Thursday, April 19, 2007

I do not watch the news nor do I read the newspaper. This may seem odd to some, even naive...to live in a world that is now so permiated with variations of media and a plethera ways to access it...however, it's the way I choose to live.

When Babe heard about Virginia's tradgedy on Monday, he purposely didn't bring up the subject, he knows how I feel about the constant bombardment of doom and gloom that the media perpetuates. Instead, it was first in the blogworld that I heard about the masacre whereupon I purposely avoided all aspects of the coverage thereafter.

Sound selfish? No, it's self-protection. My heart is maxed out on the amount of sorrow it can hold inside. That doesn't mean that I'm not compassionate about the suffering that happens on the planet that I live on (or about the masacre), it simply means that I cannot and will not subject myself to any more agony, treachery and corruption...in my view, it's pure poison. I'd rather spend the energy and choose to focus and surround myself with goodness, kind-heartedness and ethicality.

Avoiding anything having to do with the masacre proved harder than I thought as not only was it covered by every form of media, but also it was all abuzz in the blogworld. I came upon this...NakedJen posted a lovely prayer that her husband received from The Mankind Project...and I agree with Jen, I think this prayer could apply to mankind instead of just men...

My friends,
Pray for men.
Pray for boys in men's bodies.
Pray for the boys that they were.
I am in pain this morning, grieving the tragedy in
Virginia, the tragedy in Dafur, the tragedy in Iraq
- the thousands of tragedies that are happening right now
that none of us know about.
Men are picking up guns and getting ready to kill.
Men are mistaking their deep fear and bottomless grief for rage and righteousness.
Men are believing that they are ALONE when they are only lonely and disconnected.
Men are covering themselves in impenetrable armor to protect their soft cores.
This is the crisis of masculinity.
90 gun deaths every day in America.
90% committed by men and boys.
1 in 4 women assaulted or raped before the age of 18 - by a man - usually a man they know. These are our mothers, sisters and daughters.
This tragedy in Virginia started with male violence against a woman.
(like so many others)This is the crisis of masculinity.
So here is our challenge as NEW WARRIORS.
To rewire our reactivity.
To feel the fear and grief and help others feel it.
To protect our communities from OURSELVES.
These men out there are us.
These are the living shadows that we have looked at in ourselves.
The answer is not to get tougher.
I must get softly PRESENT, I must get gently AWARE.
I must share this AWARENESS, this SENSE OF BEING with other men and boys
- to allow them to FEEL and to take conscious action in the world.
To respond to their worlds rather than react.
We have to move through the ANGER and FEAR, we have to FEEL IT - unprotected, vulnerable, safe.
This is what we are inviting men to step into.
I bless the work you are doing today as a New Warrior.
I bless the fear and sadness.I bless the quiet center of your being - that is ready to take conscious action. Write letters today.
Call Congress (202-224-3121).Pull your family close and share yourself with them.
I'm in, with sadness and hope.

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