Politics & News

Try as I might, I can't seem to turn my eye and concentration away from the world of politics. Sometimes I long to live in a world (again) where it takes weeks to find out who was elected president, or that there was a war or disaster somewhere. Television and 24 hour a day news stations have brought now from remote places in the world into my now. I try not to look. I try to turn away. It's so hard for me to do. It's as if I were looking away while it was happening right in front of me. I can't do it. Yet.

It's not just that I have to keep looking that troubles me. It's what I think and feel while I'm looking. Yes, I know I am being manipulated by the media. I know they show us only the most terrible, inflammatory news. Knowing this doesn't prevent me from getting frightened, angry, overwhelmed or disillusioned. Disillusioned is the feeling that I feel most frequently, especially in regards to Iraq, Iran, N. Korea and the Bush Administration. Frightened? Yes, very. Angry? yes, very. Overwhelmed? Yes, very. Disillusioned? Completely.

Then, today, in my emailbox appears a quote from Thomas Merton that is just what I needed to hear:

“It is true, political problems are not solved by love and mercy. But the world of politics is not the only world, and unless political decisions rest on a foundation of something better and higher than politics, they can never do any real good for men. When a country has to be rebuilt after war, the passions and energies of war are no longer enough. There must be a new force, the power of love, the power of understanding and human compassion, the strength of selflessness and cooperation, and the creative dynamism of the will to live and to build, and the will to forgive. The will for reconciliation.”

From Introductions East & West. The Foreign Prefaces of Thomas Merton (Unicorn Press, Inc. Greensboro, NC 1981) Page 105

It often looks as though our country is gearing up for another war - a war with Iran. The pre-war buzz words are out there again, just like they were before the U.S. invaded Iraq. I can pray with love and compassion for the players to make the right decisions. That's all I can do.

I remember listening to a teaching by Bardor Tulku Rinpoche once and he was answering a question about why the world was so awful. He said that the majority of crime, whether one on one, or mass genocide, was perpetrated by a very small number of people. He explained that the large majority of people live peaceful, kind lives. That is the heartening truth o the world. That is the news that isn't told.