Tuesday, February 17, 2009

No lack of wisdom
















1928 “When the great leaders of banking and industry can see no further than the artificial prosperity that comes to Big Business while those who toil on farms are getting no return for their labor, then indeed we have a right to question the wisdom of our financial leaders.” George Norris, in “The Farmers’ Situation, a National Danger”



Laying in bed last night, curled up next to my husband, safe, warm and ever grateful for this simple pleasure which I get to experience nightly, I had the the seedlings of this blog germinating in my head. I remember wondering as I drifted off to sleep about the circles and cycles of us simple creatures.


Every where you turn right now, you can read a quote from the 1920's & 30's which could easily be describing our situation today. And going back further into history, from this perspective, you can see the pattern repeating over and over. Many minds have come to this same conclusion (hence the interest in quotations from the time) and yet, here we are again - this always puzzles me. However, having observed my own tendency to mindlessly rerun the same behaviours that were not effective the first, second or third time, I am clearer on the apparent hard-wiring.


This is clearly not because we don't have the knowledge about how to interrupt - we most certainly do. Interfering with the habits which don't serve us is the basic premise of all spiritual growth so when do we actually put this logic into action?? This seems to me to be the next jump in our evolution - and the piece that needs that inexplicable leap forward - baby steps are not going to cut it!


Once again this esoteric conversation gets grounded in reality with me. Current status of "grammy-to-be" has this talk of evolution or extinction of our species seem very important. I am sending energy for this little person to have not only great brilliance but to gain practical wisdom at an early age. A generation of young people trained from birth in observing their habitual nature and getting that they have a choice - now that will make a significant difference. Perhaps that is the gift my peers as the elders can be sharing with our wee ones. Gentle reminders, as grandparents can, of the virtue of "wanting to do the right thing, in the right way for the right reasons" (from Barry Schwartz' talk on TED www.ted.com posted yesterday).

This is not very different than the talks I had with my Gammy - she always advised me to "get the work done first" and look for the best in people. Pretty good advice for a great life. I hope to be able to grandmother as well as she did. Oh, and by the way - the ultrasound today indicated we should expect a boy - woo hoo!

2 comments:

taitle said...

Congratulations :)

I sometimes think that history is repeating again but we do live in a different age with different technology.

caroldiane said...

yes, and that may very well be our saving grace - being able to reach out so easily to others!