Executive Director, New Dimensions Radio - 9/12/01
THE DAY AFTER
In the aftermath of the terrorist attacks I long for a sane and healing conversation that goes beyond blame. I long for a conversation that speaks of the strength it takes to stop pointing fingers and blaming others. I long for deep dialogue as Rumi has said, looking at the "root of the root" of our collective selves. The following quote is from the theater piece made into a movie, "Lion In Winter." Even though the queen Eleanor of Acquitane is referring to her own time, which we now call the "Dark Ages," it strikes a chord of relevancy.
The queen, Eleanor, is speaking to her three sons, Richard, Geoff, and John who are squabbling. John whines as he refers to Richard, "He has a knife!"
Eleanor exclaims, "Of course he has a knife. He always has a knife. We all have knives. It's 1183 A.D. and we're all Barbarians; how clear we make it. Oh my piglets we ARE the origins of war. Not history's forces nor the times--not justice nor the lack of it, nor causes, nor religions, nor ideas, kinds of government--nor any other thing--We are the killers. We breed wars. We carry it like syphilis inside dead bodies, rotting field and stream because the living ones are rotten. Oh God can't we love one another just a little. That's how peace begins. We have so much to love each other for. We have such possibilities. We could change the world."
This is one of those pivotal moments in history when we CAN change the world for the better as we bring wisdom actively to the for and apply it with diligence and clarity. Let's not go to reaction, dishing out what we have received, but act in a new level of global compassion. This is the time, we are the people. Our ancestors and those who have lost their lives are rooting for us. May we be the ones who step off the wheel of the never ending action and reaction.