Lenten Reflection

I watched the movie Lincoln last night...the story of how he fought to pass the 13th amendment to free the slaves and to end slavery in this country for all time.  Tonight, I'm watching the Ten Commandments which is about Moses who also freed slaves from the oppression of tyrants.  Very similar themes and rhetoric got me thinking about how timely the Ten Commandments movie was.  Published in 1956--one of the hottest years of the Civil Rights movement--the words and themes ring true.  Undoubtedly these themes of freedom, equality, compassion, respect, and so on hold true in all three time periods...ancient Egypt, Civil War America and Civil Rights America.

But has humanity learned the lesson yet?  Let's not forget how relevant these themes are in today in issues ranging from race and gender equality to equal marriage rights.  For example, I love that the new pope washed the feet of juvenile prisoners on Holy Thursday to commemorate when Jesus washed the feet of the disciples at the Last Supper.  He broke the tradition that required the pope to wash the feet of other priests.  He has exemplified the heart of Christ's true message of love, compassion, humility and charity.  His message this Easter demonstrates a fresh, new tolerance and selflessness.  Pope Francis even washed the feet of a female Muslim prisoner...something that irked a few of his haughty Catholic co-workers.  Finally the Catholic church has a Christ-like leader! 

Maybe Pope Francis will help spread the words that were passed from Moses to Lincoln to civil rights heroes like MLK Jr. and Rosa Parks ...the words that ring from every mountain top from ancient Egypt until now...the words that we celebrate on Easter as Christians and that Jews also celebrate during Passover...the words that shout that all men are created equal...that all people are created equal members of one human family (the motto of Key West Florida).  When will we listen to the wise words of so many that came before us from Moses to Buddha, from Christ to Jefferson, Lao Tzu, Mother Theresa and so many more wise souls?  Maybe then humanity can begin to transform into the enlightened beings that so many before us hoped for us to become.  Maybe then the world will begin to heed the wisdom that came to us in so many word from so many voices...words like those of Albert Einstein:


"A human being is part of the whole called by us universe, a part limited in time and space. We experience ourselves, our thoughts and feelings as something separate from the rest. A kind of optical delusion of consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from the prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty. The true value of a human being is determined primarily by the measure and the sense in which they have obtained liberation from the self. We shall require a substantially new manner of thinking if humanity is to survive.  I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones."

Or if you'd rather have it simply put...it's like Pink Floyd sings:  "Us and Them... after all we're only ordinary men...Me, and you."

Yin Yang

The sun of day ceases so rest may come.
Darkness reminds us to savor the fleeting light.
Coldness must come so we can truly feel warm.
In the depths of the frozen winter, we await summer--
Only to curse the blazing sun.
Shiver or sweat--we could not know one with out the other.
Just as we cannot feel true joy without knowing pain.
We cannot rejoice in spirit
If we know nothing of grief.
Loneliness shows us the value of others.
Mistakes teach us what is right.
And so the universe seeks balance--
Karmic energy moves us.
The heart and the mind must join;
The masculine and the feminine must coincide and cooperate.
Logic and emotion must seek the middle path.
The battle between good and evil will rage on
Defining for us how to be human in the universe.
Life creates, but death destroys,
So life can begin again.
In the day there are shadows,
And even at night the stars and the moon in the heavens
Cast a glimmer of light on the face of the Earth.