No one has the monopoly on misery. Sadly, the ability to inflict terrible pain on one another seems to be an unlimited resource within our human makeup.
Michael Smith said that he’s angry about what has been a trying week for Pagans and non-Pagans alike. It’s been a trying week because of recent tragedies that have occurred around the world and divisiveness about how much attention we pay to them based on where they occur. We’ve seen disagreements on inclusiveness within our Pagan communities that have torn apart alliances and have lead some to conclude that it’s better to drop out rather than burn out. I’ve noticed some folks that I have a lot of respect for saying some not very respectable things.
Like Michael, I feel angry about how powerless I feel to change things, to end hate, to end suffering and violence, to end global warming, to end strife within our community. The alienation and destruction that the lust for capital creates is a monster that we as humans allow to guide our every thought, our very instincts uprooted by the culturally imposed need to hoard and protect what is ‘ours’.
Last year I wrote a post called Scarecrows Watch the Dying Oceans where, inspired by a video I had seen, I desired to spread a line of scarecrows all along Florida’s coasts. I had been, and continue to be very troubled about how humanity has treated our oceans, the very lifeblood of our planet. There’s something stark and disjointed about seeing a scarecrow in such an unlikely place. You’re forced to pause and take in the new information, it snaps you out of the spell of mindlessness and engages your magickal thinking. Questions come up and your mind begins to creatively look for answers. Each of us needs to carry within ourselves such a symbol, in order to snap out of our own autopilot mindset, to disrupt automatic thinking that allows injustice to continue.
Since the only truly endless resources on this physical plane seem to be humanity’s insatiable hungers, it’s time that we change our palate.
I believe in peace, something very few of us truly know. But peace is not a passive concept and change doesn’t happen because you ask nicely. As #blacklivesmatter activists have shown, you need to be courageous in spirit and action. And more than anything, even when you feel like everyone’s against you, you can’t back down.
Let’s grow our compassion and our desire for justice, nurture it and let it become a boundless resource. I’m angry about everything that’s going on, but I’m not powerless.