Donna Henes Urban Shaman

NOW WHAT?

By Donna Henes, Urban Shaman
November 3, 2004

Dear friends of freedom, life, and peace,

O.k. So now what?

We are baffled. We are frustrated. We are disgusted. We are angry. And, yes, we are scared. But I can't see that any of these attitudes can help us much, either in our personal spiritual growth or in our attempts to change the political climate of our country.

Our job today is exactly what it has been all along. We need to steady and center ourselves in our own beliefs and values. We need to reach out in friendship and compassion to those folks around us who may or may not agree with us. We need to walk our talk and lead exemplary lives. And most important, we need keep hope and faith and trust alive in our hearts.

Now is the time to roll up our sleeves and prepare for the long haul. So many of us became politicized and active in these past few pre- election months. This earnest passion for positive change is precisely where we must begin. We cannot allow ourselves to go back to sleep, apathetic and dormant until six months before the next election. We have to realize that we are now engaged in training for a huge marathon. Sprinters need not apply.

From now on we must be ever vigilant and allow no injustice, no aggression, no display of disrespect to pass without a loud protest. We must pay attention and ethically respond to the feelings, needs and desires of others as well as the planet that supports us all. We must be the early responders.

So let's spend this evening bemoaning our fate by crying in our beer, eating too much ice cream, doing yoga, having sex, doing whatever it is that will make us feel better for the moment. And then in the morning, let us awaken to the dawn of a new day, a new era, a new way of being in the world. This is just the beginning.

With ultimate blessings of peace,

xxMama Donna

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