FOUR ELEMENTS: THE FIRST ELEMENT IS AIR

Of all the elements, air or wind is the most mysterious. It is what gives life to all creatures on this earth.  And when it is done, each of us has breathed our last.

                                                    ~Karla

Now Wind asked Ababinili if she could have the humans as her children, but again, Ababinili said, "No, they can't be your children, but they can be your grandchildren so you can remove the unclean air and all kinds of diseases.” 

                                                                           ~A Chickasaw Legend

http://www.littlewolfrun.net/ChickasawLegends.html

I AM THE WIND…

I am the wind who rages fiercely during a storm, who bows tree limbs over in pain, yanking branches and ripping leaves from their source. I am the wind who produces funnel clouds, destroying homes, pulling up the roots of trees and relationships held dear. I am the wind who whines low moans through the trees on an eerie dark night. I am spooky, for I scream a voiceless music, sending piercing chills up and down spines.

I am the wind who barks icy winds into winter, my biting breath seeking warmth beneath protective coats, whipping stabbing coldness into unwary backs. I am the wind who annoyingly blows precious papers from groping hands, sending them rolling, turning, and twisting.

Like a teenager bolting through the door, almost stepping on the dog, not noticing her grandmother sitting in a rocker in the living room...I am the wind.

I, too, am the summer breeze who sings sweet lullabies through the trees and over green grasses. I am the wind who gracefully pushes the sails of floating rafts. I am the hearty breeze who gives a reassuring voice to questing uplifted faces, sending a fresh air of heroic calm to surge within them. I am the wind who bears the seeds of tomorrow’s life, dispersing them over this vast earth.

I am the gusty breeze who blows through trees, swishing and dancing their leaves that tilt and sway in sheer ecstasy.  I am the quieting breeze who comes in comfort, wafting into musty corners, consoling children, dogs, and elders, as they lie weak and afraid. I am the autumn breeze who mournfully, yet resignedly, tugs at the leaves of yesterday’s life and sends them silently to the grounds of death. I am the gentle breeze who dries tears from red-eyed faces. I am the wind who gives seasons their life, dutifully answering the calls of my command.

I am in Nami and her gentle surprise of nosing my hand after the hike, saying, “Thank-you for taking the time.”

If I frighten you, is that not simply your response to me? I am not here to frighten you. I can be extreme: I can hurt, destroy, and give ghostly chills of doubt. And yet, I give comfort, strength, tranquility, grace and life. I can do only as my nature wills. My demands are great. I cannot choose to be only the soothing breezes. Would you rather that I end my breath, with nature fading out because there is no one left to blow the breath of life into her creation? Or will you accept me—my rasping and turbulent winds as well as my sweet and tranquil breezes—all my airs enunciating my offering to life?

CHOOSING TO LIVE AND LET LIVE

Killing, as a solution, comes easy to this culture. We seem to reach for it first.

Is there a problem we haven't tried to solve by wiping it off the face of the earth? Pesticides, herbicides, war, antibiotics [suicide, homicide, genocide, euthanasia]-other options considered only if eradication doesn't work, which it usually doesn't, at least not in the long run.

                                                                            Priscilla Stuckey, Kissed By A Fox

When I read Priscilla’s book, I came to a sentence that rocked my soul. “Killing, as a solution, comes easy to this culture.” As a systems thinker, I’ve been in reflection. Many actions are shaped by cultural beliefs and myths handled down that we unwittingly perpetuate. Waking up to this reality startled me. It’s amazing to uncover systems contributing to a collective anesthetization that defends killing as solution.

We will never find positive solutions when aligned with myths and practices that ennoble killing, or unnatural dying and suffering. Albert Einstein is right: “We can’t solve problems by using the same mind that created them.” Consider two beliefs conditioning us in matters of killing, from two people who went beyond tradition.

Death or Life 1:

·       The first people canonized as saints were done so because they were martyrs. By being a martyr they were proving their faith. To die for one’s religious beliefs was considered noble.

What does this canonization criteria mean for aspirants wanting to make a difference? Do we need to be killed, die unnaturally or suffer? Is this tacit validation for “holy” wars?

·       Saint Hildegard lived a long life, dying of natural causes. She denounced the practice of self-flagellation and was a composer, Prioress and holistic practitioner.

Rev. Amy Freedman celebrated her life in saying: “Even Naturalists can appreciate her mystical insight long before atoms were discovered, that there is a divine energy animating every person, creature, and plant.” Does Hildegard’s life inspire you in making a difference?

Death or Life 2:

·       One slow dying belief: “animal experiments are vital to the advancement of medicine and science.”

What does this belief suggest? That life is expendable? When we believe we are saving life by the taking of life, what do we lose? Do we lose our integrity and faith in “no harm” solutions?

·       Jane Goodall, Scientist and “Messenger of Peace” thinks so: "By and large students are taught that it is ethically acceptable to perpetrate, in the name of science, what from the point of view of the animals would certainly qualify as torture. By the time [the students] arrive in the labs they have been programmed to accept the suffering around them."

Jane Goodall named the chimpanzees that she studied. She upended long-conditioned beliefs about efficacious research. She changed science. She shines her light for the pathway of “no harm” solutions. Does she motivate you?

What choices did you make reaching for wrong solutions? What solutions have you discovered that honor ALL life?