tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-803595820939776322.post4006017541000470325..comments2023-10-30T06:38:39.170-07:00Comments on Snow Branches: The Universal SoldierUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-803595820939776322.post-66853967472043991012012-03-23T23:19:04.094-07:002012-03-23T23:19:04.094-07:00What a nice story! May we all be safe.What a nice story! May we all be safe.David Ashtonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18339979176989832285noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-803595820939776322.post-14665851019808105822012-03-23T17:54:19.954-07:002012-03-23T17:54:19.954-07:00I have lovely neighbors across the street from me ...I have lovely neighbors across the street from me - The couple is in their 80's. The woman can hardly get around, yet every month or so she would lovingly refresh the old yellow ribbon around her oak tree with a new one...<br /><br />I noticed yesterday that the ribbon was gone... Thinking the worst I was afraid to ask. Turns out her her youngest grandson has just finished his tour and is on the way home. I'm thrilled with her good news! I wish the world would finally and forever welcome all their children back to safety. Wars and killing have no place in where we all ought to be.Bea Elliotthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13981537551810309024noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-803595820939776322.post-91073368370900341792012-03-22T18:12:41.218-07:002012-03-22T18:12:41.218-07:00So do I. Thankfully, wanting to know usually wins ...So do I. Thankfully, wanting to know usually wins out [hmm - just noticed that was combative language..], even if just to remind myself that suffering is real. I agree that it doesn't matter if our actions are 'enough' (are they ever?) I like the Gandhi quote - "Whatever you do will be insignificant, but it is very important that you do it."David Ashtonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18339979176989832285noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-803595820939776322.post-36372375656967400242012-03-22T00:12:14.562-07:002012-03-22T00:12:14.562-07:00I, too, am easily overwhelmed with sadness over th...I, too, am easily overwhelmed with sadness over the wars and conflicts the world over. Large powerful nations blasting the hell out countries half way across the world, and despots killing, raping and enslaving their own countrymen.<br /><br />I struggle with knowing/not-knowing. How much do I really want to see if it is so ugly? In the end, I am drawn to the news, because each story could be - and might be - my story. Humankind has not solved the 'war problem' yet, and it is unlikely that we ever will. So, what now? Do what we can, when we can. That's all we are able to accomplish. It doesn't matter if our actions are 'enough,' it matters that we feel, react, and act if we can. "If sadness doesn't call us, where will we go?"Taradharmahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17665801586196931603noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-803595820939776322.post-9919219324881581972012-03-21T21:21:00.977-07:002012-03-21T21:21:00.977-07:00Roselle, thank you for your kind words and thought...Roselle, thank you for your kind words and thoughtful comments. I'm glad to hear you still protest the war. Just because we can't do everything doesn't mean we shouldn't do anything. Although the Bhagavad Gita is usually interpreted as an allegory for the struggle between good and evil in our own natures, I'm with you in feeling the use of combative metaphors, even "battle against cancer" tend to make our thinking run in narrow channels. Patriotism and all the other 'isms' that separate us from them.David Ashtonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18339979176989832285noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-803595820939776322.post-67113749314198603222012-03-20T03:45:20.846-07:002012-03-20T03:45:20.846-07:00David, excellent thoughtful blog. Am completely wi...David, excellent thoughtful blog. Am completely with you; I still demonstrate against war, still protest, still hope - somehow this new millennium it seems an even more hopeless task, but we have to believe in the possibility of change.<br /><br />What needs addressing, of course, is our deepseated fear, as you say rooted in ignorance (and misplaced interpretations of love, perhaps, as Susan says - in other words a genuinely caring impulse) which expresses itself through force and opposition in an aggressive way. Power-seeking. Enforcing difference and oppositionality. <br /><br />I'm with you on the Arjuna/Krishna conversation - I can't help feeling that vocab like 'war', 'fight', 'striving' just reinforces our poarised ways of thinking, don't you? – I'm not sure how helpful those words are in a spiritual text - translated too as they will have been by scholars who may still only have partial understanding, as we all do, and use the language and ethos current at the time.<br /><br />Of course we need to support and mourn soldiers who often are fighting strongly for what they believe to be true; but we also need to find a way to show people there are OTHER ways - and in countries where there is no compulsory signing-up, the people who go to war, while of course no doubt for the most part believing in the cause, are still making a choice... <br /><br />Patriotism is a difficult thing.rosellehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00971482422276765335noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-803595820939776322.post-32677143577331065192012-03-19T21:11:14.384-07:002012-03-19T21:11:14.384-07:00Hi, Susan! I hadn't given the source of war mu...Hi, Susan! I hadn't given the source of war much thought, but probably would have said fear arising out of ignorance. But seeing its roots in love - that's putting a whole new perspective on it. Wonderful!David Ashtonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18339979176989832285noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-803595820939776322.post-65003903453737424502012-03-19T06:46:48.056-07:002012-03-19T06:46:48.056-07:00Individually, each young person aggresses because ...Individually, each young person aggresses because of the belief they are protecting the freedom and wellbeing of the ones they love, for the love and pride of their family. To understand that the roots of war are love is the sadness that overwhelms.<br />Thanks for keeping the conversation alive David.susandedorahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18408105025111214404noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-803595820939776322.post-14584042633278727872012-03-19T01:17:52.420-07:002012-03-19T01:17:52.420-07:00Thank you, Christine - if sadness doesn't call...Thank you, Christine - if sadness doesn't call us, where will we go?David Ashtonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18339979176989832285noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-803595820939776322.post-1073981162653249542012-03-19T01:09:46.734-07:002012-03-19T01:09:46.734-07:00I'm with you 100%, Connie.I'm with you 100%, Connie.David Ashtonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18339979176989832285noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-803595820939776322.post-35273238943192427942012-03-18T21:06:37.406-07:002012-03-18T21:06:37.406-07:00Wow - Yes... I hope I never stop feeling the grie...Wow - Yes... I hope I never stop feeling the grief and sadness. I find the more that I "wake up" to our True Nature/Universal Nature the more I am moved with compassion for a world in pain... Thank you for this touching post... ChristineMystic Meanderinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09746429719911446865noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-803595820939776322.post-25478843391349053252012-03-18T20:43:29.058-07:002012-03-18T20:43:29.058-07:00Every time the News Hour on pbs shows pictures of ...Every time the News Hour on pbs shows pictures of the lives lost in Iraq and Afghanistan it is very hard for me to look. When I do, I see the beauty of the soldiers faces, their youth, or their maturity. I think of all the families hurting. It sickens me. <br /><br />And I feel even with the recent shootings of innocents, shouldn't we stand by these soldiers battered by the war we've asked them to serve over and over again? <br /><br />Thank you for your caring, your compassion.<br /><br />Connie Nelson AhlbergWriter in Residencehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13548985774790601074noreply@blogger.com