright world.  Some won't.  Some will forget that it is even there.  We all slip.  We all need a Virgil.

Is Virgil like the silver thread of faith and experience?  The hand that has passed thru the flames before us... the guide.  It is said that when we are ready, that a guide will come to us.  Will we know it?  Will we follow?  Will we once again see "the bright world"?

Bringing the Inner Journey OUT

Why Dante? Why the Divine Comedy? What is the Commedia really? Why do we follow Dante into the dark wood and on into the inferno of hell? Curiousity? Required Reading? I urge you to look beyond the mounds of historical data, the details, and the long tedious dialogue. Try to see it in its simplicity. Think of it as a guidebook for the living. By observing Dante’s journey, it becomes one’s own lesson for life.

I turned to the book in a great search for truths regarding faith, life and meaning. I naively bumped into Dante in the same woods. I found a parallel in my own life’s journey and in the end, afterward, was able to look back and see the amazing journey for what it was…a tour thru one’s darkest times, ones lowest emotional state, into the depths of despair, eventually to emerge to a place in the light world, the joy, the Paradiso.

One recognizes the light again, only this time, the quality is enhanced. The light in the valley is different from the light now seen from the Summit. And while the light emanates from the same source, it has changed. The light is purer. The air is cleaner. The seer has acquired wisdom and insight.

Reading the Divine Comedy in its entirety takes one to a heightened vantage point both spiritually and intellectually. It leaves one humbled and in awe.

Pensive

The last glimmer of brilliant green,...transluscent green,...sunlight through morning lit leaves. I see this from my window. Open window, crisp cool air to relieve the stagnant collection of dust and artificially cooled air from preceeding days of exhausting heat. The jump from hot to cold is so quick. Too quick. Each moment of this day, with its lovely sunlight, it's fresh air filling my spirit must be appreciated. I just have to remember to notice. To withdraw from the "other" stuff filling my agenda, my list, my life and just take a deep breath and notice.

To be an artist is really a simple thing. It merely is the art of observation, meditation and introspection. And with this dedication and practice, creativity is a natural outcome. The challenge is withdrawing from rapid chaos of everything and permitting oneself a moment to LOOK and to SEE. In our ambitious American world of productivity and constant motion, this becomes a difficult thing to do at times. Or maybe its just me and my wonder woman generation of the do it all, be it all types. Because when asked what "I do" I first say I'm an artist and then pause and truthfully say that right now I'm devoting most of my time to my family, my three sons and husband. And this really may be the most important and creative endeavor anyone of us can attempt to accomplish!