2009

Let's start again.

Let's keep going.

Let's practice, yes,

Let's practice daily.

Let's look out for others.

Let's look in for compassion.

Let's look forward to peace.

Solstice

in a time of uncertainty

what better way to be

than aware of beauty

in life's full simplicity

and all its daily bounty?

Hypocrisy

It occurred to me the other day while I was sitting in traffic. I was surrounded by SUVs and minivans, headed for a major artery which leads out to the suburbs. Most people live a lie.

I am a person who lives alone. I have no children. I recycle. I drive a fuel-efficient subcompact. I pay property taxes at the same rate as everyone else. I keep up my property. I did not overmortgage myself. And I am gay.

The people around me appeared to be affluent suburbanites. They were driving wasteful cars. They were disobeying the lane markers. They were driving one to each huge vehicle. I would be willing to wager than many were overleveraged.

I am perceived by a majority of the public as deviant, unworthy of basic legal rights, a threat to children.

I would ask: Who are irresponsible to children? Who are irresponsible to the planet? Who are deviating from that which is right and just?

Peace

World peace requires individual peace. To realize this is to realize the magnitude of the issue. The achievement of individual peace by millions of individuals who are still struggling for survival on a daily basis will not occur in one lifetime or many lifetimes. This is the challenge of the person who is committed to peace. Maintaining individual peace and hope for world peace under the real circumstances of today requires rigorous practice.