Doing okay, thanks.
Though my computer/browser is on the fritz and I can’t get my IT girl to look at it. Oy, vey!
“What the world has yet to really wrap its mind around,...”
I’m not sure what it is going to take.
Personally, I consider folks who are passive, indifferent and uninformed to be as great a threat to my family as the 13th century goons who spread and foment jihad!
In that same vein, here’s one of my favorite tunes/lyrics by Bela Fleck and The Flecktones. A little “eastern flavored” food for thought.
“The Sojourn of Arjuna”
So Arjuna and Krishna you know they’re hanging out on the battlefield
Arjuna is like tired of war, he’s trying to get out of this battle
so Krishna drops a little science on him, he says you know it’s the way of
spiritual growth
a man must go forth from where he stands
he cannot jump to the absolute, he must evolve toward it (can you hear that)
Krishna says at any given moment in time we are what we are
Arjuna we have to accept the consequences of being ourselves
and only through this acceptance can we begin to evolve further
we may select the battleground but we cannot avoid the battle
so Krishna tells Arjuna it follows therefore that every action under certain
circumstances and for certain people may actually be a stepping stone to
spiritual growth
Arjuna is to do the best he knows
in order to pass beyond that best to better
how can we prescribe our neighbors to be perfect
when it is so hard to know our own heart
the pacifist must respect Arjuna
Arjuna must respect the pacifist.
both are going toward the same goal
if they are really sincere
there’s an underlying solidarity between them
which can be expressed
each one follows without compromise the path upon which he finds himself
for we can only help others to do their duty
by doing what we ourselves believe to be right
it is the one supremely social act.
so Kirshna’s reply to Arjuna occupies the rest of the story
it deals not only with Arjuna’s immediate personal problem
but the whole nature of action
the meaning of life
and the aims for which man must struggle here on earth
at the end of the conversation Arjuna has changed his mind
he’s ready to fight, he’s ready to go ahead on
it is the way of spiritual growth
a man must go forward from where he stands
he cannot jump to the absolute
and the battle begins...”
And to clarify, so as not to contradict myself; I do not believe that today’s liberal peaceniks are true pacifists.
They use this mindset to portray themselves as above or “better” than those who do NOT share this worldview, which is actually a form of coercive aggression.
In some sense, I think I’m lucky because I believe in Satan, the devil, Lucifer, an evil and invisible presence which has been set upon this world.
For me anyway, it explains a lot.