Feed the Soul.

( – promoted by NLinStPaul)

Cross posted at The Big Orange

I was reading the diary by Kestrel9000  a minute ago and was reminded again of the tragic realities that much of humanity is suffering through.  We continue to survive under the system of worldwide corporate oppression where human beings are regarded only as variables of their profit equations, and if your place on their spreadsheets is determined to be of no value to them, you are allowed to be starved, ignored, exploited for political gain, and blamed for your own condition. Your lands and resources will be stolen, at best you can look forward to a life of abject poverty and isolation from your cultural history, subjugated to your corporate overlords profit margins, and cast away like a worn out shoe when they have exacted every penny they can from you and your people. Perhaps people will wake up and see that the line between Corporations and Governments no longer exists in any meaningful way. They are one and the same.

Perhaps a look at the wisdom of the elders is in order.

When all the trees have been cut down,

when all the animals have been hunted,

when all the waters are polluted,

when all the air is unsafe to breathe,

only then will you discover you cannot eat money.

Cree Prophecy

People are suffering throughout the world and with the exception of those affected and a few conscious people here and there, their agony is largely ignored. I am well aware of the efforts like Live Aid and numerous other charitable organizations that are doing the work the rest of the world has abandoned, but it isn’t enough. What we need is a re-learning of what it means to be a human being.

Like the grasses showing tender faces to each other,

thus should we do,

for this was the wish of the Grandfathers of the World.

Black Elk

The tender face of humanity. I am my brothers keeper. We are all in this together.

Humankind has not woven the web of life.

We are but one thread within it.

Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves.

All things are bound together.

All things connect.

Chief Seattle, 1854

All of us are aware of the climate crisis brought on by the relentless lust for money and a complete disregard for the consequences or impact on our planet. Nothing we are doing at this point is sustainable.

Manufacturing, Agriculture, Heating and Cooling our living spaces, the very basics of our lives all consume and pollute our earth and will eventually kill us all if we don’t change.

Treat the earth well.

It was not given to you by your parents,

it was loaned to you by your children.

We do not inherit the Earth from our Ancestors,

we borrow it from our Children.

Ancient Indian Proverb

Before anything can change we must look inward and accept our places in the Great Mystery.

I cannot help you if I cannot help myself.

The True Peace

The first peace, which is the most important,

is that which comes within the souls of people

when they realize their relationship,

their oneness, with the universe and all its powers,

and when they realize that at the center

of the universe dwells Wakan-Taka (the Great Spirit),

and that this center is really everywhere, it is within each of us.

This is the real peace, and the others are but reflections of this.

The second peace is that which is made between two individuals,

and the third is that which is made between two nations.

But above all you should understand that there can never

be peace between nations until there is known that true peace,

which, as I have often said, is within the souls of men.

Black Elk, Oglala Sioux & Spiritual Leader (1863 – 1950)

Sometimes I have an idea or an issue that I am passionate about, sometimes I am sure that I am right.

I want and need to be heard. I need to remember that people on the other side of my conclusions have the same needs too.

O’ GREAT SPIRIT

help me always

to speak the truth quietly,

to listen with an open mind

when others speak,

and to remember the peace

that may be found in silence.

Cherokee Prayer

We live in a high tech world where every new advance is seen as victory for society, and more efficient ways of destroying the earth for profit are applauded as progress.

I do not think the measure of a civilization

is how tall its buildings of concrete are,

But rather how well its people have learned to relate

to their environment and fellow man.

Sun Bear of the Chippewa Tribe

Sometimes progress isn’t. Sometimes we move backwards, away from that which makes us sensitive to our brother and sister human beings, and sometimes progress severs even the ties that bind us to the mystery of creation.

We do not want schools….

they will teach us to have churches.

We do not want churches….

they will teach us to quarrel about God.

We do not want to learn that.

We may quarrel with men sometimes

about things on this earth,

but we never quarrel about God.

We do not want to learn that.

Heinmot Tooyalaket ( Chief Joseph), Nez Perce Leader

As a human being I am a paradox.  I am weak and defenseless.  I am powerful and deadly.

I am blinded by my oneness, I am a seer through my consciousness.

I love and I hate. I am an oppressor and a saviour. All I can do is get up each day and do the next best thing.

It is good to have some guidelines to live by, below is the best I have ever found.

Were I to be even remotely successful, I will have lived a good life.

So live your life that the fear of death can never enter your heart.

Trouble no one about their religion;

respect others in their view, and demand that they respect yours.

Love your life, perfect your life, beautify all things in your life.

Seek to make your life long and its purpose in the service of your people.

Prepare a noble death song for the day when you go over the great divide.

Always give a word or a sign of salute when meeting or passing a friend,

even a stranger, when in a lonely place.

Show respect to all people and grovel to none.

When you arise in the morning give thanks for the food and for the joy of living.

If you see no reason for giving thanks, the fault lies only in yourself.

Abuse no one and no thing, for abuse turns the wise ones to fools

and robs the spirit of its vision.

When it comes your time to die, be not like those whose hearts are filled

with the fear of death, so that when their time comes they weep

and pray for a little more time to live their lives over again in a different way.

Sing your death song and die like a hero going home.

Chief Tecumseh (Crouching Tiger) Shawnee Nation 1768-1813

I hope the holidays find you warm, sheltered and fed.

Peace.

Certain things catch your eye,

But pursue only those

that capture your heart.

old indian saying