September 11 represents what can happen when Fear and Anger run rampant within the Soul.

Today, let us calm our negative emotional expressions, so We represent Love and Acceptance – making Fear and Anger unnecessary historical expressions.

Today, let us move our intentions away from war towards the peaceful building of the society we want our children to live in.

Today, let us move our money away from military weapons of destruction to feeding the hungry and clothing the naked.

Today, let us move our attention away from being afraid.

Today, let us focus our money towards curing disease.

Today.

The elected politicians were elected to care for the problems of the people they represent – not the political viewpoints of their party leaders, and not for their own re-election campaigns.  I want a politician who will do what is morally and ethically right – regardless of whether the “right” thing is popular with party leaders or the President.  I want politicians who will find a way to achieve common ground, and work to solve the problems of the society they represent.

Each of us has been brought into this world carrying our own unique set of values, priorities, and belief systems.  Each of us knows that when we sit in a group conversation, most people in that group will express a unique point of view. Given that reality, I would expect that uniqueness to spill out onto the floor of the House of Representatives during the speech – and yet it doesn’t.  Every congressman and senator seems to ignore their inherent unique points of view and simply applauds (or fails to applaud) ideas and positions that conform to their party’s established viewpoints – a type of lock-step group-think.

I see many of our Senators and Congressmen behaving in rude, inconsiderate, and arrogant manners.  We hear so much about the “Party of NO!”, and the Democrats who exclude others.  Were they not raised better than that?  Did they miss basic Kindergarten etiquette?  If I were raising children, I would discipline them for that type of behavior – and so should you.

I would say to each Senator and Congressman:  To Hell with your damned party.  Stand up for what YOU believe in. Applaud for what YOU believe in. Fight for what YOU believe in.  Represent the people who elected you.  Be respectful towards others – even if their viewpoint differs from your own. People elected you (I hope) not because you were a Republican or a Democrat, but because they placed some level of trust in you, your ideas, and your values.  Please help all of us to achieve a solution to the problems that confront us.  ”My Way or NO WAY” is not a defend-able position.  It’s childish and rude.  If you cannot help solve the problems that confront us, the American People need to vote you out of power in favor of someone who can.

If you happen to be a politician reading this, I hope that you will read some of my other blog entries.  You see, I am not a person to be rude or inconsiderate.  In fact, I am far from that. Yet, this is where I find myself with career politicians. The profession no longer seems noble to me.  I know that I am not alone in my views.  The general public disgust is toward your behavior, and standard Washington politics.  Without solving that, we can’t solve anything else – and we have LOTS of problems we need you to solve.

After President Obama’s speech, I was amazed to hear people immediately start bickering about party lines on taxes, the deficit, health care, etc., etc., but very little was said about President Obama’s words on Washington politics. Washington politics as usual have got to stop, or we can’t move forward.  Period.

Something to think about…..

I thought about this recently when people reacted negatively to President Obama bowing in greeting to Emperor Akihito from Japan.  I believe that the negative reaction President Obama received was from Americans who understood what the action meant in their culture, based on their upbringing.  In the Japanese culture, however, the bow (or lack thereof) may mean something far different. I am reluctant to pass any judgement on that bow, since I understand that I am not well versed in Japanese customs or culture, nor am I well versed in diplomatic protocols.  I do, however, understand that the bow may have been a component of achieving a mutually satisfying exchange of ideas, informal agreements, etc.

From my perspective, a bow may simply have been a respectful greeting, honoring the humanity of the person being greeted in a manner most appealing to the person being greeted.  From my perspective, it did not signify American subservience to Japan, nor did it signify any weakness of America.  I don’t believe the bow in any way weakened our position to negotiate or discuss our relative positions.  In fact, I think President Obama may have strengthened our negotiating hand by greeting the Emperor in a manner meaningful to his traditions.

This is similar to how I hope to greet you, should I ever have that opportunity.  I hope that I have the knowledge and grace to greet you in a manner that is pleasing to you.  With that greeting, I intend to honor your humanity.  After the greeting, we can go to work to discuss anything that is of importance – including those areas where we may strongly disagree.

In a recent TED presentation, Devdutt Pattanaik presented a far clearer picture of how this works than I can do here. His 19 minute presentation discussed the difference between the Western and Eastern culture, religions, traditions, and resulting mindsets. In a world hungry for conflict resolution, I think it is a video worth watching.  Just click on the link that follows.

TED Video

Something to think about…..

While I was half watching, the thought came.  These are the people who are leading our country?  People who engage in personal attack, disrespectful behavior, and congressmen who insult others to their face?  Politicians who work to instill fear of the future into the hearts and minds of it’s citizens, as they search for a political advantage?  Speaking for myself, this behavior is far more discouraging than the individual policies they may represent.

Our problems are too big, and too complex to be playing a game of political football.  From my perspective, we need our representatives to muster all of the Love and Spiritual Power they can find, along with their best understandings of compassion, respect, and kindness, and then put them to use to solve our problems.  The congressmen I see represented in the media  spend a lot of time fighting the ideas / bills / laws they don’t want, and not as clearly emphasizing what they want to build.

We simply cannot build what we want by fighting what we don’t want.  It doesn’t work that way.  You want Health Care that works for everyone?  Put a plan in front of us that will allow us to make the best possible choices from a wide list of selections, and help us to understand why your plan is better – don’t try to sell your plan by attacking someone else’s plan.  All that tells me is that your plan is not that good.  The time you spend attacking and insulting another’s plan is time you have wasted.  Better to spend time developing and educating the public about your own plan.

Equally unacceptable is the News Media’s role in this.  We need a news media who will report to us what is happening – objectively.  It is not acceptable for the news media to simply give time to the extreme elements of society – people who rudely disrupt proceedings and pundits with narrow views in an increasingly complex world.

This is what I mean by “Spiritual Leadership”.  We need politicians and news media to be guided by the common spiritual principles of kinship, compassion, fair play, and Love.  We need leaders who are worthy of the public trust, and who work to develop a greater society.

I understand the concept of the Separation of Church and State.  The founders of the United States did not want the government led by one faith’s set of religious principles.  They wanted people of all faiths to have an equal say in how their country is governed.  They did not intend that our leaders would have to disregard all spiritual principles before they entered the halls of Government.  Although I don’t want the Government led from a perspective of strict Catholic, Baptist, Lutheran, Jewish, Muslim, or Buddhist doctrine, I also don’t want my government leaders to discard the core spiritual traditions of Compassion, Love, Justice, and Fair Play. I want the Media to do the same.  I want them to embrace core spiritual values, which are shared by all major world religions.

Of course, it’s not enough that we demand this of our leaders, if we don’t also demand it of ourselves.  Our politicians are, in the end, a reflection of the people who elect them. One of the lessons I’ve learned in my life is that I usually cannot change other’s beliefs by force, but I can often change them by example and by positive leadership. Does our daily behavior exhibit the values that we want our children and our politicians to display?  Will you join me in my attempt to set a better example for those in our world?

Something to think about…..

We live in the house we all build – www.earthshare.org

Nick has travelled the world, has spoken to over 2 million people, has inspired many, and continues to make an impact.  For additional information on Nick’s life, click here.  What gifts do you have to give today?

Something to think about…..

I value honesty.  I value someone who considers all sides of an issue before making up their mind.  I value someone who can change their mind about situations as their knowledge grows.  I value someone who can change their mind as their wisdom grows.  I value fairness.

I value integrity.  I value people who tell me what they believe, and what they stand for.  I value people who “walk their talk”.  I value people who respect other’s journeys.  I value people who exhibit class in the way they honor the experience of others.

I value personal growth, and those who value and promote the personal growth of others.

All of the above considerations factor into how I view the current situation with President Obama, the US Government, and our organized Media.  Before I begin this commentary, let me say that my commentary is not intended to be political in nature, in that I am not intending to take the position of any political party or belief system.  Instead, I want to comment on the values (or lack thereof) of what I see unfolding before us.  The values of the situation are separate from what I think of the various political positions presented by the parties involved.

First off, I believe that the first and highest obligation of the press is to present the public with a clear and balanced picture of the day’s issues and events.  Presenting a clear and balanced picture allows the viewer / listener / reader to develop a clear opinion of any given situation.  Historically, this has been the function of the American press.  Great newsmen like Edward R. Murrow, Walter Cronkite, David Brinkley, Tom Brokaw, Tim Russert, and many others have prided themselves on their ability to present a fair and accurate representation of the day’s issues and events.

I see less of that today, particularly with Fox News and MSNBC.  Fox News has a clear tilt to the extreme right, and presents the day’s issues and events with the seeming intent to persuade the viewer to possess its view of the day’s issues and events.  MSNBC (in my view) tilts left of center – taking the democratic point of view.  Who represents the middle and presents a fair and balanced perspective of the news?  I want a news outlet that will present me with balanced coverage of the day’s most important news and events.  I want to use that balanced coverage to make up my own mind about whether I want to hold Democrat views, Republican views, or Independent views.  Fortunately, there are available news outlets other than the 2 televised outlets I just mentioned.  However, it bothers me that this blatantly unbalanced reporting is relatively unchallenged in today’s market.  Personally, I see it as disrespectful to the intelligence and trust of the American people.

Secondly, I am disturbed by the sensationalism of the news.  I want a news outlet that presents me with the discovered facts of the most significant issues encountered and discussed that day.  I want the news presented to me to be the issues that are likely to affect me longest into the future, and to present me with a balanced view.  Instead, I see so much sensationalism.  I believe that President Obama is correct when he says (and I’m paraphrasing) that today’s media concentrates on those individuals who say something sensational, stupid, argumentative, or sexy while it seems not to cover all of those individuals who have worked honestly, intelligently, diligently, and sometimes heroically throughout the day.  Celebrity news will many times bump more important news items.

Do our media present the news to us in a manner that allows us to constructively build the society of our dreams, or does it present and concentrate on the destructive and opposition elements of our society?  Of course, we all know the answer to that.  The daily emphasis is on opposition and destruction, not on constructive thought or building the society of our dreams.  For me, if I concentrate on opposition and destruction, I will get more of the same.  I believe the same is true for you as a person, and society as a whole.

One of the things I have come to believe about life is this:  “You become who you hang around with”.  I use that belief when I make decisions about friends, associates, employees, etc.  Do I want to be like these people?  If the answer is yes, then I make the decision to include those people in my group.   If my answer is no, I make a decision to move forward in a way that includes those people as little as possible.  A corollary of that rule would be “You become what you think about all day”.  Our daily attention is absolutely affected by the chatter of those around us, the news presented in the media, and the importance attributed to it.  Is our attention being directed to the most important issues of the day, and is it being directed in such a way that it allows us to take constructive action?

As mentioned at the beginning of this article, I value someone who can put aside pre-conceived ideas and concepts when they are being asked to make a decision, so they can make the best possible decision in any given circumstance.  In today’s political environment, that ability is a liability (or, to put it in my terms, a Lie-Ability).  As soon as someone does that, they are considered a “flip-flopper”, someone with a weak backbone, someone who has no convictions, or someone who has the Ability to Lie.  I believe we do a great dis-service to ourselves and our public servants when we demand that they always have 1 consistent lifetime position on every issue, regardless of circumstance.  If we must insist that they have 1 consistent position on every issue, I would prefer that we insist that their consistent core values be ones of compassion, honesty, trustworthiness, balance, and integrity.  Issues and positions change and evolve.  Core values do not.

Lastly, I am disturbed by Party Politics.  Given all that I’ve said above, I want our country’s representatives to stand for integrity, honesty, compassion, balance, and fair-minded action.  I completely reject the idea of putting those principles aside for the sake of party unity.  I completely reject the idea of anyone putting those principles aside to gain political points.  I completely reject the principle of a politician killing needed legislation for political gain.  To me, that is one of the highest indicators of government corruption.

So, what do I want?  I want something better than what I’m seeing.  If you’ve read my other Blog entries, you know that I think that fighting what I don’t want in life is NOT the best way to get what I DO want out of life (See my Loving What Is blog entry for more information).  I believe that I need to work towards what I do want out of life.  I want integrity, balance, honesty, compassion, respect for others, and personal growth.  If you have ideas about how we can build a better society while adhering to those values, I am interested in your comments.

If we lose love and self respect for each other, this is how we finally die. – Maya Angelou

Something to think about……..

“Loving what is” is a fundamental teaching of many world traditions. Each of us has been given the gift of life, a gift that we spend one day at a time. Each of us has been given enough food, medicine, water, love and money to live our lives to whatever age we have currently achieved. In the process, we have learned about life, love, family, achievement, and our spiritual selves. Each day, we’re given a new opportunity to create the life of our dreams. Each new day is a gift, issued in finite quantities, to achieve again. Our goal, I believe, is to be present to the needs of ourselves, our loved ones, and our world, to take action to create the life of our dreams, and to live the life that we have imagined.

There is, in my opinion, a huge difference between resisting what is, and working to create a life of your dreams. Let’s take the controversial topic of abortion, for example. If you were to take a poll, I don’t think many people would consider themselves “Pro-Abortion”. Most women that I have talked to who consider themselves Pro-Choice consider abortion to be an unwanted alternative. (For the record, I am not pro-abortion either. I think it’s a tremendous waste of a life that could have been).  Each year, Abortion Protestors spend thousands (if not tens of thousands of hours or more) protesting, planning protests, (and resisting) Abortion. These Abortion Protestors, I think, really want a planet free from abortion. What affect would we have had on the abortion issue if each of these protestors had taken that same amount of time, energy, money and manpower and had instead devoted it to abortion alternatives? What if they had spent that time working on the development of responsible sex education programs, child adoption programs, crisis counseling, counseling centers where teenage girls could go when they learned of their pregnancy, family counseling centers, responsible parenting classes, etc?  The agencies currently devoted to these services often go understaffed, and underfunded. My personal belief is that if all of the Abortion Protestors would spend their time developing, staffing, and funding these abortion alternatives, the need for abortion and abortion protests would diminish dramatically, while at the same time our care for our society would increase.  Pro-lifers could spend their time developing, staffing, and funding these abortion alternatives as well instead of developing picket signs and handouts.

Let’s take George W. Bush’s War on Terror as another example. Islamic Fundamentalism is. At the present moment, we can’t change that. What we can do is create a world where Islamic Fundamentalism doesn’t need to kill others. What would have happened, for example, if we had taken the $864 Billion and all of the time and manpower spent on the “War on Terror” so far, and had used that money, time, and effort to build programs of understanding, to build world communication forums, programs for the understanding of other religions, etc.? Consider this a thought exercise. What programs of understanding and community could we have created with that same investment in money, energy and manpower (working to create what we do want), other than what we have already created with it (fighting what we don’t want)? There’s no concrete answer, of course, but my sense is that with that same investment of time, energy, manpower and money – we could have created something substantial – if we had wanted to.

What’s my point? My point actually has nothing to do with abortion nor the War on Terror. My point is that we accomplish much more by accepting, loving, working with, and developing what is, than we do with resisting, condemning, and trying to fight what is. We accomplish much more, in my opinion, by promoting the ideas we love and working to develop the society that we ultimately want to see, than we do by fighting to tear down the society that we don’t want, and arguing/fighting against the ideas we don’t like.  Loving what is has nothing to do with not working for change. Loving what is does not mean being a doormat and letting “what is ‘walk all over you’”. Loving what is means that you start with where you are, and with love, you begin to develop the life you do really want to live, and the society you want you, your family, and your loved ones to live in. It means building your new life, it means creating the society you want. It means building happiness, calming sadness, defusing anger, and creating anew. It means inclusion.

Resisting what is, on the other hand, creates an “Us versus them” mindset. It strengthens the determination of the opposition.  It fosters anger, resentment, fear, rage, and sadness. It leads to retaliation, destruction, isolation, and loss. It means excluding others.

Think of those whom you consider to be great leaders. What characteristics do those great leaders have in common? Many of the leaders that have been considered great throughout history are those that worked to develop that which they did want. Mahatma Ghandi, Martin Luther King, Jesus, Buddha, Confucius, John F Kennedy, America’s Founding Fathers, etc., were leaders with a vision. They knew where they wanted to take society. They had dreams of building a greater community. They worked to create equality. They worked to create what they wanted to achieve. Do the leaders you consider “Great” share the trait of working to build the life / society they wanted?

Are you working to achieve the life of your dreams? Are you taking constructive actions to make your life count, and make the world a better place? Will the world be a better place because of your actions? What will your legacy be? Will it be a legacy of building, loving, constructive action, greater community, helping others and creating the life of your dreams, or will it be a legacy of anger, divisiveness, isolation and resisting life as you see it?

Something to think about…..