The Beat Goes On

everything moves in waves. humanity is in a downward motion but it feels like we're near the tipping point, the point where it gets so low that the need for change is seen by everyone so much so that it starts happening. i really hope after what happened in france tonight people don't have the same reaction as they did the last terrible tragedy in france. i think people just want to feel safe; for all this violence to stop. fighting back will just make it worse, it's feeding into the negativity that drives the wave of humanity downward. no 1 person has the answers, but maybe if everyone came together we could put the pieces of the puzzle into place. stop looking at the differences that divide us but the similarities in how we live, love, believe and appreciate life. until then, or some divine intervention, we can't let fear take control over us or cloud our judgement. there should be no talks of profiling muslims, there should be talks of peace and resolution. there should be talks about how humanity as a whole can grow and prosper, at peace with the earth and all its inhabitants. we need to talk about some real # or we're not going to be here much longer

Thanks for your reply and I agree fully.
The more, it seems, we try to speak about solutions, the more we're highlighting the differences and stirring the said pot, and increasing the divisions....
Somehow we need to find a different approach to the dialogue, if we truly want to stop the violence and separation, and increase our ability to withstand and continue to give the human species something worthwhile in the meaning of "humanity."

Thanks for your contribution.
tetra

a reply to: DOCHOLIDAZE1

It doesn't mean that when someone hits you, you offer the other cheek so they can hit that one too. Nor does it mean to be ready to defend. It means that you don't stoop to the level of the person who wronged you by seeking revenge. It means you continue to be the better person and remain calm in the face of adversity. It means that might does not necessarily mean right. Defend, yes. Go out and seek vengeance in anger, no.

a reply to: tigertatzen

i believe u are wrong, i get not seeking vengence, since too seek revenge would be to judge.

but

like i said when one turns the check when being attacked one should defend.

i also know that this teaching didnt mean physical attack, it was ment first as spiritual attack, second mental attack, and third whichever attack.

physical could fall in this teaching, but is not the point of the teaching.

btw i really hope thats not your real face on your avatar

a reply to: DOCHOLIDAZE1

I could be wrong. So could every minister who preached about it in church. But I tend to agree with them, as the same message appears in numerous books of the Bible. Everyone interprets things differently...I don't think anyone holds the monopoly on interpretation of religious texts.

And, while we're on the subject of attacks, why on Earth would you hope that's not my "real face"? What an awful thing to say to another person...what is the point of that?

btw i really hope thats not your real face on your avatar 

a reply to: tigertatzen

i only said that about your face because.....


it doesnt matter,


i am always cursed by my lost love.

you have a likeness to her

i never ment it to be mean

i would take it as a compliment and speak no more of it

a reply to: DOCHOLIDAZE1

Well, in that case, I'll do just that. And I am sorry about your lost love.

a reply to: tigertatzen

no need to be sorry , my own choices lost her.

she is out there

but the kicker is she is untraceable

she does not do social media or constructs, due to a real psychopath that wants to claim his child.

she was hiding her and her baby at the same time in different places so she knew they were safe.

we happened to know each other for many moons as i was hiding myself, i got the chance to come out of hiding and i took it, i never saw her again,but i think about her everyday.

i know i am idiot coward.

a reply to: tetra50

Prayer for healing

for/of mind, body, soul, spirit, relationship.

. . . and for all that is most needed individually and between you in your situation. Sigh.

I have loved several people who have hurt me deeply, devastatingly. It was and is worth it.

May God make Himself real to both of you in uncommon ways.

--BoX

Hey all: I'm bumping this old thread of mine for several reasons. One, events in the current world seem to have become even more violent, than when I wrote this thread. Two, the person I referred to in the thread has now died. She was my mother. I cared for her for over ten years, intent on her not living out her old age in a retirement facility. The strange thing is, despite the fact I was hardly her favorite child, it was me she imparted medical power of attorney to. So, it was me the hospital called when heart failure began and death was imminent, at 2 AM, while they put in a central line and attempted to rescesitate, and with each pump on her heart, blood spurted from the central line. I got there, saw her eyes glazed over, the blood spurting, and immediately kneeled at her bedside, took her hand, and asked if she was ready to go. Truthfully, the glaze over her eyes had me thinking she was already gone. I asked her to squeeze my hand if she could hear me. She squeezed very firmly. I aked her again to squeeze my hand if she was ready. Again, a firm squeeze. And then, despite all the unresolved conflicts between us, all the pain she had caused in my life, all the shame she had claimed I foisted upon her just trying to live my life, I told her how well she was loved and how much God had blessed her.....and how much she had given the people in her life that she had loved, and to let go......

The point I am trying to make is no matter how many times someone figuratively (or even realistically) slaps your cheek, your integrity is about being a loving, compassionate person as much as possible, while having boundaries and protecting yourself from the next slap. Those "slaps" are about them, not about you. And I say this, as a daughter who will never have any resolution of conflicts from the person I needed support and acceptance from, perhaps, the most, in life.

My mother never loved nor accepted me the way I needed or wanted her to, but the end result is.....no matter what, this was her failing, not mine. I loved her, and did the best I could by her, and in that lies my own integrity as a compassionate human being. And in the end, it made me a better mother, just knowing what I never got and was able to give to my own child, as a result of that lack and unmet need.

This isn't just intended to be a personal story. It's intended to reinforce the power of acceptance, integrity, compassion, non violence, and most of all: FORGIVENESS. I hope this story, which is quite hard for me to relate to this day, reaches those who need what they never got. Give that to yourself, and live with integrity.
Regards,
tetra50

a reply to: tetra50

May she rest in peace.

In considering conflict with others, it bears recalling those people were dealt cards in life they didn't want. All that takes its toll on their behavior. We don't appreciate feeling the heat of that, but life is what it is, and people are what they are.

Cheers

a reply to: F2d5thCavv2

Hey F2d5thCavv2 (hope I got your screenname right, it's a little difficult and my eyesight isn't that good these days):
Thanks for reading and your quite cogent response. You are precisely right, and I do realize that. My mom did not have good relations with her own parents, and after all, that's kind of how we learn to parent, love, support and behave with compassion. Compassion and support, acceptance were not her strong points. She was an English teacher for many years, and a great one, at that. But discipline in her classroom of 7th and 8th graders was never necessary, as she could literally kill you with one look.....LOL. I grew up calling her Mrs. R, instead of mom, as she was always more of a teacher than a mom. But your point is essential and important: we are whom we are, and mostly we can't help a lot of that, as we tend to be a result of our experiences. I understood long ago these were her issues, not mine. However, the galling factor was I had two older sisters, one of whom we always joked was her favorite, and there's always a kernel of truth in a joke like that. And certainly, this was the case. That particular sister could do no wrong in my mother's eyes.

However, that isn't the point. The point is I accept whom she was, and forgive her for what she couldn't provide for me as a mother, whether she provided that for my sibling or not. And I wrote this because I think we need more of that forgiveness and compassion, integrity and realization in the world right now. Hatred, resentment seems to be spewing forth at an all time high these days, and this worries me a great deal. Why are our children obtaining weapons and going into their schools to kill their classmates, for instance? I think we need to discuss these values more rather than less. I don't believe we were all born equal, the same. But I DO completely believe that all our lives have value, and somehow that message is missing today.
Thanks again for your input.
Regards,
tet