"The Resolutionary" is a newsletter for people committed to **************************************************************** 1. FALLING ***************************************************************** For thoughtful people who observe the international political climate these are emotionally challenging times. I certainly find it impossible to move along with any sense of "business as usual." I think it matters little what side of the debate you are on. What I find tragic is the condition of the planet we share. I believe the earth holds the potential to be the eden most of us long for. We have been entrusted with it's stewardship. It is a place on which we all come to learn and grow. What's tragic is that we can't seem to get along with each other. This will be our downfall. As long as we compete for dominance we are doomed to remain in that cycle. Our only real chance at salvation from that treadmill is to step off and make what we have work. That "fantasy" or "vision" will be the basis for the book called "The Resolutionary," the story of a mythological citizen of this planet who shows us the way. Stay tuned! Stay centered! Stay wise! Stay in observer as insanity disguises itself as rational. God bless us all - we need it. I hope some of the following words provide some insight and inspiration. ********************************************************************** 1. FALLING Poetry is the way I clear things that are on my mind. I've been writing a monthly e-column available on Amazon through Brown-Heron Publishers called "Civil Unrest." The October column started with the following poem. Falling refers to both our civilization and the leaves... FALLING What rages inside me, does not want to stop The leaves on our treetops, will shrivel and die Big bombs they are easy, let's explode the moon Why not look for solutions, why so quick to drop bombs Let them use intuition, and their feminine wiles War is NEVER the answer, it will only bring more There's enough here for everyone, fact there's more than enough All deserve minimal safety, opportunity to grow 2. HONORED I recently received the following note from Kim Wright the founder of "Renaissance Lawyer." I was startled and awed to be thought of in such company. I find it both inspiring and frightening in what it demands... Dear Stewart, As you may know, out of the work I have been doing with the Eagles, I have recently created a line of products that honor the many positive roles of lawyers and support lawyers in "balancing their lives, transforming their practices, and feeding their souls." My goal is to create products that remind us of who we lawyers are everyday, as heroes. I imagine a lawyer at the end of the day, sitting at the desk, and seeing something that connects him or her with the purpose of this profession. The product web site won't be finished for a few weeks but the first product came off the production line this week. It is a simple white coffee mug with blue letters that says "Honoring Lawyers as Peacemakers" and has a quote by Abraham Lincoln: "As a peacemaker, the lawyer has the superior opportunity of being a good man." Between these, are the names of twenty nine lawyers who inspire me by their work in peacemaking. For example, Nelson Mandela, Mohandas Gandhi...and I chose your name as one of those lawyers. I expect that this mug will soon be on many desks of lawyers around the world and each of them, though they may not know you, will be able to honor you and the profession. *** If it is okay with you, I will deliver your mug personally when we see each other in Austin. If you want it sooner, I will mail it but I am still waiting for the custom boxes and it may be a couple of weeks. Love, PS: The first mug is free. A few people have asked about additional mugs. I have a special price for those honored, that barely covers my costs. They are $5 each plus the postage. ********************************************************************** 3. BILL MOYERS My colleague was in the subway below the World Trade Center when the first plane hit at 8:46 on September 11th a year ago. She walked up the stairs to the street just as the second plane hit. She heard the boom, looked up at the flaming towers, saw falling bodies -- and shuddered. A wave of heat descended on her and she ran - ran to safety before the buildings came down. For two months she sat at the window of her apartment, paralyzed by fear. The sound of a plane would take her back to that day, as if had been the beginning of the world coming to an end. A year later she still has nightmares, still sees - in the poet's prophetic metaphor - "the great dark birds of history" that plunged into our lives. They win only if we let them; only if we become like them: vengeful, imperious, intolerant, paranoid, invoking a God of wrath. Having lost faith in themselves, they have nothing left but a holy cause. They win, if we become holy warriors, too; if in trying to save democracy, we destroy it; if we strike first, murdering innocent people as they did; if we show contempt for how others see us; exploit patriotism to increase privilege; confuse power for the law, secrecy for security; and if we permit our leaders to use our fear of terrorism to make us afraid of the truth. What, then, can I say to my colleague, to myself, to all of us who survivors, tempted to keep sitting there, in the chair by the window. Just this: we are vulnerable - not only to the fear of them but to our own shaken faith. And this, remember not only the terror but the beauty revealed that day -- when through the smoke and fire we glimpsed the human kindness - the heroism, sacrifice, and compassion - of ordinary people who did the best of things in the worst of times. I say -- this beauty in us is real. It makes democracy possible, and no terrorist can take it from us. Remembering this, one year later, we can praise the mutilated world and get on with our work. Democracy is our work, and there is much to do - if we are to keep it. For now, I'm Bill Moyers. ********************************************************************* The Butterfly A man found a cocoon for a butterfly. One day a small opening appeared, he sat and watched the butterfly for several hours as it struggled to force its body through the little hole. Then it seemed to stop making any progress. It appeared as if it had gotten as far as it could and could go no farther. Then the man decided to help the butterfly. He took a pair of scissors and snipped the remaining bit of the cocoon. The butterfly then emerged easily. Something was strange. The butterfly had a swollen body and shriveled wings. The man continued to watch the butterfly because he expected at any moment, the wings would enlarge and expand to be able to support the body, which would contract in time. Neither happened. In fact, the butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling around with a swollen body and deformed wings. It was never able to fly. What the man in his kindness and haste did not understand, was that the restricting cocoon and the struggle required for the butterfly to get through the small opening of the cocoon are God's way of forcing fluid from the body of the butterfly into its wings so that it would be ready for flight once it achieved its freedom from the cocoon. Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our life. If God allowed us to go through all our life without any obstacles, that would cripple us. We would not be as strong as what we could have been. Not only that, we could never fly. -- Origin Unknown from The Enlightened Millionaire Program www.milleagles.com ********************************************************************** 5. ROBERT BLY Thank you John Steiner Call and Answer Tell me why it is we don't lift our voices these days I say to myself, "Go on, cry. What's the sense Some masters say our life lasts only seven days. We will have to call especially loud to reach If we don't lift our voices, we allow others -- who are Robert, how come you've listened to the great criers -- Robert Bly, 2002 ******************************************************************* from Katherine Hall "I slept and dreamt that life was joy. --Rabindranath Tagore I found the following report a confirmation of something I've been concerned about - the impact human thought energy has on the environment we live in. Forget Nature. Even Eden Is Engineered By ANDREW C. REVKIN Nearly 70 years ago, a Soviet geochemist, reflecting on his world, made a startling observation: through technology and sheer numbers, he wrote, people were becoming a geological force, shaping the planet's future just as rivers and earthquakes had shaped its past. Eventually, wrote the scientist, Vladimir I. Vernadsky, global society, guided by science, would soften the human environmental impact, and earth would become a "noosphere," a planet of the mind, "life's domain ruled by reason." Today, a broad range of scientists say, part of Vernadsky's thinking has already been proved right: people have significantly altered the atmosphere and are the dominant influence on ecosystems and natural selection. The question now, scientists say, is whether the rest of his vision will come to pass. Choices made in the next few years will de! termine the answer. posted at 12:21 AM 0 comments wed 8/21 sreport@topica.com saschwartz@schwartzreport.net
Stewart Levine, Esq., Resolutionary Saving the Cost of Conflict by Building |
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