This Saturday, a certain Terry Jones plans to burn copies of the Qur’an outside his Gainesville, FL church. People have been mailing books to him, to help with this cause. Meanwhile, the children in this photo, along with 20 million others in Pakistan, are displaced, hungry, and struggling. Which do I care about more? Terry Jones is seeking publicity – which I am giving him right now – so I’m going to use this publicity mongering to bring us back to sharp attention that we all have a chance to do some good to counteract hatred and ignorance. We can help some people who are in dire need.
This Saturday, to honor the memory of those who died in the toppling of the World Trade Centers in NYC, and further, to honor the memory of those who died on September 11, 1944 when Darmstadt, Germany was destroyed in preparation for the more famous Dresden bombing, I say let us organize to send whatever we can afford – be it prayers, energy, or money – to Pakistan. Let us feed the three to six million who have not yet received food or medical care. Let us not let the likes of Terry Jones win this day. In the name of all who are Compassionate and Merciful, let us not give up on humanity.
As mystically inclined Pagan, I am ever remembering my sense of connection with you, with this planet, with the stars, trees, and waters, and with God Herself – the Great Beyond, the Limitlessness, Ginnungagap, the Void, and the Existence. God Herself is comprised of every Hindu, Muslim, Jew, Christian, Bahai, Buddhist, Atheist, Heathen, Wiccan, Quaker, every jasper, every lamb, every grouper, every blade of wheat, every redwood, every crow. There are people who would argue with me about this. That is fine. As a polytheist and non-dualist, I can take these arguments as part and parcel of how things grow and evolve, of how we learn and change. I don’t need agreement from anyone. I do need to cultivate strength and mercy. I do need to generate the life energy that is the return to the great cosmic flow. I do need to connect, here on earth, to every particle that exists in past, present, and future. Right now, I need to connect with millions of people in Pakistan.
As a pragmatic idealist, though I sometimes fail, I try to act each day as though we each still have something to offer. I hold out hope for humanity during these times of change and tribulation. We have a chance to harness the teeming energies of upheaval, war, famine, flooding, earthquakes, hatred, anger, and fear, toward love, toward liberation, and toward change. I will continue to manifest and ride these energies, focusing my will and working on behalf of us all, even Terry Jones.
[My non-profit, Solar Cross, will be donating to Doctors Without Borders to try to help get aid directly to people in need. MSF have been, among other things, helping malnourished children and staving off or treating outbreaks of cholera and other diseases transmitted by unclean water sources. As part of Unity Day, while teaching a small group of people in San Jose, there will be a pause for remembrance of the dead and their families, and a prayer said for succor to come to those who need it, and a goad to come to those who have become too comfortable in apathy or compliance. My thanks to Mike Ghouse, a righteous brother in the struggle for Love, for bringing Unity Day to my attention.]