SO many questions today! Loud voices telling me who and what I MUST believe and what I must NOT believe! and yet . . . I have SO many questions!
Mostly I do not ask my questions out loud – but they are there in my heart/mind making me feel uncertain and fearful and I feel lost, not in sync.
It is SO easy to look at others and see what is wrong with what they are saying and/or doing – BUT isn’t the more important question: what do I believe and say and do?
Perhaps this quote is worth considering: “We discover part of our true self only by conspicuous inspection of the depths of our conscience.” ― Kilroy J. Oldster, Dead Toad Scrolls
who am I? that is where I need to “shine the light” and discover if I am on the path that shows who I am!
looking at the “age of enlightenment” might help . . .
It seems a good time to review what I know about the “age of enlightenment,” a major influencer of where we are today — some of the “gains” made over that lengthy time in the history of the world appear to have been distorted (in my opinion) to draw many to follow a path that is NOT in line with the basic “goals” of that age . . .
The central doctrines of the Enlightenment were • individual liberty, • representative government, • the rule of law, and • religious freedom, in contrast to an absolute monarchy or single party state and the religious persecution of faiths other than those formally established and often controlled outright by the State.
SO, it would seem NOW to see what a comparison of our current society with the basic concepts put forth during the “age of enlightenment” would reveal . . .
what do I see “guiding” our society?
what “goals” do I see being pursued?
what results are being lived out in our world?
simple, not easy!
======= a more in-depth review of the Age of Enlightenment (approx. 1685–1815) would probably be very interesting . . . • Timeframe • Core Beliefs • Key Figures • Impact (then and now) • Intellectual Shifts and so much more ============
WORDS – powerful tools to build a world but also extremely effective weapons to destroy and conquer.
In my world today, I hear words being REDEFINED (given “new” meanings)
and I hear sacred texts being MISUSED / MISQUOTED (taken out of context, distorted, misapplied)
An example:
“awaken” has been cast aside by many and “woke” has been put forth as an undefined judgement, an insult no one seems able to give meaning to, hurled at someone who expresses a differing opinion
The usage of these two words shown in the charts reflecting usage would seem to indicate a concerning “trend” – using a word (woke) which most I have heard use do not have any definition of the word other than: “it means your are wrong!”
—”WOKE” usage has increased (an insult defined by each individual using it – meaning you do NOT want to be that)
—”AWAKEN” usage has gone down (to spring into being, arise, to rouse from sleep – in the past was a positive term)
I want to be “awakened” (to become aware and active) and I do NOT consider “woke” an insult ============ some thoughts from ― Suzy Kassem, Rise Up and Salute the Sun: The Writings of Suzy Kassem
“• We awaken by asking the right questions.
• We awaken when we see knowledge being spread that goes against our own personal experiences.
• We awaken when we see popular opinion being wrong but accepted as being right, and what is right being pushed as being wrong.
• We awaken by seeking answers in corners that are not popular.
• And we awaken by turning on the light inside when everything outside feels dark.” ============
WORDS – TOOLS or WEAPONS it is a choice . . .
———- a footnote: in the Etymology online site, this note appears as a part of the definition of “awake” to indicate an exception to “awake, awaken, wake” – basically identifying it as a word not falling under the guides for using “awaken” (The 2010s colloquial use of woke in relation to political and social awareness is an exception.)
a profound shift in the consciousness of humanity as we move from “me” to “we” was the “promise” of the 1960s – at least, that is what we thought!
BUT – what was our Mission of Promise – hopeful dreams? the impossible dream? or just the silliness of typical young people who think they know better than those who went before them?
Shreds of the hopeful ‘60s remained in the summer of 1969, and we clung to that like a life raft as we saw all that needed to be changed and knew WE could make those changes! Ah! the immortality of youth – the inability to believe in failure – the strength of a spirit that said “YES, WE CAN” to every doubting voice!
We had heard the stories about how World War Two had been won because of people coming together united in a common cause to overcome the odds and victory resulted! Those who had horribly abused, starved, and murdered people had been stopped – and WE could gain that victory for people in our own generation, in our own country . . . we KNEW WE could and WE should!
And so it began – • Civil Rights Movement • The Student Movement • The Anti-Vietnam War Movement • The Women’s Movement • Gay Rights Movement • Environmental Movement
ALL to bring about changes to long-standing political, social, economic, and legal practices against people, destruction of life in a war that was for profit of a few and not winnable, and to call attention to abuse of our natural resources.
Although specific goals differed, all of the movements were built on the ideal of citizen-activism and a belief that social justice could be won through political change.
The focus was always to take steps for “the common good” – to make love for each other and for all of creation be the driving force for decisions we made and those made FOR us by those WE elected to represent us – the “government” was “WE, the people” and it should do what we want it to do – for ALL and we raised our voices to make sure OUR representatives heard the message!
• The civil rights movement, the women’s movement, and the gay rights movement demanded that Americans consider equality for ALL citizens in the United States. • The student movement probed the meaning of freedom in the United States. • The anti-Vietnam War movement asked Americans to consider the use of national power and the appropriateness of their government’s foreign policy. • Environmentalists asked what good America’s economic growth was if it resulted in the destruction of the planet.
WE believed the Mission of Promise – the Promise of life in a world for ALL – was up to us to make happen – it was our world and our purpose was to make it a better world – WE bought into the foolish idea that if Love was put in the driver’s seat and everyone lived it, those driven by greed or selfishness or a need to control or dominate others would be led to be better people as their hearts were changed by an awareness of humanity around them . . . unfortunately, we learned that we had made a Mistake of Priority . . .
1969 – the song from the musical “Hair” “the Age of Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In” still stirs my heart with a mix of longing and sadness at the hope and the failure of our “Age of Aquarius” when we were filled with an overwhelming sense of empowerment – a strong certainty that we were living in a time when we were destined to change our world, to make it a better place for all – to restore LOVE as the focus of the whole world!
At 8 years old, I had received a message I believed was from God that I was supposed to share with everyone and the message was simple – God loves everyone and God wants everyone to love everyone and love would be the answer to every question. Simple, not easy!
Even at 8 years old, I found sharing that message got me a lot of ridicule and I was told to stop making up stories and being “silly.” In the 1960s-1970s, I found the reaction to the message of Love that my friends and I tried to share got the same reactions in general. “Stop being silly – the world does not work that way – you are just looking for an easy way out of having to work,” etc. How could anyone be so against Love???
But in 1969, the “Message of Power” was one of overwhelming Power to all who had ears to hear! Those naysayers were right, of course – it was not rational, it was not logical, and it was totally out of line with anything we had ever known before.
WE FELT THE AMAZING POWER and it blocked out everything else! That “comet” streaking across the sky shined a revealing light on a call that could not be ignored, we had to “ride” that power of the sky to a new world that we knew should be, the world that was always meant to be, the world the Creator wanted restored . . . it was the “Age of Aquarius” and we were being empowered by the unseen Force beyond all comprehension, THE “higher power, to do what must be done . . . NOW – HERE – US!
The Message of Power was totally consuming – it was our destiny – it was right! The “Age of Aquarius,” that comet, that Power that could not be stopped was living in us – driving a mission far beyond our understanding – a POWER beyond us and WE COULD NOT FAIL!!! ———-Lyrics (partial): Harmony and understanding Sympathy and trust abounding No more falsehoods or derisions Golden living dreams of visions Mystic crystal revelation And the mind’s true liberation Aquarius Aquarius
When the moon is in the Seventh House And Jupiter aligns with Mars Then peace will guide the planets And love will steer the stars
This is the dawning of the age of Aquarius
(“Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In” by The 5th Dimension was written by Galt MacDermot, Gerome Ragni & James Rado.)
do my words speak of the “mind of Christ” OR do my words speak of a “fleshly” heart filled with judgement and condemnation of others –
do my actions speak of the life of Jesus, the Christ, who freely healed and fed and taught all who came to him –
what is my nature that shows in what I create? —- Why do you see the speck in your neighbor’s eye but do not notice the log in your own eye? Or how can you say to your neighbor, ‘Friend, let me take out the speck in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbor’s eye.
“No good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit; for each tree is known by its own fruit. For people do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they pick grapes from a bramble bush. The good person out of the good treasure of the heart produces good, and the evil person out of evil treasure produces evil, for it is out of the abundance of the heart that the mouth speaks.
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Jeanne
Jeanne H Barnett's Blog 