DAY 101 - A Worrier

Is a worrier, ALWAYS a person who makes something out of nothing?

In SOME instances, is a worrier a person who sees more than others?

You are familiar with The Serenity Prayer. The first part says, “God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference."

While profoundly attracted to, and in need of serenity, this prayer has never done it for me.

Given there is no switch that I can flip that will stop war, end poverty, rid the world of nuclear weapons, establish rational campaign finance reform in the US, or turn the corner on global warming, there is SOMETHING that I can do about each one; and I feel responsible to do so. So, what is it that I can’t be a part of changing?

The middle part, the “courage to change” part of the prayer, I support entirely.

The last part, “and wisdom to know the difference” may be the weakest link; or perhaps that part of the prayer was never granted. A lot of people feel hopeless about having any ability to change aspects of their lives, or circumstances in the world. Clearly, hopelessness and wisdom are not the same.

Maybe we can grant ourselves a degree of serenity by recognizing that our lives affect all others, and by beginning to construct a world view that includes us reaching out in small but important ways to create more harmony everywhere. I’m a worrier, but not a hopeless worrier; and it helps me.

DAY 100 - Parlez Vous Triage?

photo courtesy of gambier20 at flickr commons

I don’t speak French
but used to really like the word “triage”

I’m attracted to order,
and maximizing good, comforts me

then I grew up,
began to know and feel
my connectedness to all things

finally saw the battlefield that lies around us
bombs and napalm
loneliness and fear
hunger and disease
violence and torture
ecosystem poisoning

for some, each day is a triage
for water, food, and shelter

interestingly, many of us,
who are not living hand-to-mouth,
turn from,
or don’t see the bloodier battlefields
and instead, each day
triage work and income
the car and the water heater
a relationship strained
sciatica or headache
the lure of sugar
laundering clothes
brushing teeth
falling into bed
struggling to get up,
the alarm squawking

triaging is not a relaxed endeavor for me
yet calm is one of the wounded that must survive
hope, another

and why is it,
that so many folks use drugs, alcohol and video?
oh ...

can we stay on our feet?
conscious enough to move beyond war?
to come together in love?
combine our energies to heal our world?

yes, we can!

it’s either that,
or the hamster wheel for all of us,
‘till the rain of radiation

Note to all dear readers: while writing “Parlez Vous Triage”, I worried that in sharing my struggles with life, that you might read it to mean that I am near a tipping point, and that you might feel distressed. I am not near the edge. I am simply trying to stay aware and in contact with the world, and those who suffer. There is enormous beauty all around me. I am soaking up the pervasive good vibrations, while trying to help us stay out of the ditch. All is well.

DAY 46 – “The End of War” by Captain Paul K. Chappell

The powerful quote, “we become what we see” has been attributed to both the Chinese, and to William Blake. Regardless of its origin, it is ripe with insight that can free us to create peace on earth.

Humans have existed only in a world of war. To what degree have we become, have we come to believe in, the wars that we continually see?

Powerful quote, though it may be, “we become what we see” is a generalization only, and not true for all. It refers to the alchemy which transforms and secures most of us as carbon copies of the past. It does not address the less common “seeing” of imagination, without which, mankind’s primary shelter would still be a cave.

Iraq War veteran, Captain Paul K. Chappell “sees” with clarity the world in which we war; but is neither seduced nor blinded by that reality. His vision, his imagination of our future without war is what he has become. Our warring past and present, he knows, and understands, but sees beyond, to our potential for peace.

As Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, has said, "Captain Paul K. Chappell has given us a crucial look at war and peace from the unique perspective of a soldier, and his new ideas show us why world peace is both necessary and possible in the 21st century. The End of War [Chappell’s new book] can help people everywhere understand why war must end, and how together we can end it."

Whether you believe we can, or believe we can’t, come join Citizens for Peaceful Resolutions (CPR) as Captain Chappell tells us why and how to end war.

WHAT: Annual CPR Season of Peace meeting: Author Paul Chappell discusses his ideas for shaping a peace movement, based on his books "Will War Ever End? A Soldier's Vision of Peace for the 21st Century" and "The End of War: How Waging Peace Can Save Humanity."

WHEN: Sunday, Dec. 5 at 3:00 p.m.

WHERE: Foster Library’s Topping Room, 651 E. Main St., Ventura, CA 93001 USA

BACKGROUND: Paul Chappell is the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation's Peace Leadership Director. He is a 2002 graduate of West Point and an Iraq War veteran. Learn more at http://www.paulkchappell.com