Reading this, I found myself asking: what if the effort we spend resisting, criticizing, and objecting were redirected into building something new? Even a little of that shift feels like it could change everything.
I’ve always loved the idea of having more places where we can speak openly with strangers. That was part of the promise of the internet, but it didn’t quite turn out that way. Chat isn’t the same as sitting face-to-face, feeling the risk and warmth of real conversation over a drink or a meal.
I feel a kind of melancholy about that, like in Midnight in Paris—thinking of pubs, cafés, and saloons where people once gathered to talk, argue, and listen. We seem to have fewer of those spaces now.
What we have instead is self-censorship. Not because we’re forbidden to speak, but because we’re afraid of being misunderstood or ridiculed. So we filter ourselves before anyone else has to.
I wish we could build more spaces where that fear mattered less and curiosity mattered more—not behind screens, but in the real world.
Great wisdom...so hard to put into practice in this onslaught of authoritarianism. I'm going to a nonprofit event today that is about the wildlife of the night, the darkness itself. Light pollution is causing great harm to all kinds of beings, but the fantastic book Night Magic celebrates the darkness and its beings. So it's the love I'll be thinking about today, not light.
Totally agree, Colin! I find that I find more joy in working with children in rural areas who are not even aware of what they lack! They are eager to learn, play and engage with me, and fill my life perhaps much more than I do theirs. Still, when I hear about the atrocities back home, it raises concerns about how many people will suffer, and what the fallout will be.
This is the first thing I've read of yours and honestly, I loved it. It was a good reminder for me about what I know to be true. Pushing against anything doesn't make it go away; if anything, it only gives it more life / energy. Thank you......
Don’t chase the darkness, turn on a light.” It is an amazing shift in perspective.
I would love to have you partner up with Shankar Vedantam, who does the “Hidden Brain” broadcast on National Public Radio, and explore how this idea can shift a persons way of living.
First time reader here, but I'm struck by your statement:
"If there is such a thing as evil, I think I know how it wins. It wins by getting us to fight it. And in fighting it, we fall into the danger of ourselves becoming an instrument of evil."
I am a disciple of Yeshua of Nazareth and I intuit that this is why he emphatically stated to "resist no evil" in the so-called Sermon on the Mount in the Gospel of Matthew. I suspect it is because "evil" was not "created," but has come into existence through our human consciousness; a consciousness which does not know what it is, where it is, or especially WHY it is.
I lived about 2 blocks away at 34th Street and Park Ave in Minneapolis. Imagine my shock, I recognized the houses from my old neighborhood and was compelled to watch and now I can't stop watching and wondering how my friends in MPLS are doing!! Your note was very helpful. I am putting my energy into PZC these days and just trying to help the people I encounter. That's the only thing I can do ... practice Don't Know and try to help my current neighbors. Thank you for your teaching! Robin
Reading this, I found myself asking: what if the effort we spend resisting, criticizing, and objecting were redirected into building something new? Even a little of that shift feels like it could change everything.
Do it now, Margo? Say a little of what we would build.
I’ve always loved the idea of having more places where we can speak openly with strangers. That was part of the promise of the internet, but it didn’t quite turn out that way. Chat isn’t the same as sitting face-to-face, feeling the risk and warmth of real conversation over a drink or a meal.
I feel a kind of melancholy about that, like in Midnight in Paris—thinking of pubs, cafés, and saloons where people once gathered to talk, argue, and listen. We seem to have fewer of those spaces now.
What we have instead is self-censorship. Not because we’re forbidden to speak, but because we’re afraid of being misunderstood or ridiculed. So we filter ourselves before anyone else has to.
I wish we could build more spaces where that fear mattered less and curiosity mattered more—not behind screens, but in the real world.
Great wisdom...so hard to put into practice in this onslaught of authoritarianism. I'm going to a nonprofit event today that is about the wildlife of the night, the darkness itself. Light pollution is causing great harm to all kinds of beings, but the fantastic book Night Magic celebrates the darkness and its beings. So it's the love I'll be thinking about today, not light.
Wonderful Janet! :)
Totally agree, Colin! I find that I find more joy in working with children in rural areas who are not even aware of what they lack! They are eager to learn, play and engage with me, and fill my life perhaps much more than I do theirs. Still, when I hear about the atrocities back home, it raises concerns about how many people will suffer, and what the fallout will be.
This is the first thing I've read of yours and honestly, I loved it. It was a good reminder for me about what I know to be true. Pushing against anything doesn't make it go away; if anything, it only gives it more life / energy. Thank you......
Thanks Sharon. And welcome!!!
Don’t chase the darkness, turn on a light.” It is an amazing shift in perspective.
I would love to have you partner up with Shankar Vedantam, who does the “Hidden Brain” broadcast on National Public Radio, and explore how this idea can shift a persons way of living.
Ok, I accept. Go ahead and arrange it, Diane. :)
First time reader here, but I'm struck by your statement:
"If there is such a thing as evil, I think I know how it wins. It wins by getting us to fight it. And in fighting it, we fall into the danger of ourselves becoming an instrument of evil."
I am a disciple of Yeshua of Nazareth and I intuit that this is why he emphatically stated to "resist no evil" in the so-called Sermon on the Mount in the Gospel of Matthew. I suspect it is because "evil" was not "created," but has come into existence through our human consciousness; a consciousness which does not know what it is, where it is, or especially WHY it is.
Welcome Freda!
I lived about 2 blocks away at 34th Street and Park Ave in Minneapolis. Imagine my shock, I recognized the houses from my old neighborhood and was compelled to watch and now I can't stop watching and wondering how my friends in MPLS are doing!! Your note was very helpful. I am putting my energy into PZC these days and just trying to help the people I encounter. That's the only thing I can do ... practice Don't Know and try to help my current neighbors. Thank you for your teaching! Robin