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Thursday, January 13, 2005
Friday, January 14, 2005
Anyone can become angry - that is easy. But to be angry with the right person, to the right degree, at the right time, for the right purpose, and in the right way - that is not easy. - Aristotle, The Nicomachean Ethics
There is a deep wisdom in this for those of us angry about the war in Iraq, the discrimination against gays and lesbians, the inequities between rich and poor, and the other injustices in our society. To get angry is too easy. We must seek a more sophisticated answer. This does not mean it will be devoid of anger. But we must work harder at it than the simple act of getting angry requires. If people work for decades to find cures for disease, do we think it will be any easier to find the cure for injustice? We must work the problem.
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Thursday, January 13, 2005
Back in 1979 I did the est training. It was one of the most profound experiences of my life. It made me realize, for the first time, that it was OK to be me, just the way I am and just the way I am not. At the end of the training, they passed out a little book of aphorisms. These were a few of my favorites:
You don't get to vote on the way it is. You already did.
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You don't have to go looking for love when it is where you come from.
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Happiness is a function of accepting what is.
Love is a function of communication.
Health is a function of participation.
Self Expression is a function of responsibility.
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Life is a ripoff when you expect to get what you want.
Life works when you choose what you got.
Actually what you got is what you chose.
To move on, choose it.
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If youre not all right the way you are
it takes a lot of effort to get better.
Realize you're all right the way you are,
and you'll get better naturally.
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If you could really accept that you weren't ok you could stop proving you were ok.
If you could stop proving that you were ok you could get that it was ok not to be ok.
If you could get that it was ok not to be ok you could get that you were ok the way you are.
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If God told you exactly what it was you were to do, you would be happy doing it no matter what it was.
What you're doing is what God wants you to do.
Be happy.
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Wednesday, January 12, 2005
Wednesday, January 12, 2005
Steve Jobs is a genius. I have to say he is every bit as inspiring to me as Martin Luther King. Anyone who tries to push past the rusted inertia of the status quo to show the world the future - to show it bold new ways of thinking, is an inspiration. This is what it means to be queer. And you don't have to be gay to embody it. In fact, most gay people don't.
Check out the QuickTime video of Steve Jobs' new product introductions at MacWorld yesterday. It's on the Apple site.
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Tuesday, January 11, 2005
Tuesday, January 11, 2005
The sky is back in Los Angeles again, blue as ever, after what feels like weeks of its absence. What a soaking. The sky is always up there, being blue, and the sun is always shining, whether we can see it or not. Blue sky is the larger context. There may be snow and rain and lighting and thunder and fog and hail, but it's all contained inside a great big sphere of blue sky and bright sun. Martin Luther King said that, "the arc of moral history is long, but it bends towards justice." And Victor Hugo said that, "nothing is as powerful as an idea whose time has come." Both of these things speak to a larger context. Why does the arc bend toward justice? What bends it? What decides when an idea’s time has come? My experience is that it is something larger than us, and that it is there and it is real. Call that God or the collective good energies and intentions of humanity, or whatever else. There is a blue sky and a sun shining above all the war and hatred and violence. So don't be discouraged by the clouds. Give the weight of your passions to the arc, and be on the lookout for the ideas whose time are coming. There is something bigger at work.
And if the blue sky is the context for our world, what is the context for the blue sky? We are. Imagine that. And this is why I believe, against all odds, we are headed for a miraculous future.
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Monday, January 10, 2005
Monday, January 10, 2005
"Violence is not practical." Ayn Rand
"Power always protects the good of some at the expense of others. Only love can attain and preserve the good of all. Any claim to build the security of all on force is a manifest imposture." Thomas Merton
"We need new ways of thinking. A $300 billion military budget has not given us any security. American military bases all over the world, our warships on every ocean, have not given us security. We need to rethink our position in the world. . .Our security can only come by using our national wealth, not for guns, planes, bombs, but for the health and welfare of our people - for free medical care for everyone, education and housing, guaranteed decent wages, and a clean environment for all." Howard Zinn
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Sunday, January 09, 2005
Sunday, January 9, 2005
The thing that has been most difficult for me to overcome in life is the desire for people to like me. When it is not an option for someone to dislike you, you are left with very few options. And one of the options you are sure to have eliminated is staying true to your heart. Because staying true to your heart is sure to upset at least half of the people around you. If you are unwilling to have them be upset, you will sacrifice your heart. You will trade your happiness for their acceptance. And in the long run, people won't like you anyway.
If you suffer from the same affliction, you must learn to reverse the wiring. For us, this is completely counter-intuitive. If someone is upset with you, you must begin to regard that as ultimatley positive.
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