Life has been “showing up!”
Lessons abound at every turn. One I would like to share with all of you, courtesy of life teacher and great mother, Iyanla Vanzant:
“If you don’t show up with who you are, people fall in love with who you are not.”
Have the courage to be true to who you are and who you were meant to be. Life will take care of the rest.
Have a blessed week!
♥
A great deal has happened in our world over this past week; from bus crashes to the hysteria surrounding Joseph Kony, events in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria. The Republican circus in the United States is doing its usual “stuff.”
Last week I addressed the Joseph Kony movement issue and I was really hoping that this would lead to positive change, however, all sides of this issue have not been taken into account. Adam Branch, senior research fellow at the Makerere Institute for Social Research, Uganda, and assistant political science professor at San Diego State University, California, argues that “The video qualifies as irresponsible advocacy by prompting militarisation and detracting from Uganda’s real problems.” If you had the time to watch the Kony 2012 video, then please take a moment to watch this video, courtesy of Al-Jazeera. (another one of my favourite websites!)
Dangerous Ignorance: The hysteria of Joseph Kony 2012
Let us remember that the thousands of child soldiers who were forced to become so, all over Africa deserve to have a voice, and a choice. Let us not detract from that. Ever.
Recent events in Afghanistan have left me pondering if the world deliberately wants to go crazy and if the US is, not in fact, encouraging it to do so. I don’t advocate the burning of any book, period, let alone a holy book. To burn a Quran is to burn the Bible and the Torah. Whatever your beliefs, burning holy books is a sign of incredulous disrespect. We must not let the actions of one or two immaturely, irresponsibly stupid people be left to the “sanctions,” of the United States militia. The resulting slaughter of innocent civilians by staff Sergeant Robert Bales is inexcusable. I don’t care how many deployments he’s had overseas, that is no excuse to end the lives of innocent civilians! My heart does go out to his family who must be wondering what on earth is going on…
I do have to comment on one thing that is really bothering me though: that he has been repatriated to the United States. That “he is one of ours and has to be protected,” is unacceptable. Yes, I am calling the Change Card here: Let people begin taking responsibility for their actions. If, when in another country, you commit a crime, you are subject to the laws and processes governing that country. Unless, that is, you are American military? Did the men, women and children who were lawlessly gunned-down not deserve protection as well? What did those children do to so tragically offend Sergeant Bales other than having the unlucky happenstance of being born Afghani? Bales ought to be returned to Afghanistan and tried in an Afghan court, under prevailing Sharia Law. I know that many of you, Westerners, will vehemently disagree, but here’s the rub: (and it bears repeating) if, when in another country, you commit a crime, you are subject to the laws and processes governing that country. If it’s not okay to smuggle drugs into or out of countries, and if it is illegal to murder, then why is this case not being tried as a multiple murder? I am absolutely sure that, if the tables were turned and an Afghan military man had done the same on American soil, then been repatriated to his own country, there would be enormous outcry in America, and demands for that person’s return to American soil to be tried in an American court. The American double-standard that applies when it comes to Americans v. Muslims is in itself, inexcusable. That it is given executive privilege to protect “one of our own,” is utter, inherent, absolute rubbish.
On other notes…
My heart goes out to the families in Belgium that are suffering the losses of their children and teachers/teaching staff who died in the horrible crash in Switzerland.
My heart continues to go out to the people of Syria. May there be a swift and just end with a positive outcome to your revolution.
To the Republican circus, I have only this to say: the more some things change…..
March 8th, 2012 marked the most recent International Women’s Day and I wanted to reach out and congratulate some outstanding women:
Congratulations to: Margret Atwood, Regine Chassagne, Ta’Kaiya Blaney, Jennifer Stoddart, and Clara Hughes! Each of these women are fighting to bring awareness and insight to preserve literary education, to end the continuity of extreme poverty in Haiti, the protection of environmental lands and resources, the protection of personal privacy and the right to the protection of information, and the championing of surpassing human limitations and speaking out about subjects once considered unspeakable.From one of my favourite websites: http://www.strombo.com: Women Who RockIt often amazes me that we live in such an advanced era and yet millions of people are still struggling in their day-to-day lives. That an entire revolution could be organised and forged from and through social media is incredible. That these same revolutionaries live in countries in which most homes do not have computers or keep astride of recent technological breakthroughs is more incredible.
My heart goes out to the people of Syria. I sincerely hope that Syria can carve a path for itself with a future determined by its people for a Syria of their own choosing. I also hope that calls for air strikes on Syria are not met with alarming alacrity. It is my hope that diplomacy takes precedence; where there is still a capacity to save lives, let that be the dominant and overriding belief.
My heart goes out to the children of the Congo, Liberia, Sudan, Sierra Leone, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and Uganda, who were forced to fight in wars not of their own making. Forced to flee from their homelands to fight for brutal, barbaric tyrants who force children to kill their own parents, rape their sisters and friends and use rape as a war tool. This is not to say that these incidents occurred in every one of the countries mentioned here, rather that this is happening, and has been happening because we (the world) chose to ignore this. Was Rwanda not lesson enough?
There is a movement, organised by the Invisible Children Inc., on to draw out Joseph Kony, barbaric enslaver, brutal tyrannical dictator and coward. The movement is called Joseph Kony 2012. Kony is one of the cowards in Uganda waging an incredulous civil war. He has no purpose for his fighting, other than to enslave thousands of children, turning them into soldiers and sexual slaves. He has forced children to kill their parents. He has encouraged rape as a method of war. While there are many who would disagree with the methods used by Invisible Children Inc., I think this movement is important. It’s important because we need to realise that no matter where we occupy space on this planet, the point is we occupy that space together. One world. One resource— each other.
and starting with ourselves.
I care about our spiritual development and its lack thereof. At times, it feels like we are in a spiritual free fall – forgetting the Source. I want to uplift and inspire.
I also care deeply about developments occurring internationally and I wanted to give voice to those concerns.
With this blog, I hope that through that sharing, we can help each other create the world we desire. And then desire what we create.
Welcome to my blog!
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