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Individuals are capable of growing up, putting their childish past behind them and being mature in the way they deal with their life. Not so nations. Where nations are concerned, immature individuals pursue military and political power to compensate for a gross absence of maturity and character, and we get what we have on an international level. Money rules, not maturity. Not wisdom. Not noble hearts. Not grace. Not compassion... And I don't see a fix for this in our lifetime. Or in the lifetime of the planet. No one has to be qualified to lead their nation or the world. Our work is to live satisfying lives during the time left for living, working as we are able to establish refuges, oasis's of mercy, kindness health and goodwill within the swirling instability of clashing rocks and heaving waves. Decency and honor are going to be individual achievements, not national monuments. We take it on ourselves to do what is right in each situation as it arises, to stand for the best and exhibit it in our way with our life and with our neighbors-- while we mourn their demise on political, social and cultural levels. We are to be what we seek and encourage its proliferation as we are able, in a "Do your work and step back, letting nature take its course" kind of way.
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Balance and harmony are the first things to go when we leave the path, turn aside from the Way, and have no more to do with the nudges and tugs from instinct and intuition arising in the silence to guide our living and direct our lives. People who know what they want and live to have their way-- people who know what's best and strive to be pleased-- stumble over the guardrails and crash through "Road Closed" barriers on their way to success and happiness everlasting all the time, joining the people who don't have a clue in the hoard of those wandering through the Waste Land in search of something to take their mind off their plight, with only denial as their companion and desire as their guide. Everyone blames someone else. No one takes stock, conducts an inventory, realizes their own deficits, makes an accounting and comes to terms with the truth of their situation. Nothing changes until we do. What are the chances of anything being other than it is in our lifetime?
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Be right about what matters most and give yourself into its service with no attachment to, or opinion of, the outcome in each situation as it arises all your life long. This is committing yourself to right action-- doing the right thing, in the right place, at the right time, in the right way-- and letting that be that, in a "do your work and step back, and let nature take its course" kind of way. Thinking there must be some payoff, some recognition, some gain, some advantage, some benefit to doing what needs to be done, is to fail the situation and live in light of the wrong ends throughout time. We are to be good for nothing in the truest sense of the term. Get that down, and the entire world reaps the benefit.
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Part of your post reminds me of a course I took in Santa Barbara 30 years ago with Marshall Rosenberg who created the “Jackal and the Giraffe” metaphors and created the Center for Nonviolent Communication:
https://www.cnvc.org/learn-nvc/what-is-nvc. The current political divisions remind me that we need to learn how to use communication skills (which can be learned) to negotiate our differences. During the past four years I despaired that these skills no longer existed, however, I think my vision still needs to include them.
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I certainly think your vision needs to include them, with the caveat that there are people with no interest in negotiating our differences. They just want us dead and out of their way. Killing people is the fastest way to consensus. It’s worked that way through the ages. Christianity is the way it is because the early church killed the “heretics,” and had no interest in negotiating differences. Fascists/White Supremacists have no interest in making room for anyone not like they are. Knowing whom we can talk to and who can’t hear a word we are saying is important knowledge to have, may we all be so wise!
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