Keep going, Chubby Checker
The tv says to "fear the walking dead"
But what frightens me are not insatiable folks already dead.
More unsettling are people alive and well
driven mad by cravings and desires
asleep to their own awareness, contentment, and the power of gratitude.
We have a three pound supercomputer in between our ears;
processing power and an organic neural network
resembling the cosmos itself.
We spend our time preening our self-image,
amassing self-esteem through deeds or possessions;
like the proverbial paw in the monkey trap.
We could do it differently.
To care,
to feel,
to dream,
to cooperate.
Capacities of human ingenuity and intelligence that have changed the planet.
Within our grasp are solutions to problems we have created.
Poverty, systemic violence, inequity, and widespread suffering
do not make steady foundation for a prosperous and peaceful future.
Connecting deeply with the shared context of life,
our concerns are planetary,
beyond species and borders.
Rightly applied, if we so choose,
our concepts might bring us closer together.
Together, our potential collected,
we may yet live without struggle.
On the path that unfolds as we walk it,
the signs and signals that guide us are with us.
Each step as it rises to meet us
resounds with the clarity or calm that we cultivate
as we make effort to listen
to silent wisdom of our own heart;
always reminding us, "keep going."
"It is time to come together.
It is time to take a stand.
It is time we all take our hands and come together soon.
We have just a little time to play around in the love tunnel." - Chubby Checker