Christmas Prayer
A thought for Christmas in a confused world.
With many having lost sight of what’s real and what not. With many anxious over dangers real and imagined (as sold by influencers). With many seeing society degrading in ecological, emotional and social poverty and chaos. With many sticking their head in the sand, or (about to) give up, because it all feels hopeless, I want to offer this prayer and thought for action. Your life matters, life matters, we can shift everything when we push just a little smarter. :)
As a global activist I am touched by all beauty. I am worried about burn outs of many activists. I am hopeful with the energy of many young people. I am discouraged by lying and manipulating lobbies without scrupules. What do I wish and pray for?
Inner Change
“Fear that which is other, and you’ll be disconnected.
Fearing fear, fearing pain, fearing loss means fearing to live; fearing to live means disconnection.
Love your own power and others will resent you for it.
Love your money and all the rest fades away.
It is loving that which is both you and other at the same time, that has the most true return on investment.
Love nature and nature will love you back.
Love the people and people will love you back.
Love yourself and dance, and you’ll find life worth living.
Find a life worth living by looking around and seek to help.
We are the answer we are looking for. When we dare.
We Dare.”
Outer Change
Weird. We live in a world with a decaying eco-sytem (urgent action needed!) and most people still push their children to prepare for great career with all the wrong companies, pushing pollution garbage products (both during production and as garbage after). We consume all too much junk, often offered too little healthy options, because the wrong organizations are subsidized or protected. (How can meat from Argentine be cheaper than local organic apples? Especially considering how damaging and cruel the bio-industry is.)
We have society with enough of everything, yet people are hungry, homeless and sick. Weird because there’s enough money and goods to help.
We must remember our economy must support life; not life support the economy, let alone the interests of the über-rich. Our politicians should protest and pressure the war mongering and corporate manipulations to deviate to healthy industries and peaceful actions. Why aren’t they?
We live in a world where many civilians get lied to, bombed, discredited, made anxious all because that is in the interest of a few ‘leaders’ and corporations. All the while, knowing most people around the planet want peace, health, want to build, want purpose, want to love and be loved.
All the while all solutions are already here. A huge switch to green would provide millions of new jobs, save human society. Those working for it are seen as disrupting protestors, hippies and not realistic. But with our world at stake, and limited time to act, who is not realistic? What can we do to wake up from our ‘infinite growth model’ and ‘greed is good’ fantasies?
Indigenous leader speaking out long ago: “(Canada,) the most affluent of countries, operate(s) on a depletion economy which leaves destruction in its wake. Your people are driven by a terrible sense of deficiency. When the last tree is cut, the last fish is caught, and the last river is polluted; when to breathe the air is sickening, you will realize, too late, that wealth is not in bank accounts and that you can’t eat money.” Most likely credited by Alanis Obomsawin.
My Wishlist
I wish for Christmas that the super billionaires wake up and don’t defend their possessions, but choose to become the green heroes the world needs. I hope they’ll start to fund the changemakers, not the destructive oil and arms industry lobbies.
I wish all ‘concrete deserts’ called cities will work towards being green, self sustainable in food and energy, because it is possible, smart, being prepared and helps the eco-system. I wish for Christmas we citizens of those cities will all will plant amazing amounts of plants on our roofs, our balconies and even walls. Guerilla garden, if your government doesn’t support you, your city into a, well, ah flowing garden a paradise for bees and life. Also is better for your lungs.;)
I wish for Christmas we start living from our hearts and values. I wish for Christmas that the most polluting companies repend and rather start in invest in change than in protection of their practices of madness and destruction. I wish those working in those companies build new unions fighting for environmental protection within and outside their companies.
I wish that the media will start daily updates of progress towards a healthy flourishing planet and be alarmed when there is now such news. I wish they portray the activists as the new normal and voices of our future. I wish conservatives will embrace natural protection as what they hold on to.
I demand all politicians start to work for the really long term, not bending over for lobbies and money. Speak to the people, not the lobbies. All the anger release like the Yellow Jackets has to do with exactly that. Our leaders aren’t ours any more and they should be, or be gone and make place for voices that care for a living future. Here’s such a new leader, more real than any of our current politicians.
All this is soo possible, just the will to make it happen needs to be woken up.
Here’s how you can help.
- Find every day one action making a difference. Stop eating meat. Go shopping or to work on a bike, etc. You can find many lists of what you can do online. By the way, there’s also many lists of house hold health suggestions with practices from before industries took over. They’re often cheaper, more environmentally friendly and saner too.
- Help put pressure in a way you can on your government, from signing petitions you agree with, to joining actions. Don’t follow any news pointing out to ‘enemies’ for mostly people like you and me suffer in conflicts and only ‘winning’ leaders get richer. It’s just robbery politics. Stop ‘supporting the troops’ (read war propaganda), support all veterans and humanitarian workers around the globe.
- Express your human side in art, dance, love, play to wake people up for what’s essential and show life is worth living. Make poetry, make love, show love. Youtube is full of clips about humanity at it’s best, bringing tears. The secret is seeing people that care act on it, are being beautiful. Be beautiful. Or share your pain over what is wrong. It helps many in the same situation to heal and feel they’re not alone. Yes, your pain helps.
- Help change education. Yes parents, your anxiety over good school results is outdated and dangerous. Pressure school to train for a future for us all. Demand eco-awareness at school. Demand training that help children follow their passions and help them develop the skills to be part of the solutions we need, including (gentle) rebellion! Demand training for life as it unfolds, not for (corporate more of the same) jobs. Demand that children are treated as complete humans (watch Greta Thunberg again) that should be able to develop their gifts, not train to be all good at the same things.
- Think about what more you can do and discuss with friends at Christmas. Talk about what actions you can do that may help and celebrate the beauty of existence. I find talking about gratitude of magical aspects of life helps feel the bigger whole we are part of.
- (added by Daniel Harris) Love yourself more than you’ve ever loved yourself before and encourage everyone to love themselves more too. To which I add try dancing in nature, hug a tree and a stranger (that wants it). Help those that feel they can’t love themselves enough, that it might not be them, but the systems wrongs they take too personal. Hep them help others for it helps people feel needed, blossom and having a meaning.
- (also by Daniel Harris) Let’s have amnesty for all world leaders and billionaires. Backstory: many leaders and rich people maintain their positions for fear of reprisals when they are brought down. Let’s give them a soft landing without blame and let them keep their big house. Indeed: Great idea. This approach helped make the end of Apartheid possible without a bloody civil war. To which I add, when they confess, express regret and withdraw from the global stage and or help build the new. Their skills, influence can be used for good.
We cannot know what can or can’t be done. We can choose our action but not control the outcome or influence on others. We can but try and become a hero, someone never giving up even in seemingly impossible situations. Hey it makes life exhilarating and meaningful. You can be, you are such a hero.
You are millions within (ask your cells and bacteria to dance and love with you) and without (the Gentle Revolution, the Shift, the Great Turning, Downward, Better World our Hearts know is Possible, Blessed Unrest, Rekindle, Transition, Teal Organizations, Waking Up, etc are happening.) Millions of changemakers in many different forms and situations are doing their best. Join them. You are not alone. We are the many. We are the change. We are the solution, together in relationship with ourselves, each other and our natural environment.
Happy Future!
