Swiftly, savagely,
the vestiges
of long-held-and-treasured virtues –
civility, decency, integrity –
are, as dinosaurs, felled by asteroidal-environmental change
when comes an upheaval
and governance, supplanted by charity’s absence,
aims to satisfy the (soi-disant?) ends of those who govern.
May I (I will!)
pray
for a (soon!) coming day
when (as the great reptilians’ heirs,
the birds, are with us still),
a phoenix of resurrected honor will rise from the ashes
of this time of mores set aflame.
As I pray,
I pledge anew
to be –
through
the words of my lips
and the deeds of my life –
a phoenix.
Will you, too?
occasional observations of mind and heart, soul and spirit 
What a great challenge, Paul. Yes, I pledge to try to be a phoenix also! Let’s hope that this involuntary (for most of us, I hope) sojourn in the land of incivility, insult, injury and self-centeredness is in some way teaching us that the fates of our children are bound up with each other, that on such a small, fragile planet the intentional stirring up of selfishness and hatred, the promotion of arrogant me-first attitudes, and the insistence on drawing lines and building walls will ultimately prove to be deadly, first for those who are weak and vulnerable, but ultimately also for those who deem themselves “winners.”
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This is such an amazing post for me Paul!! I fly a lot as you know, and when I get up high in the sky, I look out over this world and think to myself…”look st how beautiful the world is from up here”… I want to stay up there above the clouds where I hope we’d be kind and civil to one another!! I think if we all had the view from the sky where all things look small, we’d learn to do a better job of not sweating the small stuff and forgive and love more. Like Karen I want to be a Phoenix too and as I rise again to live another time period I’d make civility a requirement. I think we need to Re-learn all the things we’ve forgotten and all of us could focus on what we could teach each other. If we are all open to learning to heal with words as opposed to hurting with words, this world would be a much better place.
Thanks for this!! Love you
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Yes, amen, let us be phoenixes!
I think the America-me-first perspective is one of scarcity (which I find ironic when/as espoused by one who debunks global warming/climate change and believes in the inexhaustible resources of the earth). There are, I believe, as you Karen, only losers in this and no winners.
And, Loretta, you know how I do not enjoy flying. Nevertheless, oft I, too, have looked out over the bed of clouds and into the distant horizon marveling at how pristine the world below appears. I will hold fast that image for, as we know, living here, down below, brings us into daily touch with manifold unpleasant, verily, sordid realities.
Love you both,
Paul
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Another thought occurs…
Jesus’ teaching that to save life is to lose it and to lose life is to save it. Of many interpretations and applications, I believe that the creation, the universe, and life itself are so designed that to hoard whatever – resources, wealth, gifts, and graces (especially the latter, which, I believe, are bestowed by the Spirit for the purpose of being used in the service, for the sake of others) – is to lose them, to squander them in false employ in light of what they are. To spend, even to exhaust these things for the sake of others is to find them restored, oft through others giving of their resources.
Somehow, the tenor of the current time does not seem to bear, much less understand this message.
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