Allan G. Hunter's Blog, page 69

The Greeks, War, and the future.

The ancient Greeks got it right. If you read Iphigenia you’ll notice that the central part of the plot has to do with the need to get a favorable wind so the Greeks can sail to Troy. Agamemnon can only do this if he sacrifices his daughter, his first born and most loved child.

Of course, war kills sons. But the Greeks also knew that it kills something in families, too, something symbolized by the father’s sacrifice of his daughter — and the upset that follows for the whole family takes over the generation that follows, too.

We’ve known this for nearly three thousand years. Perhaps it’s time to take it seriously.

After the Volcano….

The election is over; Hurricane Sandy has been and (almost) gone; the nor’easter has blown through; even the earthquake is old news. Meanwhile Thanksgiving and Christmas lie ahead.

It’s prime time for many of us to go into a slump. You know, lounge around, watch TV a lot, complain. That kind of slump.

I’d advocate something a bit different. It’s time to get back to centering ourselves after this enormous onslaught against who we are at our best. If your talent is for looking after people, there are plenty to look after. If your preference is for making art, teaching, or for anything else that brings you deep satisfaction — now would be the time to get back to it.

We need centered, thoughtful people more than ever, and we can only do this for ourselves. Get back to you. Then you can help to serve, to give what the world needs.

Extensive charity delivered with a cold and confused heart is of less worth than someone who is mindful, who accepts and listens to others, but who may have less to give in physical terms.

Let your heart show you the way.

Hurricanes and super storms

Despite all the tussling around just how much humans have to do with global warming, one thing is obvious — Nature is far more vast and powerful than we wish to recognize. This latest franken-storm is here to remind us, as we sit in the relative comfort of East Coast, USA, that we’d better not take anything for granted. We are not the most important things ever to have walked the planet, simply the most recent.

Be grateful; be humble; be awed. And help your neighbors if they need you to.

Every Election….

Every time an election rolls around we’re told that this truly is a pivotal moment. And often it is, but not in quite the way the media expects.

Each election we are given a choice. It is a personal choice, to do with our souls, our core being. Are we going to vote with the party of fear, which claims that we must cut back on spending for the underprivileged because there’s not enough wealth to go around, or are we going to vote for compassion, optimism, and courage?

Are we going to vote to “protect” our pocket books and buy military hardware, or are we going to vote to make this a country that truly is worth living in? Money interests or people, which is it to be?

Your choice will be a soul choice, make no mistake.

Quick Reactions – And Authentic Power

The media, by which we are constantly inundated, seems to value fast reactions and quick responses above everything. The quickest game show answer, the fastest reaction time on the field, the first across the line… And so on.

And so we grow to believe that speed is everything.

But sometimes taking a moment to pause, not react, go within, and mobilize the best part of who we are — that is preferable. We can choose to be loving, not simply reactive.

We were once characterized as a “fast food nation”. It’s not entirely true. We are a quick on the trigger nation. We are desperate for answers now, rather than for wisdom is due time. We can change this.

Politicians and lying

I’m astonished at how many people quietly accept outright lies from politicians, and for the sake of argument we’ll use our current election scenario.

Yet what I noticed is that people don’t discriminate between different types of untruth or evasion. So a colleague expresses outrage at what she perceives to be Obama’s “lies” about Libya’s embassy tragedy. But she does not chose to see Romney’s outright contradictions over women’s rights. She sees that as just something he has to say to get elected, so that’s OK.

The point is that we all tend to overlook our favored candidate’s untruths and pounce on the other’s. The only thing is to make sure that we see some evasions as necessary (perhaps for national security, in the case of Libya) and others as dangerous. Yes, all politicians have to shape the truth; but not all such shaping is vicious or unprincipled.

Instructions for Peace

1. Go to some historic battlefield – the Old North Bridge in Concord, Lexington Green, wherever.

2. Look around. Try to imagine the place with human beings attempting to kill each other. Imagine the looks on their faces,the thoughts that gripped their hearts. Imagine their fear.

3. Then look at the trees, the flowers, the babies in strollers.

Peace has taken over. Peace is stronger than we think. Violence and hate simply cannot remain active very long. Treasure that thought.

Philip Pullman and Grimm

One of my favorite writers of fables (The Golden Compass and the rest of the Dark Materials trilogy) has some interesting things to say about Grimms’ Tales.

Take a look:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/...

Lessons from Squirrels

Squirrels seem pretty active right now. I can see in the tree by my window that they’ve built a drey (the official name for their nests) way out at the end of a series of long swaying branches. When the wind blows it must swing around tremendously.

The thing is that the squirrels are used to this sort of motion. We’d all be panicked or sea-sick if we had to live there. We love our stability so very much.

Nothing wrong with stability, of course; but sometimes I wonder if, just may be, we might want to get more familiar with uncertainty. Perhaps we might want to accept the wild swinging that life gives us cheerfully, and not expect it to be anything other than it is – the natural way of things. How would it feel, do you think, if we accepted that?

The Soul (continued)

What we need to remember is that the soul is the finest part of us. It is wise, compassionate and loving. It is also bigger than you are. That’s because we have been given bodies to live in, and bodies tend to need care and maintenance, and they are concerned with immediate impulses. When you’re hungry you know it, and it’s not easy to wait. If you wait long enough your body may start to show signs of stress and that will stop you thinking about anything else at all. The soul may be focused on thoughts of eternity, but if your stomach is growling it may be hard to stay focused. Eventually hunger can remove compassion from our lives altogether, and leave people fighting over crusts.

Our souls have come to these limited and limiting human bodies for a reason. That reason is simple – it’s only when we’re in our bodies that we can heal our psychic wounds. This is what lies at the heart of all major religions. We can only heal ourselves here on earth. If we get this work done then we may get to “heaven” as it is variously defined, or nirvana, as the Buddhists see it, or we may achieve a release from the wheel of incarnation that the Hindus hold sacred.

The message is everywhere the same. We are here to heal our souls and help to heal each other.

This is soul work.

When I wrote my book on Memoir writing I used that term, soul work, because that is what I saw happening. By bringing their past experiences to the surface and exploring them the writers moved beyond the pain and into a place of loving understanding. If that’s not healing I’m not sure what would qualify. As they shared their tales the writers educated each other in the ways healing worked.

That is soul work, also. That’s what we’re here for.