I was walking in Paris on a lovely Sunday morning. This was several years ago. It was my last day in Europe and would be heading home later in the day. So, up early, coffee and croissant consumed, I wandered off aimlessly. I found myself approaching a large number of police standing around and sitting on buses. There was nothing urgent about their presence. As I wandered along a long street, I suddenly noticed groups protesting at both ends. One was pro-Paleistenian and the other pro-Israel. They suddenly charged at each other and I found myself taking refuge in a doorway while they ran at each other. It was all over in about 2 minutes as the police suddenly stood between the groups. No violence but lots of yelling and placard waving.
I thought about that moment as I recently attended the women's march here in Calgary a couple of weeks ago. Chanting, singling, speeches and walking -- including walking past a few people with signs support Donald Trump's presidency. No violence, no yelling at the Trump supporters.
This has caused me to reflect upon the culture of dissent, violence, fear mongering and stigmatization that has become part of the daily discourse. Politics has become so much about fearing the "other" who is different in some way. More and more we are being told to fear people. In my travels, while I do pay attention to risks that exist (including here in Calgary). The politics of hate, whether from the alt-right or the alt-left are designed to create division rather than seek for what brings us together. They are also requiring conformity to a specific ideology.
Clearly, I would be more left leaning in my views but I have met people from more right leaning who are needed contributors to our society. Most of us are somewhere in the middle.
Meditation is a moment to connect ourselves to the universality of human emotion and needs - respect, love, belonging, caring, surviving. It is the place of humanity in connection rather than separation. Yes, there are some very harmful people (I have met many) but they are the exceptions rather than the rule. Yes, there are countries where a lot of atrocities occur but in them are people seeking the same human needs as the rest of us. Meditation is truly a way to connect to the place of the peaceful warrior.
Inside
Tears block my external vision
I can only sit within self
It's the only vision available
I see what I need
I reach past the scars and scabs
of past trauma
The marks of past hurts stare back
Anger has widened the injuries
Fear has deepened them
Without soothing they bleed
Oozing the source of despair
Then I am held
The love comes to me
The moment of mattering arises
Touch heals
Connection, oh how I need you
This moment where my existence
Is real and safe
I find the space inside
The one I know where truth exists
Here I can receive compassion
Reach out to another
Close the journey into pain
and out to love
There I am held, safe
I thought about that moment as I recently attended the women's march here in Calgary a couple of weeks ago. Chanting, singling, speeches and walking -- including walking past a few people with signs support Donald Trump's presidency. No violence, no yelling at the Trump supporters.
This has caused me to reflect upon the culture of dissent, violence, fear mongering and stigmatization that has become part of the daily discourse. Politics has become so much about fearing the "other" who is different in some way. More and more we are being told to fear people. In my travels, while I do pay attention to risks that exist (including here in Calgary). The politics of hate, whether from the alt-right or the alt-left are designed to create division rather than seek for what brings us together. They are also requiring conformity to a specific ideology.
Clearly, I would be more left leaning in my views but I have met people from more right leaning who are needed contributors to our society. Most of us are somewhere in the middle.
Meditation is a moment to connect ourselves to the universality of human emotion and needs - respect, love, belonging, caring, surviving. It is the place of humanity in connection rather than separation. Yes, there are some very harmful people (I have met many) but they are the exceptions rather than the rule. Yes, there are countries where a lot of atrocities occur but in them are people seeking the same human needs as the rest of us. Meditation is truly a way to connect to the place of the peaceful warrior.
Inside
Tears block my external vision
I can only sit within self
It's the only vision available
I see what I need
I reach past the scars and scabs
of past trauma
The marks of past hurts stare back
Anger has widened the injuries
Fear has deepened them
Without soothing they bleed
Oozing the source of despair
Then I am held
The love comes to me
The moment of mattering arises
Touch heals
Connection, oh how I need you
This moment where my existence
Is real and safe
I find the space inside
The one I know where truth exists
Here I can receive compassion
Reach out to another
Close the journey into pain
and out to love
There I am held, safe
© Peter Choate,
2017
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