How Can We Heal the World?

The world is breaking.  I can feel it. Small cracks becoming larger every day.  And by this, I don't mean the physical world, our planet.  I think old Earth is tough...tough enough to withstand whatever we humans throw at it, adapting, changing according to its own unknowable cycles.  If we as humans get too big for our britches and do real damage, it will be US who pay for that; Earth can and will survive us, I'm afraid.

I think the real damage that's being done is by us, to us.

Labels....I've talked about them before.  We label people. We label ourselves.  We need, so badly, to belong to something bigger than ourselves, that we seek out and become part of larger labeled groups.

I guess it's all about safety in numbers. It's difficult to just be ourselves, alone.  Because we are unique, and every individual perceives themselves as so different...not quite a perfect fit anywhere. So we clump together, label our groups,  and sometimes, unfortunately become something LESS than ourselves.

I could tell you all the labels that come to mind.  But I would end up insulting someone in some group somewhere who has decided that their group is somehow BEST, or most RIGHT of anyone else in the world, either geographically, or politically, religiously, or even in terms of something very much smaller, like in terms of economic status or even appearance.

I don't belong to any groups.  In part because I don't know of any group that really wants me as a member.  Sometimes, very briefly, that makes me a little sad. But it's okay.

Because, every day, I can see myself as part of something much bigger.  In fact, the group I belong to is so much bigger than the groups you are thinking of.

I am part of the breath and of the very fabric of this earth, and of this universe.

And so are you, for that matter. Being so is much more difficult than being part of those smaller groups.  In fact, mostly, I don't know what to do about it. I feel very small sometimes.  But I know that the smallest ripple can effect even a very big lake.

So I guess it's my responsibility to work on my ripples.

I am going to stop labeling people and try to see them as something bigger than they even know themselves to be.  One just never knows what kind of ripples they are sending out there, or even more, how they are affected by one's actions.

I want my ripples in this big universal pond to be happy ones.  Kind ones. Creative and nurturing ones.  I want something that I do to effect a change, for the better, in someone's day, and maybe. ultimately, in someone's life.  Even if it's just to create a smile, a moment of happiness, and (and this is my dream) a glimpse of what lies beyond. See, I think the absolute and utter beauty of this earth is nothing in comparison to what lies beyond.  Our perception of Earth is merely a glimpse of the diverse wonder that even those who study it all their lives can just barely begin to grasp.  So how much MORE can the next world be?  I hope to know.

I hope you can see what I mean.  Please look at the sky tonight, and tomorrow night, and all nights. Please look into the heart of a flower,

or into the eyes of one of God's creatures.

And see yourself reflected there.  You and your ripple.

Please be kind.  Your kindness is one small band-aid to this breaking world.  You know that enough of them can fix it, fix US.

I want to.





Amen.