My Greedy Christmas List, 2015

Dear Santa,

I don’t know what the world looks like from the North Pole, but it’s a little dark outside my window. Between the flesh eating zombies and the bomb-toting, sword wielding, war waging, apocalypse wanting terrorists–not to mention the gun lobbyists and the red-tie-wearing political candidates, well, we’re in a fine mess.

So this Christmas, my wish list is longer than usual. And it goes like this:

1. I want world peace. (And not the world in pieces.)

2. I want you to bring a stop to barbarism in the name of God and war. I want ISIS warmongers to know they’ve taken a wrong turn. That the goddess Isis is Feminine, the patron spirit of women, the goddess of empowerment, magic and life. I want them to know they defile her name.

3. Santa, I want refugees to find their way home to a better life.

4. I want movie theaters, schools, shopping malls, places of worship, cafes and music clubs to be madness-free zones. I want you to stop the carnage and control the crazies. All of them, including the NRA lobbyists.

5. While we’re at it–I want you to  fire, trump and trample bullies with bad hair,  personality disorders and presidential- sized delusions of grandeur before they create uglier playground disputes in the future.

6. This year, I want you to work harder to halt human trafficking.  Stop it in its tracks. And while you’re at it, can you make the chocolate companies quit using child slave labor because it makes my candy taste really bitter.

7. And while you’re sprinkling your fairy dust, I want a cure for cancer. All cancers, not just the ones that get all of the PR.

8. I want you to end world hunger. Aids. Homelessness, too.

9. I want clean drinking water, the nectar of life, for everyone. And good heavens, chemical-free food for the masses.

10. I want an education for every single child on this earth because an educated child has options that don’t necessarily include poverty, racism, terrorism and ignorance.

11. I want jobs so people can feel useful, purposeful, resilient, and feed their families.

12. I want you to quiet the earth, calm her, and keep her from quaking. I want you to help others warm to the idea that our climate matters so we can make global improvements.

13. I want you to cure loneliness and depression….I want you to mend all of the broken hearts, minds, bodies and spirits, just like Humpty Dumpty put them back together again.

14. When you’re finished, I want you to put an end to reality TV. That way people can focus on their own dreams and lives to make this world better.

15. And finally, I want you to use all of the colors in the rainbow to paint the world tolerant, joyful, and make it a more loving place for people of all races, creeds, colors, sexes and religions.

I know, Santa, I’m being greedy. Heaven knows there’s enough of THAT in this world….so let me add greed to the list. I want you to stomp it out. Replace greed with generosity, with open hearts, minds and pocketbooks this holiday season–and all year long.

Santa, please do me a solid this year and make my wishes come true. And I promise, I won’t ask for anything else–except for the grace to keep hoping, praying, working for everything you might leave off of my list.

Big Hug,

Lisa

If you’re interested in more thoughts on integrity, compassion and grace–if you’re looking for exploratory questions to unearth pieces of your soul, check out my book Tao Flashes. Or visit me at http://www.facebook.com/taoflashes or on twitter @taoflashes

So Above, So Below: Holocaust Remembrance

Photo: Steve Burmester

I WROTE THE BONES OF THIS BLOG LAST YEAR.  I AM PUBLISHING AGAIN WITH UPDATES BECAUSE IT IS WORTH REPEATING ON THE ANNIVERSARY OF HOLOCAUST REMEMBRANCE DAY.

We live in a world where opposites co-exist: light and dark, yin and yang, good and evil, up and down. According to Taoism principles, opposites in nature exist to balance all things. Rain cools. Heat dries.

Paradoxically, it could be argued that these opposites actually create the whole. There is also a universal theory or principle of oneness which argues: What is in the one is in the whole. Or, so above so below.

I share this because today I am thinking about peace and war, good and evil, light and dark, and how these energies reside within each of us. And how when these energies are activated in mass force, they spill out into the collective unconsciousness. Sometimes for good. Sometimes for evil.

I am thinking about this as America commemorates Holocaust Remembrance Day. I am not Jewish. But I am a human being who feels remorse for the systematic slaying of millions of innocents during the Holocaust and for the collective wound it left us with. Even if we’re not conscious of the psychic wounding.

What is in the one, is in the whole. The wounds, even when not inflicted by us, are inflicted upon all of us. They leave an indelible mark on our psyches, make us a little harder, a little less trusting, a little less tolerant.

We might not even be aware of this truth.

All of this hangs out in the ethers as a reminder of what we’re capable of as humans. And while it may appear invisible, out there in the ethers, this darkness often manifests into form in the visible world, even in our personal worlds.

Think about it.

And let’s ask ourselves: Where are we at war with ourselves? What wounds do we carry from childhood into everyday life that keep us victims to the past, or worse, turn us into perpetrators who do violence to ourselves or others? Where do we become entitled, righteous and angry in our political or religious beliefs and sync up with “like-minded” people to rage against those who differ from us?

Fear is the enemy. And it’s opposite–love–is the healing balm.

Viktor Frankl, a noted psychiatrist, chronicled his time as a prisoner in the Auschwitz concentration camp during World War II and wrote about it in the book, Man’s Search for Meaning. In the midst of chaos, in the midst of unspeakable crimes, in the midst of inhumanity, he chose to focus on love. He knew the one thing that could balance evil was goodness, the one thing that could vanquish the dark was light, and the one thing that could drive away fear was love.

So, today, I am choosing love, while still shining the light on what was a dark period in history. There’s plenty more to look at–past and present. Like slavery. Or the Rwandan genocide; this year marks the 21st anniversary of the Rwandan genocide where 800,000 people were murdered within 100 day while most nations closed their eyes and wrung their hands in disbelief. Right now, Syria is at war, Iraq is under siege, and ISIS is spreading its evil across continents, while here at home….the Democrats and Republicans are at war with one another. And so it goes.

There is a price we all pay for war, war of any kind. It matters not if it is in our backyard or across distant continents. The pain and separation of war, anger, judgment, invades us all, snaking through invisible boundaries to infect our spirits and psyches. Because what happens out there can happen within us, if we are not aware.

Now one might argue that what is within us is what is projected outward to manifest distrust, betrayal, war. But I believe it works both ways. The darkness comes to us and it comes from within us.

So above so below.

So gird your loins. Choose the people you associate with, the organizations you affiliate with, wisely. Choose love as much as possible. Practice peace. Pray. Watch your words. Work on your inner world in the hopes that somehow, someday, we might affect our outer world.

If what is in the one is in the whole or the all, then let it be love.

If you’re interested in more thoughts on integrity, compassion and grace, particularly at midlife, read my book Tao Flashes.  Or visit me at www.facebook.com/taoflashes or on twitter @taoflashes.

My Greedy Christmas List

 

Dear Santa,

This Christmas, I want world peace. I want the riots to stop. I want ebola to be vanquished, and I want sex trafficking and the brutalization of women to stop. Just stop it.

I want you to Bring Back Our Girls, I want you to bring a stop to barbarism in the name of God and war.

I want ISIS warmongers to know that the goddess ISIS is Feminine, the patron spirit of women, the goddess of empowerment, magic and life. I want them to know they defile everything she represents.

Santa, I want you to end world hunger. Aids. Homelessness, too.

And while you’re sprinkling your fairy dust, I want a cure for cancer. All cancers, not just the ones that get all of the PR.

I want clean drinking water, the nectar of life, for everyone.

I want the school shootings to stop. I want an education for every single child on this earth because an educated child has options that don’t have to include poverty, racism, terrorism and ignorance.

I want jobs so people can feel useful, purposeful, resilient, and feed their families.

I want the droughts to end, the fires to burn away, and I want healthy chemical-free food for the masses.

I want you to quiet the earth, calm her, and keep her from quaking.

I want you to cure loneliness and depression….I want you to mend all of the broken hearts, minds, bodies and spirits, just like Humpty Dumpty put them back together again.

When you’re finished, I want you to put an end to reality TV. That way people can focus on their own dreams and lives to make this world better.

And finally, I want you to paint the world tolerant, joyful, and make it a more loving place for people of all races, creeds, colors, religions.

I know, Santa, I’m being greedy. Greedy. Greedy. Heaven knows there’s enough of THAT in this world….so let me add greed to the list. I want you to stomp it out. Replace greed with generosity, with open hearts, minds and pocketbooks.

Just this once, Santa. I promise, I won’t ask for anything else. Except for the grace to keep hoping, praying, working for everything you might leave off of my list.

Big Hug,

Lisa

If you’re interested in more thoughts on integrity, compassion and grace–if you’re looking for  exploratory questions to unearth pieces of your soul, check out my book Tao Flashes. Or visit me at http://www.facebook.com/taoflashes or on twitter @taoflashes