A Welcome Voice

 

Marianne Williamson has announced that, once again, she is running for President in 2024.  You may remember that she also ran in 2020.  But maybe not, as she appeared in the crowd of candidates at the beginning and she didn’t last.

I think this is a perfect time for Williamson.  She is a great messenger for women.  Women’s lives are on the line. This is going to once again be “the year of the woman” whether the powerful like it or not.

Williamson says:  "it's odd for anyone to think they can know who can win the presidency."

Sometimes you just have to allow yourself to be encouraged.

I hope she gets some press at her formal announcement on March 4.  You can find her at marianne.com.

The Future

 

My friend and favorite blogger Gerry posed an interesting question:  what would you say to those living 1000 years from now.? Of course, he was pulling at our deepest wish: that something of us would carry forward after we die.

My mind went to: “will there be anyone to receive the message that far into the future?”

After thinking about it for a few days, this is about as much as I’ve come up with: The rearrangement of power that would have to take place to allow our version of life to continue

for 1000 years seems out of reach. But, keep in mind, this is my limited imagination speaking.

The first trick is to induce people to care what happens so far beyond their personal attachment to life.  Are we up for that? Will we even dream about those we will never know?  Will it be enough to spark the change in values?

It’s such a big ask.  What do you think?

Here is Gerry’s blog: : https://drgeraldstein.wordpress.com/2023/02/19/a-message-to-future-generations/

He publishes about once a week and is worth following.

A Welcome Gift

 

My friend Trudy shares her New Yorker magazines with me.  I am so grateful.  It's a perfect set up.  I don't have to consider whether I'm not getting my money's worth if I don't read everything.  So, I can browse the Table of Contents and look for the "timeless" stories, and the ones by my favorite writers.

Two recently read articles satisfied everything I look for: a perceptive account of the phenomenon of billionaires and their yachts written by Evan Osnos,  and a look at medical literature by Jerome Groopman.  

While not exactly coming from the "everyman" perspective (it has to get fancy to get anywhere near the floating palaces), Onos captures the compulsive need to compete that invades the billionaires' leisure.

I cried reading the stories of the doctors who dare to improve or "correct" what nature has given us,  If we come even a safe distance from these stories, let alone come close to one, you know what I mean.  As one surgeon struggled to save a three year old with a gun shot to the head, the horror of what we are living with (or dying with) now made me scream silently at today's madness.

Telling stories is our best gift.

The Big Picture

 

My brother died a few days ago.  I wasn't able to go to the funeral in Detroit, but I was able to watch it via zoom.  (Remarkable!)

My dear friend Marilyn sent me this writing, which I'm going to pass along.  If it has meaning for you, I'm glad to share it.

I have never been born,

and I have never died.

Look at the infinite oceans and skies filled with stars,

Manifestations from the basis of consciousness

Since beginningless time I have been free.

Birth and death are only doors through which we pass,

sacred thresholds on our journey.

Birth and death are a game of hide-and-seek.

So laugh with me,

hold my hand,

let us say good-bye,

say good-bye, to meet again soon.

We meet today,

We will meet again tomorrow.

We will meet at the source every moment.

We meet each other in all forms, on the myriad paths of life.

~ Thích Nhất Hạnh, "No Death, No Fear"