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Songs of Freedom

7/14/2017

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“Nothing, absolutely nothing, can sterilize spiritual creativity so long as a man is—and realizes himself to be—free. Only the loss of freedom, or of the consciousness of freedom, can sterilize a creative spirit.”
                           Mircea Eliade


I hear Bob Marley singing:
“Old pirates, yes, they rob I;
Sold I to the merchant ships…

But my hand was made strong
By the ‘and of the Almighty.
We forward in this generation
Triumphantly…

Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery;
None but ourselves can free our minds.

Won’t you help to sing this song of freedom”

Our songs of freedom are sung through our creativity. Several years ago, sitting at a booth together at a book fair, Bonnie Lee Black and I talked about how more and more people are creating books even as fewer and fewer people actually read books—a strange dichotomy.

Freedom emerges through the creative urge of individuals. We have stories we must tell. 
I sometimes imagine that all these books that don’t get sold or appreciated by the “merchant ships”—our current market driven world—will be a goldmine of understanding for those who inhabit this planet long after we have gone. Our stories are laying tracks for those who will wonder what kind of world this was, back in what they called the 21st century.

We are the ancestors of future generations, born from our species and/or future inhabitants of this planet who come from somewhere else. Despite the pirates now working to greedily claim the bounty of our planet and our freedom, we strive forward with “the consciousness of freedom” in our individual and humble ways—the creative spirit.

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Mending The World

7/14/2017

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I posted this on a different blog site December 8, 2013. I thought it was worth revisiting.

I’ve noticed a curious thing since Nelson Mandela’s death three days ago— astounding grace occurring for both my friends and myself. It’s the kind of grace that doesn’t necessarily make “things” better but rather opens the clouds of patterned oppression revealing insights of loving-kindness, generosity and acceptance—correcting course from obstructive thinking to open heartedness. It is as if all that love, patience, and compassion that lived in the one man, Nelson Mandela, was like a dandelion flower. When he passed from his worldly form all the little winged seedlings were cast abroad over the world.
I heard a speech that Nelson Mandela delivered in Britain right after his release from prison. With his deep soulful smile he said to the British people, “I love every one of you.” He wasn’t just saying I love you collectively as “a people” he was speaking into the heart of each individual. He was a true Bodhisattva.  In Judaism there is a principle called Tikun Olam—to mend the world. We are not obliged to complete the job, neither are we exempt from trying, from doing our part in making a better world. Nelson Mandela’s part in mending the world was very large.
Here is an idea to honor the legacy of Nelson Mandela. Decide for one day to look into the eyes of every person you encounter as if you are looking into the eyes of Nelson Mandela. See them as Bodhisattvas, as loving menders of the world, as one who through patience and loving-kindness can and has changed history for the betterment of thousands of people. Notice how you feel. 

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Photos used under Creative Commons from julie gibbons, neonow, NVitkus, Michele Dorsey Walfred, bWlrZQ==, psyberartist, eLife - the journal