Hope Inflamed
Hope inflamed
That which cannot be
Put out
Will consume every individual
Testing their mettle
Forging in feeleds
Just discovered
From a crucible witch lies unknown
Alloys forever
Stronger than any metal
Purely a loan
No matter
How precious
Our faith
In one
Another
Together
With standing
The fiercest heat
Or the harshest in difference
This poem about hope rests on my trust and faith that together humans will rise to any problem that we can experience in this world. I like the Amelia Earhart quote, “Courage is the price that life exacts for granting peace.” I think that courage, while sometimes rare, is contagious. I think that once one truly experiences peace and freedom, there is little going back. I cite the Arab Spring as an example of a quantum leap forward that may be resisted but cannot be defeated. Human consciousness or awareness is the nexus and seed of all good that springs forth from humankind. Ignorance is the dark side and enemy of such enlightenment. Ignorance and denial are powerful forces in human life, but, I believe, that they are less powerful than human mindfulness and the human spirit unleashed. I see the human spirit as rooted and emanating from a place that is outside, transcendent of worldly power structures. Further, an enlightened soul does not retreat into some other-worldly place, but engages the powers that be in this world, modeling better ways, those rooted in the deepest realities of human experience and being. I am impressed by the sheer existential choice of Buddha to remain in the world to help others rather than blow out into nirvana. This speaks to a state of higher consciousness, transcending self. Similarly, Jesus did not shy away or retreat from the powers that be. Jesus put all of his skin in the game, to the point of death, being crucified as an enemy of the Roman state. Jesus modeled a reality of Pax Christi versus Pax Romana, the difference between shalom and détente, a higher expectation/hope for the state of human existence on this earth. As Gandhi proclaimed, “Peace is possible” — a revolutionary statement in a world where conventional wisdom is that détente is the highest possible state; or perhaps some dystopia of trying to kill all of your enemies, giving rise to more enemies, resulting in endless war with some perverse patriotism demonizing one another. I will cast my lot with one another together with standing the fiercest heat or the harshest difference. What say you?
