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Morning!
I woke at four. My father died forty years ago tomorrow. It is as though each year I feel a shifting in the air. I was in Mexico City when I got the call. He died in an accident. I couldn't believe it, couldn't take it in. The fourth was a Saturday and all flights out of Mexico City were booked, so it was not easy to get home and, of course, I did. I was 19.
I think of that pain now, a pain that heals and doesn't. I still have difficulty saying good-bye to someone, trusting that we will meet again and yet, I also feel my father with me, especially in the early hours of this day.
I read the news. There is so much fear and distrust. I think if people really recognized what a short time they are here, they would mobilize a little more kindness toward themselves and the world in which they want to live.
Why do people teach their children to be afraid? My father was not afraid. He had survived parachuting out of a B-17, landing in a farmer's field and being turned in to be taken to a prisoner of war camp in the north of Germany. He was never angry about that. He read books. Thanks to the internet, my brother and I connected with a man who was on the plane, was in the camp.
I read of teenagers so afraid as to report people talking naturally about where it is safest to sit on the airplane.
How many of us have made similar remarks about the safest place to sit. I think of the old story about seeing a stick and thinking it is a snake. Fear cripples, isolates, and destroys. The world runs on trust. I trust that you pay attention when you drive. I trust that my dentist is well-rested when she works on my teeth. I trust that we care about each other, and that my children are yours, and your children are mine. The world is a village. Be kind.
Ginahelen posted these words yesterday. I think they are important to remember and integrate each day.
"Nonviolence means avoiding not only external physical violence but also internal violence of spirit. You not only refuse to shoot a man, but you refuse to hate him." Martin Luther King, Jr.
This is an article on children taught not to trust.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co
I think of that pain now, a pain that heals and doesn't. I still have difficulty saying good-bye to someone, trusting that we will meet again and yet, I also feel my father with me, especially in the early hours of this day.
I read the news. There is so much fear and distrust. I think if people really recognized what a short time they are here, they would mobilize a little more kindness toward themselves and the world in which they want to live.
Why do people teach their children to be afraid? My father was not afraid. He had survived parachuting out of a B-17, landing in a farmer's field and being turned in to be taken to a prisoner of war camp in the north of Germany. He was never angry about that. He read books. Thanks to the internet, my brother and I connected with a man who was on the plane, was in the camp.
I read of teenagers so afraid as to report people talking naturally about where it is safest to sit on the airplane.
How many of us have made similar remarks about the safest place to sit. I think of the old story about seeing a stick and thinking it is a snake. Fear cripples, isolates, and destroys. The world runs on trust. I trust that you pay attention when you drive. I trust that my dentist is well-rested when she works on my teeth. I trust that we care about each other, and that my children are yours, and your children are mine. The world is a village. Be kind.
Ginahelen posted these words yesterday. I think they are important to remember and integrate each day.
"Nonviolence means avoiding not only external physical violence but also internal violence of spirit. You not only refuse to shoot a man, but you refuse to hate him." Martin Luther King, Jr.
This is an article on children taught not to trust.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co
Tom Brokaw said it right. That was the Greatest Generation.
It is odd that each year at this time is so painful when truly I am grateful for the 19 years I had with him, and I do feel him close even now, and there is something there that hurts even today and so it is. Perhaps it is the place of grace.
Yes, I loved Brokaw's book, The Greatest Generation. I wonder how we fuel that strength and generosity again. I think the GI bill was a part of integrating the return of those who fought overseas, but I see that the seeds my father took to war were already there. He came home and healed by taking his friends to the opera, symphony, and ballet. He was an amazing spirit. I believe we reach or touch something and then we die. I would have loved to have had him here longer and I am blessed to have known him in this human form as long as I did.
Thank you for your support.
Your remembrance of your father reminds me of Viktor Frankl. Have you read his book, "Man's Search for Meaning?" There are so many inspiring stories to come out of that awful war.
We heard that family interviewed on NPR yesterday. The father seemed to be more light-hearted and forgiving than I would be in that situation. He even praised the federal agents for quickly recognizing the airline's mistake. I think and I hope that we have turned a corner on this cultural fear nonsense.
Yes, I think if we allow ourselves to feel the trust required to live the lives we live, we would be astonished at what is going on as to orchestration and synchronicity.
Why don't we all crash into each other on the freeway but we rarely do. It is astonishing that we hurtle along at 60 plus mph and make it to our destination just fine, though we know we often daydream along the way. Right there is a miracle to consider.
I have read Viktor Frankl's book and it is time to revisit it. Yes, I think that is the quandary we face now. We need to find the love and stimulation that war generates while living in peace.
Yes, I see now each paper has an article on this subject and maybe it is the publicity we need to move on and trust.
We do keep taking steps. Hooray for us! :)
It is a New Year, and soon, we will have a new president. May he begin to orchestrate the slide to a new understanding, economic and social commitment, and world peace.
Happy Day, and a Joyful, Creative, and Trust-filled year!!
I think now of something I read recently of how the cobra came and wrapped itself over and around the Buddha to protect him. I need to check that out.