Tag: PACE E BENE

Posted on

life-sustaining society

cropped-unshackled-3.png

So many of us have lived our lives placing unmerited value on the opinions of others while discrediting our personal truth and reality.  Breaking the shackles of people-pleasing requires honest self-appraisal, a healthy dose of self-esteem, and an enormous commitment to self-realization.  

pride8

“If there is to be a livable world for those who come after us, it will be because we have managed to make the transition from the Industrial Growth Society to a Life-Sustaining Society. . . . While the agricultural revolution took centuries and the Industrial revolution took generations, (the Great Turning) has to happen within a matter of years. It also has to be conscious—involving not only the political economy, but the habits, values and understandings that foster it.” —Joanna Macy – Pace e Bene

Can we do that?  We, who have been the most voracious consumers of this earth’s resources, who have built an empire on the backs of slave and immigrant labor, who have tilted the political process in favor of the corporate elite, who have widened the gulf between the prosperous and the poor, who have thumbed our noses at environmental consciousness….can we do that?  Not over the course of centuries or generations, but within a few years we must make our decisions.  Can we build a life-sustaining society which honors the entirety of creation?beard-beggar-face-35015

 

Posted on

Reparations

broken hearted

reparations – Ta-Nehisi Coates

“What I’m talking about is more than recompense for past injustices—more than a handout, a payoff, hush money, or a reluctant bribe. What I’m talking about is a national reckoning that would lead to spiritual renewal. . . . Reparations would mean a revolution of American consciousness, a reconciling of our self-image as the great democratizer with the facts of our history.”

—Ta-Nehisi Coates, The Case for Reparations

Stunning words from Mr. Coates!  Finally, white power and white privilege accustomed to the old, distinctly American adage “money talks” is challenged to the crux of what African-Americans want.  They don’t want handouts, payoffs, hush money, or bribes.  They want white America to do a conscience check and transform the inner soul that makes us racist and bigoted.  What a challenge!  Can we do it?

black-and-white-black-and-white-boy-1299417

Posted on

a sacred earth ?

cropped-beautiful-cropland-dawn-1237119.jpg

“One of the reasons we’re destroying the planet is that it has lost its sacred dimension for us. The planet as given to us by science is a physical reality essentially meaningless in itself. It’s a resource for our physical activity.”

—Thomas Berry, Dream of the Earth

Centuries ago science overtook faith as reality.  The wisdom of the ancients tied the sacredness of our earth and of nature to a power beyond the understanding and reasoning of mankind.  But man’s arrogance demanded an answer to all questions and the discovered explanations which they accepted denied the sacredness of Creation.  The earth has become just another vehicle for our selfish endeavors.

adult-adventure-backlit-915972

Posted on

SOUL FORCE

“One of the key words Gandhi used in expressing the meaning of nonviolence was ahimsa, literally ‘non-harm,’ the refusal to hurt others. It’s the rock bottom of nonviolence. A second key word was satyagraha (a combination of the words for ‘truth’ and ‘holding firmly’) sometimes called ‘truth force,’ holding on to what is true and good, striving to bring about more humane conditions for people and society. King called it ‘soul force.’”

—Dr. Gerard Vanderhaar  

Pace e Bene Nonviolence

Are we on the brink of a nation-wide recognition, an awakening (call it revival if you like) of what America is becoming as a society and commit our energies to reversing the  downward spiral of violence and hatred?  Or are we destined to fall, like many before us, to anarchy and despotism at the hands of a minority too blind to see the equality of all the nation’s people?  This is not just a Pride issue or a black issue, or a poor people’s issue that we must address.  It is an issue of ‘SOUL FORCE’.

What will be revealed in the coming months about the soul of America?

Posted on

simplicity, gratitude, generosity

“Aware of the poverty and greed in the world and of the intrinsic abundance of the earth, I stand in the presence of the ancestors, the earth, and future generations and vow to cultivate the simplicity, gratitude and generosity that have no limits.”

Rosemary Lynch and Mary Litell, Peace Grows! Pace e Bene

24

There is no shortage of anything in this world except, perhaps, love.  The misconception of a world without enough is the result of too many people wanting too much unimportant stuff.  Predicted shortages of food can be easily resolved if government subsidized mega-food industries are held accountable for the resources they consume and the ecology they destroy to produce highly profitable protein for our tables.

But ultimately, we are responsible.  I am responsible for shedding exaggerated beliefs of what I need to not only survive, but thrive in today’s world whether it be foodstuffs or consumer goods.  Living simply does not equate to going without; rather, it is a commitment to joyously appreciate each new day with words of thanksgiving for the earth’s abundance and generosity and then sharing that abundance cheerfully.

In words attributed to Gandhi – “live simply so that others may simply live.”

cropped-namaste8-4.png

Posted on

ALL WE NEED IS LOVE

“While scientists look desperately for medicines and mechanism to avoid catastrophe, many others are beginning to realize that what is needed is not only externally administered remedies, preventive or curative, but an internal change in the way we behave, a hard second look at the values which have brought us to this dangerous brink.”

-Anuradha Vittachi, Earth Conference Pace e Bene

Posted on

ahimsa

DALAI LAMA

Hindu/Sanskrit word meaning:

“causing no harm, no injury, no violence to any living creature”

Mohandas Gandhi furthered the definition of ahimsa with the following:

“….nonviolence was the active, unconditional love toward others, the persistent pursuit of truth, the radical forgiveness toward those who hurt us, the steadfast resistance to every form of evil, and even the loving willingness to accept suffering in the struggle for justice without the desire for retaliation. . . ” cac.org – Richard Rohr

These words are attributed to Jesus in Matthew 5:9:

“Blessed are the peacemakers; they shall be called the sons and daughters of God.”

This lifestyle of nonviolence is a choice which each one of us has the ability to pursue because we are created as children of a loving and compassionate energy force that has been named God in the Judeo-Christian tradition.  We have been given the option to follow or deny this truth of the human condition.

Peacemakers are not always the statesmen and women who are at the forefront of peace pacts and international treaties.  Normally these people accomplish what they do from a position of power and strength often forcing and enforcing their particular ideals of peace.  Yes, they serve a purpose in the world order, but they are not the peacemakers to whom Jesus referred.

It is you and I who need to be the peacemakers in relation to our neighbors, our friends, our family, our enemies and, most importantly, to ourselves.  It starts from that divine spark within every human on earth.  We have the ability to be the peacemakers who bring peace into the insanity of our world which is spiraling toward a violent, fiery demise.  As Jesus prophesized, we have been blessed, but we have a responsibility to use that blessing.

PACEEBENE.ORG ,a global nonviolent organization of education and action, will be leading an annual CAMPAIGN NONVIOLENCE September 14-22, 2019, working toward a culture “free from war, racism, poverty, and environmental destruction.”  Let’s join and support in whatever way we can.

 

Posted on

all you need is love

….and now a message from the “beat bugs”

I wish you could see me now.  Sitting here at my desk with a big grin and a giggle welling up in my soul, I had to share this video with you.  The Beatles classic puts the majority of the world’s pressing issues into proper perspective.  Enjoy it and as we read the quote from Anuradha Vittachi below let’s find consolation in knowing there are many, many more humans (and bugs) on this earth who believe in love rather than hatred.  Love will prevail.

“While scientists look desperately for medicines and mechanism to avoid catastrophe, many others are beginning to realize that what is needed is not only externally administered remedies, preventative or curative, but an internal change in the way we behave, a hard second look at the values which have brought us to this dangerous brink.”  ANURADHA VITTACHI, earth conference
 
 

 

%d bloggers like this: