Tag Archives: warfare

Living Ornaments

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Posted by on in Assistance, collaborating, Community, Inspiration, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving

May 21, 2023- Who are we, to one another? I know that I am an inspiration to some, a guidepost to others and a nuisance to maybe a few. There are many who are beacons of light and warmth to me; others who represent the bar of achievement-my consciences, quite definitely, and a few, very few, who are the darkness, against which I can only gauge my own light.

Forms of taking advantage of one another have existed since mankind first formed social groups. Slavery and indentured servitude, differing form one another, only in degree, are themselves as old as warfare. The commercialization of those practices came later, of course, and set in motion genetic memory and social attitudes that persist in several areas of society today. Crimes against persons have also likely stemmed from the very mindset that has warfare and conflict as necessary evils.

Viewing others as mere ornaments, or appendages, to oneself is arguably the basest form of narcissism. None of us exists as the be all, the end all, of the human race-or of Creation. Yet, when we stumble, the legitimacy of other people’s existence is called into question-and even if this happens to a minute degree, the effect on the one doing the questioning is just as nefarious as the effect it has on the intended victims. No one who rapes, kills or even beats, another person can be said to go off into a blissful sunset-unscathed. No one who dehumanizes a group of other people, or a segment thereof, can truly feel honourable and blessed among humanity, much less in the sight of the Divine.

If we are to feel ornamental at all, let it be as living signs of the Gem of Wisdom.

Nuance

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Posted by on in collaborating, Inspiration, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving

October 4, 2019-

We have all seen and heard- over the past few days, months, years- those among us who shun nuance, skit tact and embrace the bullhorn-far more than the average person.  Granted, most of us drop the tact microphone every now and again. Fatigue, stress, runaway emotions can all factor in and create a thoroughly embarrassing moment-or extended series thereof.

Those who have followed me for several years, know that I’ve had my share of tact-free episodes.  I have to own those times, and if they get thrown in my face, it is best that I ponder the situation and see what remains to be learned.

We have had a few firestorms of nuance taking a vacation, over the past several years, and most recently the back and forth over responsibility for climate change, as well as diplomatic fracases.  The larger truth seems to be that every living thing affects the climate of the planet on which he, she or it lives.  We humans, being the most advanced creatures on Earth, have the greatest capacity for influencing such change, but I digress.

Humans, chimpanzees and ants are the three groups of animals most closely associated with warfare.  Ants use what Nature gave them.  The Primate species use tools, and unlike ants, can effect intentional destruction.  There is scant nuance in war.

Nuance is developed by adopting a mindset that gradual change is best; that things aren’t always, or even often, what they seem; that complexity is inherent in the human condition; that people are not prisoners of their past.  Nuance, like any other feature of civilization, requires an open mind, listening skills and an essential love for humanity, for sentient life.

I look forward to continuing to develop an appreciation for nuance.