We could sit here all day
talking about how the news man is always lying
or how both parties are functionally the same
or how the Bastards toil endlessly to hide the truth from us
or how we know better than all those foolish brainwashed sheep
who are just trying to survive another day on this earth.
We could sit here all day doing that.
Or,
maybe,
just for this one moment,
we could look inward
and be honest with ourselves.
Maybe just for this moment
we could ask if we are truly being present here
and perhaps contemplate what it is we might be running from.
Maybe just for this moment
we could be real about what ways we continue lying to ourselves
and try breathing the light of truth onto those endarkened areas.
Maybe just for this moment
we could stop escaping into smugness and self-righteousness,
into ideological conflict and drama,
into paranoia and suspicion of anyone who stands out,
into worry and fear of what’s coming,
and be here now.
And maybe we will find deep wounds inside.
And maybe we can heal those wounds.
And maybe we will find conflicted aspects of ourselves.
And maybe we can move from conflict to integrity.
And maybe we will find all the parts of ourselves which run to escape from here.
And maybe we can love them, and reassure them, and nurture them into presence.
And maybe then we’ll look around,
and notice that the smoke has cleared from our vision.
And maybe we’ll notice all sorts of things we’d never noticed before.
Things about ourselves.
Things about the life we’ve been living.
Things about our social circles and relationships.
Things about our political system and government.
Things about our media and information systems.
Things which were previously hidden by cowardice and compartmentalizing.
And maybe we’ll start seeing opportunities we’d never noticed before.
Doors and windows which were previously invisible to us.
New escape routes and entryways
as we realize we’d been looking at a 3-D model in two dimensions.
And maybe then we’ll have a chuckle
as we realize that the sages across the ages were right.
That it really is all one.
That we are inseparable from the whole.
That any consciousness brought to any area helps awaken the totality.
That the greatest gift anyone can bring to the world
is their own self-realization.
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28 responses to “Just For This Moment”
Yes
Beautiful
and inspiring
Thanks Caitlin for the reminder to ‘attune’ to our infinite cosmos. Thanks also for all of your contributions to stimulating important discussions.
“That we are inseparable from the whole.”
It depends…
In the days of Noah, Noah and his family were separated from the whole because they were the only people of good faith on earth at that time, everybody else being of bad faith.
So today all the lies and all the people adhering to lies show that most people, and it is so sad to have to say that, are of bad faith.
It is because we are living in the return of the days of Noah just before the Second Coming of Jesus… so I pray the Rosary to hasten the return of Jesus because I do have seen enough bs.
And the “whole” surprised me a lot since 9/11 keeping on trusting mainstream medias, politicians and the “System”‘s ruling elites.
I have to admit that I did not know the “whole” very well 20 years ago but many events since, especially 9/11, have opened my eyes.
So, I realized we were living in the return of the days of Noah and, as it was in those days, people will endorse anything, any lie to maintain social status, money, assets etc…
Truth does not matter. Only interest. Very very disappointing.
The only good news is that the Second Coming of Jesus is very near since we are in the return of the days of Noah and I pray the Rosary to hasten His Glorious return because I do have seen more than enough.
Beautiful writing! Thanks Caitlin!
FWIW – Per Susskind’s and ‘t Hooft’s Holographc Principle, a tenet of string theory, the 3D universe is an illusion which is projected on a 2D surface (a very large surface).
Yes become the change you wish to see. This concept has been taught for thousands of years and is still true today.
To be clear: Iran will try its best to avoid all-out war. The U.S. will not. This is the war that, as the NYT reports, “Hawks in Israel and America have spent more than a decade agitating for.” It will start, upon some pretext, with a full-scale U.S. air attack on Iran, followed by Iranian and allied attacks on U.S. forces and allies in the region, including Israel, and then an Israeli nuclear attack on Iran—which they think will end it. It is an incomprehensible disaster. And it’s becoming almost impossible to avoid. Please read this great article here:
https://www.counterpunch.org/2020/01/24/aftermath-the-iran-war-after-the-soleimani-assassination/
Another great site designed for the thinking mind: https://blog.nomorefakenews.com/2020/01/25/my-tutorial-on-disinformation/
Another great site designed to help one think: https://www.collective-evolution.com/
Trying to breathe… Thanks, Caitlin!
In a way, the time to reason with people that prefer lies is almost past.
Those who prefer lies because it fit their ambitions in life will continue to accept every lie told to them.
It is decadence similar to the decadence in the days of Noah; and we are currently in the return of the days of Noah just before the Second Coming of Jesus and I pray the Rosary to hasten His Glorious return because I do have seen more than enough of all the bs.
Sorry to be a party pooper, but try to convince a homeless, starving, freezing person curled up on the sidewalk who’s just been sprayed by filthy slush from a passing limousine, that he’s “inseparable from the whole” and that the greatest gift he can bring to the world is his own self-realisation.
This world is a hellhole, brutal,and unfair, cruelly divided to favour the privileged few,. I realized this a long. long time ago. What I also realized, no matter how much I fight against it, the status quo remain unchanged. That’s the unmitigated truth – maybe just for this one moment…
Yes, life is hard. But in feudal times 99% were struggling to survive. Today we have a middle class in most countries. Some larger some smaller. This middle class is far better off than the poor which will always be with us. Be thankful that you are not the poor homeless person struggling to survive with often mental problems.
THANK YOU!
Some of your best work right here. You are an amazing writer and touch many people with your work. Thank you, Lynn
I really like stanza 5, perhaps because it resonates with a personal philosophy that I began developing when observing the Watergate events, the work of the congressional committee investigating and questioning witnesses, and finally Nixon’s resignation. It seemed to me that it all would have been simpler and shorter if Nixon had told the truth from the beginning and instructed his people to tell the truth to investigators. It probably would have ended quickly. Nixon would have survived the embarrassment and got on with governing. Instead, more and more energy was consumed in lying to defend a lie covering a lie …
It seemed that truth simply exists. It needs nothing from me. But a lie requires my energy to exist. One of the sayings I taught my children based on this is “Live right and good things tend to happen.” Living right means trying to get as close as possible to Truth. If things aren’t going well and bad things tend to happen, then look for the lie and get rid of it.
Working at this for a few decades, I learned more. In the last decade or so, I have added “The hardest lie for me to detect and get rid of is a lie I tell myself about myself.”
We are IN this world but not OF it. There are only two days in a week that we can’t do anything and that is yesterday and tomorrow. The condition of our today is a result of yesterday and, surely, if tomorrow comes, it will be a result of today. Being present in this moment in pursuit of truth and integrity could never be the wrong path. Nature is perfect and all providing, but it is man and his loss of connection to the whole that has brought us to this moment. The universe is too complicated for us to figure out while here but our reason for being isn’t.
The House by the Side of the Road
by Sam Walter Foss (1858-1911)
There are hermit
souls that live withdrawn
In the peace of their self-content;
There are souls, like stars, that dwell apart,
In a fellowless firmament;
There are pioneer souls that blaze their paths
Where highways never ran;-
But let me live by the side of the road
And be a friend to man.
Let me live in a house
by the side of the road,
Where the race of men go by-
The men who are good and the men who are bad,
As good and as bad as I.
I would not sit in the scorner’s seat,
Or hurl the cynic’s ban;-
Let me live in a house by the side of the road
And be a friend to man.
I see from my house
by the side of the road,
By the side of the highway of life,
The men who press with the ardor of hope,
The men who are faint with the strife.
But I turn not away from their smiles nor their tears-
Both parts of an infinite plan;-
Let me live in my house by the side of the road
And be a friend to man.
I know there are brook-gladdened
meadows ahead
And mountains of wearisome height;
That the road passes on through the long afternoon
And stretches away to the night.
But still I rejoice when the travelers rejoice,
And weep with the strangers that moan,
Nor live in my house by the side of the road
Like a man who dwells alone.
Let me live in my
house by the side of the road
Where the race of men go by-
They are good, they are bad, they are weak, they are strong,
Wise, foolish- so am I.
Then why should I sit in the scorner’s seat
Or hurl the cynic’s ban?-
Let me live in my house by the side of the road
And be a friend to man.
Thanks Caitlin. Lovely.
Nice! The world is interconnected. All living tgings matter greatly, the world is not here gor our exploitation or enjoyment. We must fit in with all other living creatures and pla ts. It us our disconnected ness that causes our dillusuon that we are the only thing that matters on this planet. This article addresses this very well. I eoukd only add – really consider veganism. Its easy, fake meat tastes a lot like meat, yet no animaks get killed for the sake of your taste buds. And it will takeca hugecload off this well over loaded planet!
YES! Hardly anyone is talking about how animal agriculture produces more greenhouse gases than the entire transportation sector, nor how much water it uses, plus the water pollution and soil destruction from animal ag. Not only is eating plant-based better for the survival of Earth, it’s better for your health. Vegans live longer (and in better health!) than meat eaters and vegetarians. Watch the Forks Over Knives doc, Dr. Greger on YouTube / NutrionFacts.org , and read up on Dr. Neil Barnard (Physicians for Responsible Medicine). We need to do all we can to reduce usage of fossil fuels, but that’s not enough. We also have to cut out animal ag.
* Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine pcrm.org
Truth. One of my favorite things you’ve written.
Thank you.
Truth.
One of my favorite things you’ve written.
Hi Caitlin , so good post , as USA the Christian country does not care about Christ’s words : and Truth makes you free… mentally, physically and spiritually… let us bastards suffer by their words…. all the best.
Yes. Thank you. It’s easy to get lost in this.
Yep. The unexamined life is not good but, apparently, common.
Thanks, Caitlin — Yes- what path shall a person take in these insane times.