Taking A Deep Breath

Dear Friends,

 

As a few of you have noticed there have been long breaks in between my blog posts during the past few months.  A couple of you have even emailed me to ask why my website still has a winter banner scene.  Well in addition to recuperating from major surgery, I decided to take some much needed time to simply BREATH.  And while breathing and renewing my energy take time to regain my spiritual center and rediscover my direction.  

 

Reading my daily newsfeeds and blog subscriptions was simply overwhelming.  It seemed like there were so many challenges, so many issues that needed to be discussed, and so many charities to support, so little time and even fewer resources.  Squeezing all of this in after my 9-5 was done left my physical and emotional well completely dry. 

 

There has been so much going on in the world -- Iraq, Iran, Darfur,  Katrina, Rita, Larry,  corruption, torture, corporate  greed,  government wiretaps, global warming, earthquakes, mudslides, bird flu -- and virtually every end-time prophecy named in the Christian Bible.   People are suffering.  Many feel lied to and betrayed - a few cry out - some protest and sadly a few explode in violence.  Many people have lost all faith in government and aren't sure of the media.   They would love to have answers but aren't even sure of the questions.  They watch the news and ring their hands in silence.  Some chalk it all up to "living in the last days" and see no use in trying to fight the inevitable.  Others turn on American Idol or Dancing with the Stars and numb their minds enough to get a few hours of sleep.   Some self-medicate with alcohol, some with drugs, some with food, some with sex, some with work and some with money.  For many, there is no greater vision than getting through the next day.

 

So many of us sense the same thing.  Our world is changing at an inhuman pace.  And humanity is suffering for it.  We judge the state of the economy by economic indicators and don't see the faces of the children that go to bed hungry at night.  We applaud enormous corporate earnings and discount the auto worker that was just laid off.   We failed to hold our political officials accountable and now we are outraged that they've sold us down the river.  We believe that we are promoting democracy in one part of the world and turn a blind eye to genocide in another.    Behind every news story whether it be a natural disaster, political blunder or economic failure there are people, human beings, human lives that impacted.   Our world is in trouble and we cannot just sit and wring our hands or resolutely wait for "the rapture". 

 

We must regain our spiritual center. We must pray. We must ask God for miracles.  We must believe that miracles are possible.  We must clean our closets,  throw out the unneeded, and make room for the new.   We must prepare ourselves to take a leap of faith -- to do what we never before imagined.   We must take this marvelous journey, learning our lessons and then sharing what we've learned with others.  We must care about this world and  become instruments of positive change.   We must not give in to hopelessness,   must not listen to doubters  and must look positively to the future. 

 

Some of us must blog even if very few read.  Some must host chat groups even if very few speak. Some must manage websites which few may visit.   Some must write elected officials who may respond with form letters..  We must watch CNN and CSPAN and must read the mainstream print media and the weblogs.  We must encourage,  support, inform and learn from each other.  Some of us must bare our souls and wear our hearts on our sleeves -- open for public ridicule. 

 

 But every once in a while we must go to a quiet corner, be still and BREATH.