This next week (
Thursday, June 20 2013) we are not having class. We are going instead to see
Josh Fox's second movie,
Gasland 2 (at Soldiers and Sailors in Oakland, Pittsburgh,
7 PM, doors open at
6 PM, free or donations at the door). If you haven't seen
Gasland 1 and are not familiar with all that goes on in the name of fracking and want some version of it in a nutshell, I refer you to
Kris Kitko's "Frack Pit Love Song" on YouTube. If you want a more in-depth, comprehensive, reasoned and extremely articulate explanation as to why fracking is so freaking frackin' bad for all of us and how the oil industry is trying to get away with decimating our
water, air and earth and even setting our tap water on fire (that's mucking around with all four elements, I might add), I refer you to our friend, Joseph's, Frack Report: "
J.P.McMurry Frack Report", published online. (Google it if it doesn't open directly.) It is a really thorough investigation of the very serious problems of and from fracking. Charque and I joined a march/demonstration against fracking in Pittsburgh in November 2010. It was one of only two march/demonstrations that I have ever been on. The other one was in London in 1964 against apartheid in South Africa. That took another 30 years or so to heal and rectify, a time period which
Nelson Mandela spent most of, if not all of in jail, another reminder of what some people will go through to follow their conscience and their calling.
A Course in Miracles says that the world is our creation. Many other spiritual teachings talk of the world as "illusion", "
maya", "a veil" and so on. Whatever the world is, or wherever it comes from, it is a rich and valuable experiences provided that you live consciously and "awake" (as I wrote about in a previous communication).
Qabalah refers to a strictly material concept of the world as "an empty shell". But, when viewed and experienced from a more conscious and spiritual perspective, the world is "an abundant apple orchard". Furthermore, if you view the world as a product of our collective human conscious/unconscious, then there is all the more reason for each one of you to be conscious not only of yourselves and what you are doing, but also of who your fellow humans are and what they are doing too. Collective oversight is in order and necessary. The world is for everyone, not just a select few, such as the rich and powerful. Big business and "government for the rich and by the rich", instead of "for the people and by the people" needs to be challenged by those that are called to do so, in whatever way or medium is natural to the individual. For
Banksy, the maverick street/graffiti artist from Bristol (southern England), the medium is the wall. "A wall is a very big
weapon. It's one of the nastiest things you can hit someone with", to quote Banksy. If big businesses can use walls to plaster their advertising over, then he can use walls to sayhis piece too, with this justification: "You owe the companies nothing.
You especially don't owe them any courtesy. They have rearranged the world to put themselves in front of you. They never asked for your permission, don't even start asking for theirs." Action often requires counter action. On a more measured but equally forceful note: "It's unrealistic to think that the future of humanity can be achieved on the basis of prayer only, what we need is to take action" (a tweet from His Holiness the
Dalai Lama).
My own philosophy about this (which I too have tweeted!) is: "Find your voice or the world goes missing some needed piece of truth. Suppressing it compromises your own energy and leaves you short too", as well as, of course, the world (but Twitter characters don't extend that far!) You owe yourselves and the collective your piece of the truth. Or, to put it in another way, you owe yourselves and the world your voice and your song. The Song of God is made up of ALL songs, human, avian, angelic and so on. That is Creation. That is also correction. Nobody owns the world.
When we went on the anti-fracking march in 2010, I had a very strong feeling about the collective basic right to land and water. Joseph makes clear that fresh air is part of this too, as well as a measure of peace and quiet. I told Charque at the time of the march that it all felt very primal and very pagan. My experiences since that time would say that we were marching for and under the banner of the Mother. The Mother loves freely and gives freely of her blessings: land, air, water, our fellow animals, plants, trees and so on. There are, of course, conditions to your existence on the Earth and your sojourns here are temporary, if not many in number. But the Mother gives freely of this platform for your joy and for your learning, and to ALL of her children. But when some get greedy at others' expense, ultimately everyone pays the price. Correction is in order. Humans need to learn to be better stewards of the Mother's gifts.
There are now over 7 billion of us humans to share this platform with each other and with the rest of nature. The planet is warming. The oceans are rising. A lot of life, both human and nonhuman, is becoming compromised. We have much to face and to learn from this new and emerging cycle of experience. Each one needs to become very conscious of his/her part in this whole and and of his/her contribution to this whole, by being true to the voice and the calling from within. Then action will follow prayer and not vice versa
