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By Jamie Corvus
We are being asked to hold so much, more than ever, it seems. I have done a lot of personal work over the years deconstructing in myself the lies of colonialism, patriarchy, white supremacy, capitalism, all of it. I also have a large capacity for grief, but still, I know that I have spent the last month practically drowning in the horror and the sorrow of it all. Wondering, how do we move forward knowing, so, so, so clearly now, that these evils exist in the world? How do we move forward knowing that these people in power are a depraved death cult, so completely disconnected from their humanity, and that they may well kill us all? I’ve found myself especially lamenting that this evil, or potential for evil, has always existed, and I was feeling rather hopeless in the “why-did-I-even-sign-up-for-incarnation-and-why,-oh-why,-did-I-have-children-it’s-too-fucking-hard” way. I have been crying real, bitter, tears about it. I have had grasping thoughts of how to stay safe in the midst of it all, and coming up empty. This morning something shifted in me though, and that is this. Hopefully, it will help you too.
Yes, this horrific capacity in humanity for shallow evil and lies has always existed, but so has our capacity for deep love and truth. Those of us that share this collective grief and rage about our current reality are truly expressing our sustained connection to our own humanity and love for Life, and that too, has always existed. Therefore, the conditions remain the same. Life is asking of us in this moment, and every moment, the same thing that it has always been asking of us humans, which is simply, to risk it all. Life is asking us today, as it always has, how alive can we be, for our lives? How human, can we become? How tender? How honest? How complex? How open? How vulnerable? How connected? How compassionate? How patient? How curious? How amazed? How brave? Given all that is on the table, how much are you willing to give of your life, for Life? For the future ones? What are you here to do, really? Let us take our places in the long and distinguished line of people who have stood for Life. Let us risk it all.
We are all going to die, this I know, and none of us know when, or how. Friends, I beg of you, make a place for grief in your life. If we are going to do the true, honest work of meeting Life on it’s own terms, knowing that everything we love, including our own lives, we will lose, for there we will find the courage to live our lives for Life.
Life does not want us to stay safe or small, it does want to know, what kind of ancestor do you want to be?