Diversity is
the stuff you think the most holy
in the world
whether it’s Jesus
or Coltrane
or Keith Jarrett or
Naomi Watts
or Phil Spector
or silence
or towering redwoods
or the blanket of stars above
it doesn’t really matter
because
there are many people who will live their entire lives
and never have one moment of appreciation
much less revelation
regarding the particular aspect of creation
you find so meaningful
I tend to forget this
because I want everyone to share
in what I think makes the world beautiful
and bearable
and also because it moves me
so deeply
I want others to be moved, too
I want that moment where it all simply
is
to be recognized
if only right then
and there
but it doesn’t work that way
everyone
every one
has their very own concept of what is transcendent
and you won’t find a lot of overlap there
there are birdwatchers
and Deadheads
and surfers
and Sufis
and hula hoopers
who all get together
because they are like-minded
and like each other
but even there
I have a feeling that
everyone
is experiencing something
entirely different
same time and place
but
still unique
it’s one of the great mysteries
isn’t it?
and the truth is
when you read this
it will be nothing like what
I felt
when I sat down to write.
March 31st, 2007
Saturday, March 31, 2007
Monday, March 05, 2007
May you live in interesting times...
"The world is collapsing around our ears. I turn on the radio. I can't hear it." - Michael Stipe
The Chinese proverb says ‘May you live in interesting times.’ But what’s the aphorism when ‘interesting’ just doesn’t seem to cover it?
Did you read the recent story about bees vanishing? It appears that all over America (and perhaps around the world, too?) bee hives are substantially depleted. Millions of bees are missing. They’re not dying. They’re leaving the hive, and not coming back. No one knows why. But farmers are worried because without bees, you don’t get fruit. Are the bees just fed up? Have they found a sweeter existence someplace else? Maybe they’re migrating north where it’s a little cooler.
Speaking of north, in New England, there’s a battle going on between people who fish for a living and lobstermen. Evidently, the fish harvest has been in gradual but constant decline. So the guys who run the fishing boats want to be able to sell the lobsters they inadvertently haul in with their nets. But right now the law says they have to toss them back because they aren’t ‘lobstermen’. And naturally, the guys with the lobster traps (there are a few lobsterwomen, but not many) want to keep things the way they are.
Now the only reason this is happening is because there aren’t enough fish left in the ocean for people who used to make a living catching them. It seems pretty obvious that we’ve simply begun to eat more fish than mother nature can replenish. It’s the fish taco stand with no more tacos, except on a global scale. Want fries with that fish sandwich?
Also in the news, a number of travel sites have begun to suggest visiting the world’s big glaciers ‘while they’re still around’. Just in case anyone thought global warming was going to be something that only had an impact on our children, or their children, this really makes you think twice. Come see the big trees before they’re gone. In places like southern Alaska, where it’s getting warmer year after year, which lets beetles expand their territory, this is also something that’s happening right now.
As the earth begins a slow fade, movies are getting better. Strange, I know. Have you seen ‘Children of Men’ or ‘Babel’? Remarkable, beautiful, poignant stories that take on the destiny of the human race as a topic. As you may know, that’s not an easy task. Especially without getting up on a creaky soapbox and shouting out your frustration. But these films don’t do that. They look at the lives of individuals around the world in the here and now.
And it’s different now. It’s hard to put your finger on why that is – why after tens of thousands of years of human existence things should have suddenly accelerated into the current malaise. Kind of like one of those spin paintings at the carnival where you squirt out your paint on the clean white surface, flip the switch, and then watch all the colors explode before your eyes.
And still, amidst all the speeding up, all the acceleration in the world, all the text messaging and automatic weapons fire and suicide bombers, there is a rising female force that is urging us to all – simply --- slow -- down. It’s coming from women because men are too busy trying to get points up on the scoreboard. The points that come from having a beautiful wife and family. A luxurious home and maybe a second one in the mountains. A big, gleaming automobile to take out to four star restaurants and spas. The very latest cellphone to lay on the bar. Men are too busy keeping score to slow down.
So women are doing it for us. They’re trying to remind us that while we are busy, busy, busy with plans to make money and plans to travel and plans to get that new 72” widescreen television, that the beauty of life… is not in the planning. Simple as it may seem, it’s in the living. Most men have somehow forgotten how to live. And probably most women, too. But somehow, if anything is going to save us, or at least make the end more conscious (good birth, good death), it’s going to be the women who know that everything is better when you take the time to breathe. Altogether now. Slowly. And don't forget to be kind to the bees.
The Chinese proverb says ‘May you live in interesting times.’ But what’s the aphorism when ‘interesting’ just doesn’t seem to cover it?
Did you read the recent story about bees vanishing? It appears that all over America (and perhaps around the world, too?) bee hives are substantially depleted. Millions of bees are missing. They’re not dying. They’re leaving the hive, and not coming back. No one knows why. But farmers are worried because without bees, you don’t get fruit. Are the bees just fed up? Have they found a sweeter existence someplace else? Maybe they’re migrating north where it’s a little cooler.
Speaking of north, in New England, there’s a battle going on between people who fish for a living and lobstermen. Evidently, the fish harvest has been in gradual but constant decline. So the guys who run the fishing boats want to be able to sell the lobsters they inadvertently haul in with their nets. But right now the law says they have to toss them back because they aren’t ‘lobstermen’. And naturally, the guys with the lobster traps (there are a few lobsterwomen, but not many) want to keep things the way they are.
Now the only reason this is happening is because there aren’t enough fish left in the ocean for people who used to make a living catching them. It seems pretty obvious that we’ve simply begun to eat more fish than mother nature can replenish. It’s the fish taco stand with no more tacos, except on a global scale. Want fries with that fish sandwich?
Also in the news, a number of travel sites have begun to suggest visiting the world’s big glaciers ‘while they’re still around’. Just in case anyone thought global warming was going to be something that only had an impact on our children, or their children, this really makes you think twice. Come see the big trees before they’re gone. In places like southern Alaska, where it’s getting warmer year after year, which lets beetles expand their territory, this is also something that’s happening right now.
As the earth begins a slow fade, movies are getting better. Strange, I know. Have you seen ‘Children of Men’ or ‘Babel’? Remarkable, beautiful, poignant stories that take on the destiny of the human race as a topic. As you may know, that’s not an easy task. Especially without getting up on a creaky soapbox and shouting out your frustration. But these films don’t do that. They look at the lives of individuals around the world in the here and now.
And it’s different now. It’s hard to put your finger on why that is – why after tens of thousands of years of human existence things should have suddenly accelerated into the current malaise. Kind of like one of those spin paintings at the carnival where you squirt out your paint on the clean white surface, flip the switch, and then watch all the colors explode before your eyes.
And still, amidst all the speeding up, all the acceleration in the world, all the text messaging and automatic weapons fire and suicide bombers, there is a rising female force that is urging us to all – simply --- slow -- down. It’s coming from women because men are too busy trying to get points up on the scoreboard. The points that come from having a beautiful wife and family. A luxurious home and maybe a second one in the mountains. A big, gleaming automobile to take out to four star restaurants and spas. The very latest cellphone to lay on the bar. Men are too busy keeping score to slow down.
So women are doing it for us. They’re trying to remind us that while we are busy, busy, busy with plans to make money and plans to travel and plans to get that new 72” widescreen television, that the beauty of life… is not in the planning. Simple as it may seem, it’s in the living. Most men have somehow forgotten how to live. And probably most women, too. But somehow, if anything is going to save us, or at least make the end more conscious (good birth, good death), it’s going to be the women who know that everything is better when you take the time to breathe. Altogether now. Slowly. And don't forget to be kind to the bees.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)