Are We Really THAT Different?

A while back my dear friend Kimala had posted this youTube link. I watched it and then a few days later I saw it on television myself. I tucked this link away for safe keeping wanting to give my own two cents. However, I got caught up in way too many other things that should not take precedence over living together in peace. Yes, I am still on a rampage about peace. I will continue on this mind-set until people really start getting a clue.

So, we may live in different parts of the world. Perhaps our skin is of different tones and our accents are a bit different' if we speak the same language at all. Deep down inside we are all living, breathing beings who deserve to be treated with the utmost respect. If we focused more on the things we have in common and less on the differences we could all at the very least get along better then we do now.

The question we need to ask ourselves is if harmony is something we truly want. From wee babes we are are taught to hate. We learn how to despise the same people our forefathers despised. Children watch as their parents curse and verbally abuse those who are different from them. They learn by watching and through careful observation. I sat by and listened to all the derogatory comments made by my parents and grandparents against black people. I cringed when these things would be said in secret and then in public they would be denied. What kind of a message are we sending to our young?

Every day we walk around with blinders on only seeing the things we want to see about other people. This person looks like me and has the same political views as I have, therefore they must be a good person. This person has a different skin tone and speaks a language I don't know and he wears something strange on his head; therefore he must be a bad person. Perhaps your thought process may not be as black and white as that, but does it not hold that we do this subconsciously? If we did have such a black and white view of things we might better be able to differentiate between what is to be kept and what is to be tossed aside as we seek out those we would spend time with.

Look at each other as human beings ~ skin, bones and blood. Forget about the political, religious and ethnic differences. Stop being so pig-headed and narrow-minded. If a dog and an elephant can be best friends, why can't a Democrat and a Republican; a Christian and a Jew, a Protestant and a Muslim? Take the blinders off your eyes and put them back on the horses and jackasses where they belong. Open your mind to see how much you have to learn from others around the world as well as in your own back yard. Take a lesson from Bella and Tara, two creatures who the world would think should never know each other let alone become best friends. If they can do it, I have a glimmer of hope for the human race.

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Sweat Equity & Greed

Last month I posted about the John Lennon song "War Is Over". While some just look at this as a pretty Christmas song they miss the truth that lies in plain sight. This song should be re-written and made for all year long. The message of peace and living together harmoniously should be a message that we share every day of the year and not just the last few days of a year. This is almost understandable to have a song about peace played when it is when giving a look back at my last post which covered resolutions. We tend to use the last few days of the calendar year to look back and take stock in our lives. I am always amazed at the amount of time, energy and resources expended from mid November till the first of January. Tears fill my heart when ads come on promoting some sort of fundraiser for charities providing food for the poor and needy for the holidays. When I go to stores and see the bell ringers I feel a bit of nausea rise up in the depth of my soul.

Some of you have either left this post or become enraged with what I just said. Hold onto the anger whilst I explain. I am not against giving to charities and helping the poor and needy in the least. What upsets me is that the only time these agencies seem to try to make an overt effort to help is during the end of the year holidays. Some say that it is because this is when the population in general is more benevolent. Why is it that people can only be giving of their time and money during one time of year? The poor and needy are poor and needy 365 days a years not just for a couple of holidays.

I spent New Years Eve in Second Life. My friends decided to have a continual celebration helping all of the time zones ring in the New Year. We started with Australia and went till some where around 5 am EST (I know that was when I sent everyone home so I could go to bed). One of my friends began posting things around the bistro she owns about peace, including several statements by Yoko Ono. We talked about peace for quite a while and I brought up the John Lennon song. My eyes began to well with tears as I pondered the message of that song and read the Ono quotes. I finally asked those in the crowd, "why can't the leaders of the world see just how simple it would be to have peace?" Someone comment, "Because of greed." The means to have peace is so very simple, however, the excuse for not having peace is embarrassingly simple.

This morning I got up and turned the television on to prepare for the news (well, cartoons first and last with a little news in between). There was a program on and they were interviewing former Baltimore Oriole, Cal Ripken, Jr. He was talking about things he learned from his father, the late Cal Ripken, Sr. He made a comment about "sweat equity". This is kind of like "Success is 10% inspiration and 90% perspiration". The two words struck me and I jotted them down and headed to the shower. Those who know me, know that my mind is always a whirl of words. Yes, I was still pondering this statement in the shower and recalling the comment made on New Years Eve about greed standing in the way of peace. Right away I knew where my thoughts were leading ~~ this post.

There are so many people around the world who have more money then they know what to do with. However, they only seem to be able to give to charities certain times a year and the way the media covers it the only reason they give is to make themselves look like caring human beings. As a whole, world-wide, we need to loosen the purse strings and loosen our hearts to others around us and put forth sweat equity to banish the greed that is standing in the way of living in peace with each other.