Rev. angel Kyodo williams

Each time we take up practice, we work to clear our view so that we can find our way back to who we are to find our way home. angel Kyodo williams points out the value of ordinary consistency as a way to find home and to support others in doing the same.

On March 5th, oral arguments will be heard in the California Supreme Court to rescind Proposition 8, the constitutional amendment passed last November that restricts the definition of marriage to opposite-sex couples and eliminated same-sex couples' right to marry. One of my "Friends" invited me to the "I'm still not sure marriage is the right goal" group on Facebook. For those of you that haven't had the increasingly guilty but nevertheless socially productive pleasure that is Facebook, it basically means you have the opportunity to express your alliances by joining groups ad nauseum, without actually having to do anything like show up at meetings, pay dues or be responsible for the refreshments. It's perfect for this era of more issues to be informed and care about than we have time to actually get involved in. Years ago I appeared in OUT magazine with my then-partner in the first issue featuring gay marriage. The large-format polaroid chosen for what became a full page spread (!) captured us in an uncharacteristic juxtaposition of 'handsome dyke' looming over the obviously more feminine, slightly demure and arguably attractive 'lipstick lesbian.' Back then, someone still had to be the "boy" and someone had to be the "girl" in same-gendered couples for the world to relate. Gay marriage had begun to take root as a more than just a fringe issue by then and was on the national radar. In '93, Bill Clinton flummoxed the gays in the military issue by settling for "Don't ask, don't tell." Since then, we've had an official policy of opting for not owning who you are so you can "be all that you can be." We institutionalized lack of wholeness, lack of integrity and disregard for basic dignity into the psyche of the people responsible for protecting our nation's safety. Need we wonder how we ended up with Abu Ghraib, watching American women give the "thumbs up" to flagrant disrespect of the religious beliefs of Muslim men? Six years into Iraq, we still self-righteously pretend the only reason we went in is because Bush lied. Sure he did. But it was the lie we, the People: progressive and conservative; white and black; spiritual and secular; gay and straight, were willing to accept to give ourselves a false sense of security and superiority. If we just [insert democracy here] the Iraqis will be all they can be, too. 'Cause surely they weren't enough before we got there. The proponents of Proposition 8 want to make sure that some people can't be whatever they want to be...not legally, anyway. The irony is that unlike many states, in California, anyone can marry whoever they want...that is, they can officiate. You just can't get married to who you want. Let's face it, this is solely a religious argument, period. From the civic view, there's nothing remotely constitutionally or morally sound about denying one group, those who love the same gender, access to the rights, privileges and responsibilities that another group has always taken for granted. Worse though, is suspending reason long enough to allow the latter group to be the one that decides. The NAACP has seen the specter of danger here and has sounded the alarm: we cannot allow simple majorities to revoke the rights of others through constitutional amendments, revisions or otherwise. These so-called "majorities" are often those that hold the majority of the privilege through oppression, money and abuse of power. What if men (the numeric minority but power majority) could go in a room and decide--by a simple majority that cancelled out the sane and fair-minded--what women could no longer have? Shoe industry beware: all those bare feet would tank your business, for sure. President Obama has gone on record saying that he opposes gay marriage, but admits this may be a wrong-headed view drawn from his own religious beliefs. I'm suspicious of the idea that God whispers in anyone's ear and says "you are chosen to have something that other's aren't entitled to:" be that right to love or right to land. But since I've only been trying to listen to God rather than talk, maybe She doesn't whisper back to me. So, I'm not one to question Obama's or anyone else's personal relationship with God...why don't we stop questioning anyone's personal, mutually respectful, consenting relationship with anyone else? I remember wondering back then why anyone would want to fight to get into the military to begin with... especially a military that didn't want them. It's a relationship to country that I've not yet had the privilege of understanding in my own heart. I understand loving my country...it's just that I can see a clear path to loving everyone else and their country, too. I guess I'm polyamorous in the biggest Way. Negotiating relationships of any kind--with God, Country or Lover--is a tempermental and intensely personal affair. I admit I don't feel left out of those nasty divorces in which the state gets to have a say in who gets to keep everything from the cars to couches to kids. Internally, life partnership means having someone that intentionally and willingly agrees to bear witness to your life. That's a significant promise...one that has the power to liberate us to truly be all we can be, and to have who we are reflected back to us. As far as I can tell, the value of having the challenges and triumphs of that witnessing validated can't be underestimated. So, friends--Facebook and otherwise--I'm not sure marriage is the right goal either, but since I'm not getting married, I don't have to be. Isn't that the point? --- copyright ©MMXI. angel Kyodo williams changeangel: all things change. (sm) angel Kyodo williams is a maverick teacher, author, social visionary and founder of Transformative Change. she posts, tweets & blogs on all things change. permission granted to retweet, repost, repast & repeat with copyright and contact information intact. Faceboook: Like angel on Facebook Twitter: Follow angel on Twitter Web: Find angel on the Web Blog: new Dharma: live, love & lead from the heart Train: Train Your Mind with angel

Just three days after the New York Post's brazenly racist cartoon managed to slip past all editorial checkpoints to subtly (or grossly) depict the nation's first Black president as a rabid chimp gunned down by NY's finest, the online Opinion section of NYTimes ran an article on race. Columnist Charles Blow doesn't mention the Post snafu, likely because his piece was already written just as the shit was hitting the proverbial NY fan. Publisher Rupert Murdoch hadn't even taken out his shovel by the time Blow was taking exception to newly-appointed Attorney General Eric Holder's scathing comment about America being "a nation of cowards" when it comes to race. Rather than naked racism, Blow draws our attention to the implicit bias that undergirds our national conversation on all things black and white. There's nothing new about how lopsided the pages Blacks and Whites are on when it comes to perceptions of racial equality. It is disturbing to see in hard figures the six years and hundreds of thousands of peoples worth of data that reveal Asians and Latinas run almost neck-and-neck with Whites when it comes to having an implicit pro-white bias. Fear of A Black Planet is alive and well. Thanks to slippery ol' internalized racism, a good chunk of Blacks are pro-white too, though they were also the most likely to be neutral. Well, Black folks kinda knew this through direct experience all along, but how did science get to the bottom of what most of us won't or can't reveal about ourselves? A simple 10 minute, 2-fingered test that anyone that cares about social justice should take. Now. Don't Pass Go. I'll be here when you get back... As self-declared activists, allies and agents of social change, many of us will feel sheepish taking the test, even behind the privacy of our computer screens and (mostly) anonymous browsers. With our cool collaborations and coalitions, we've taken a certain amount of comfort in being able to self-righteously stake a claim to our good standing on the racial bias spectrum. We're mostly beyond the once-too-familiar wannabe-progressive White folks declarative "I don't see color" claim. (In case you were wondering, this is not a good thing. Since we are, in fact, "of color," not seeing color means not seeing me. What I hear you saying is you're trying to see me just like you see white people. Um, no, thank you. On the other hand, the only thing worse than being seen as something you're not, is being transparent, as in not being seen at all.) Speaking of "of color," now that we of the many ethnicities and hues--East and Southeast Asians, Latinas, Middle Easterners, Natives and Blacks, not to mention mixed race, mestizos, and mulattoes--have successfully lumped ourselves together into the One Big Category of People of Color for political purposes, our other-than-Black brothers and sisters often receive a pass to bypass their anti-Black bias by vague reductionist association. That escape hatch leads to a dangerous rabbit hole of weirdness, guilt and confusion for all. Even Black folks can no longer hide behind the mere fact of birth to escape the taint of racial bias that, while not exclusively American, we're the best at marketing worldwide. The repercussions of this are hard to discount. Obviously this is a social change issue at its core because the work for a truly just society for all requires trusting alliances. But it's even more of an inner change issue because we know that no matter how many campaigns we win or laws we pass, real justice begins right here, in our own hearts and (unconscious) minds. Look to Cuba where institutional racism was systematically written out of the laws within months of the '59 Revolution, yet they must acknowledge the naiveté of believing discrimination could be legislated away:

"...we believed at the beginning that when we established the fullest equality before the law and complete intolerance for any demonstration of sexual discrimination in the case of women, or racial discrimination in the case of ethnic minorities, these phenomena would vanish from our society. It was some time before we discovered that marginality and racial discrimination with it are not something that one gets rid of with a law or even with ten laws, and we have not managed to eliminate them completely in 40 years..." —Fidel Castro

Science's answer to ameliorating implicit bias? Distinguish. When people are taught to distinguish individual faces of people of races other than their own, the inclination to make cross-the-board associations--negative or positive--is diminished. People are thus returned to their rightful place as unique, individual beings that have to be taken for who they actually are rather than who they generally are or might be. I went to junior high with an 84% Asian population in the heart of New York's Chinatown. As a bonafide minority, I couldn't get away with blending the Taiwanese, Hong Kongers, Han Chinese and various Pacific Islanders with a cavalier "they all look alike to me." I had to see each of them. One by individual, unique one.  Being in real relationship with "the other" closed the bias gap. But to even get there, we have to look at ourselves first. We have to stop letting ourselves off the race hook and commit to actively resisting the biased waters we swim in by raising our unconscious, implicit fears to the level of conscious, explicitly articulated ones. That's painful, exhausting, heart-breaking work, but it's the real work that needs to be done. No less important than your next action, petition, campaign or board meeting. (Those explicit biases could use a good eyeballing here, too.) Plainly speaking, if you're doing work for change in what's "affectionately" referred to as AmeriKKKa without a practice of examining race, you're pretty much adding to the problem. We can and should do the good, hard work of rooting out systemic oppression and racism at all levels of  society. But not unless and until we address the ultimate system--the inner thoughts, feelings and beliefs that give rise to our implicit perceptions--will we have a chance at the deep change that can--and will--elude all of our political maneuvering. Take a good look at you so you can take a look at me. Can you see me now? Good. --- copyright ©MMXI. angel Kyodo williams changeangel: all things change. (sm) angel Kyodo williams is a maverick teacher, author, social visionary and founder of Transformative Change. she posts, tweets & blogs on all things change. permission granted to retweet, repost, repast & repeat with copyright and contact information intact. Faceboook: Like angel on Facebook Twitter: Follow angel on Twitter Web: Find angel on the Web Blog: new Dharma: live, love & lead from the heart Train: Train Your Mind with angel

Super Om, Courtesy of Students for A Free Tibet: www.studentsforafreetibet.org While then-candidate Obama wooed the electorate into an oddly fleeting historic moment with his steady call for us to all be Agents of Change, those of us that have been stealthily exchanging our glasses for capes with only tepid results to show for it know that we need more than ordinary change to get us out of the one-step left, two-steps right shuffle our social justice agenda has been stymied by for the past 50 years. We need the kind of change that leads to deep-rooted, broad-based, sustainable lasting change that can't be rolled back with the swirl of a pen or crushed under a wave of conservative backlash. We need Transformative Change. We've been secretly biding our time in serene anticipation of the Fall of American Consumptive Ways. With a complex mix of dismay and satisfaction, we hold appropriate, compassionate empathy for the folks that are the least buffered from even subtle turnabouts in the economic winds, much less the comparative financial tsunami of the past seven months. This is expressed with The Deeply Furrowed Brow of Concern. But understanding that our collective faces hitting the floor may be our only Wakeup Call, that concern co-mingles with The Subtle-But-Knowing Smile of Approval. Yoda would be proud. Even Time Magazine's cover pronounces "The End of Excess" with a picture of a great big reset button along with the rhetorical inquiry: "Is This Crisis Good for America?" Well, of course it is. When you view your life and the world through the lens of transformation, you recognize that any upset or tragedy is really an opportunity for another level of growth and deeper understanding. You run with it rather than away from it. The caveat is that because the Grand Designer made a package deal of Free Will and the Breath of Life, it's entirely up to us to either seize the opportunity to find a new Way to become that which we all inexorably endeavor to become: a Whole Human. If not, we'll return to our previous incomplete state: driven by fear and panic, desperately and pathetically groping for what is familiar but no longer viable, if it ever was. When that window of opportunity passes, the Universe has to conjure up another greater tragedy for us to get the message. Time's rallying cry calls for us to "make a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves and be entirely ready to remove our defects of character." The Watchmen for Change are made up of Freedom Fighters, Organizers, Agitators and Activists paired with the folks that, like it or not, foot the bills. In a perfected partnership, they are our Supporters, Advocates, Advisors and Allies. Some of us pay with the currency of creativity, vitality, energy and soulforce. Others pay with hopefulness, steadfastness, wild cheering and dollar bills, y'all. Together we are the Jedis of Justice. We are The Ones that We have Been Waiting for to illuminate the Matrix and reveal the passage out of Babylon. We are the Agents of Transformative Social Change. X-Agents for short. (Yea, I know, but X-Men was already taken and it's chauvinist anyway...) So what are our collective defects of character, the Kryptonite that saps our power, woos us to the Dark Side and is an impenetrable barrier to a movement of truly Transformative Social Change that we both envision and are beckoned by? Here are Seven Deadly Sins of Change and their respective Virtuous behavioral antidotes: 1. Release Lust: Bigger is not better. Hasn't the economic bubble splat taught us that? The organizations that have become the biggest are not necessarily the best. The day of the 900-lb Gorilla eating up all the resources because they can should be over. It leaves the rest of the creatures of the forest to fight amongst themselves for scraps. Real innovation gets crowded out by behemoths. We all lose. Practice Chastity: Consume only what you need to sustain real, viable work, not just what will get you funding because its the buzz. Pass on the rest and pass the plate. 2. Release Gluttony: On the other hand, there's just too many of us. We've got an organization for every issue, identity and incident, each scavenging for five crumbs. As a result, we're disorganized, disconnected and still disenfranchised. We resist the natural cycle of organizational death because we've tied our livelihoods up with our causes. We start organizations to avoid corporate life but end up being slaves to those institutions, too. Creativity is curtailed and resources are spread too thin. Death, no matter how painful, gives way to fresh, viable life. Practice Temperance: Is your organization serving you or are you serving your organization? Is your work changing THE World, not just your world? If not, Merge. Fold. Find your new path. Be Reborn in the next life. We'll all benefit from a nimbler, better-resourced movement. 3. Release Greed: Grantmakers have lost almost one-third of their assets. Never mind that foundations are only required to give 5 percent of those endowments, most of which were ill-gained to begin with. I always say "when it's your house that's burning down, you don't use 5% of the water you have to save the rest for the fire that might come in the future. You use the whole damn bucket..." Practice Charity: Charity of common sense, that is. Raise giving to a mere 15% of that monopoly money. Even with 30% losses, you'll be giving more than double what you gave when you were flush and we'll all be twice as far along. 4. Release Sloth: When it comes to the task of being the change we wish to see, we're pretty damn lazy. Our movements are constipated, our coalitions siloed, our collaborations fractured, our organizations top-down, and our personal practice is toenail-deep. We're tall on rhetoric, short on application. We want sustainability while we work ourselves to exhaustion. We insist on Universal Healthcare and Ubiquitous McDonald's. We want green job access and plastic bag convenience. We strive for environmental justice and allow "feed-animal" damnation. Practice Diligence: We have to PRACTICE what we're preaching for. It's all connected and it starts with you: Eat healthy, Pray frequently, Love deeply. And to keep it all in perspective, Dance wildly. 5. Release Wrath: The lifeforce of our work is still choked by useless "us vs. them" ego-tripping and bad attitudes. These issues need to be addressed at the roots. We'll never make peace with others until we make peace within ourselves. Transformative Change is only possible when the people doing the change are changing themselves. Practice Patience: Heal and Love Thyself. Start working out your issues at your Inner Gym. Watch your mind and notice how it wreaks havoc on reality. Find ways to lower the volume on the internal noise that makes you a walking time bomb of contraction and imbalance. Do Yoga. Meditation. Centering Prayer. Better yet, let them do you. Save your heart, save the world. 6. Release Envy: Funders, you matter. So stop inserting yourselves to assert your Selves. While many of you live vicariously and combat boredom by dreaming up new projects, frontliners are busting their tails out there and still they're relegated to using up to 40% of their energy to raise money for their work. Change will only take place through real leadership, partnerships and collaboration. Every good partnership is borne of knowing your role and contribution and honoring that of your partners. Stop hating on changemakers because you envy their courage while fearing the direct experience it arises from. Funders should fund and let the people that work the frontlines work...not scurry, scrape and suck up for funds. Practice Kindness: With yourselves, first and foremost. Tend to the wounds that excessive privilege imprisons and burdens you with. Letting your money or control of it front as self-worth leads to narcissism, self-centeredness and a profound emptiness that compels you to a never-ending search for fulfillment. Give your burden away...even some of the sacred principal. You'll be free to be you and not your money. I repeat: Save your heart, save the world. 7. Release Pride: The failure point of Pride, when it leaves good and turns sour, is "failing to acknowledge the good work of others." If you really want change, enable people to do the work of change for real. If this is a platform for your personal whims, but you actually fear what real change looks like--yes, you'll have to give things up: money, land, status, control, privilege, power, privilege--stay home, watch reruns of ER and stop wasting your own and our time. Practice Humility: Fund what works broadly and deeply. But more importantly at this moment, fund risk. Fund bold efforts that are unknown, untested, untried. Fund creative solutions to intractable problems and expect no guarantees in return. If it makes you nervous, fund it. Together, we, the Practitioners and Funders, Agents, Activists and Allies of Change need to be the "Real American Idols"(trademark pending), the New Super Heroes and Sheroes that take up our part day-to-day to do the ordinary work of changing the world while doing the extraordinary work of changing ourselves. I know we're up to the task of seizing the real opportunity that is at hand--to live, love and lead from heart--one by one kick-ass X-Agent at a time. --- copyright ©MMXI. angel Kyodo williams changeangel: all things change. (sm) angel Kyodo williams is a maverick teacher, author, social visionary and founder of Transformative Change. she posts, tweets & blogs on all things change. permission granted to retweet, repost, repast & repeat with copyright and contact information intact. Faceboook: Like angel on Facebook Twitter: Follow angel on Twitter Web: Find angel on the Web Blog: new Dharma: live, love & lead from the heart Train: Train Your Mind with angel

It's our time. Though it may seem hard to discern through the economic debris that is still falling, that so many of us are picking through the pieces of, this is our time. For far too long we have labored for justice and lurched towards change with far too little resources, too little cohesion, too few wins too far and few between. But labor we had to—making do with what we had, holding it together best we could, savoring the wins and weathering the losses—thus lurch we did and change we made. A Black Organizer is in the White House. Justice is getting off the bench and in the Game. It's our time. The era of the lowly grunt that toils for justice being the under-appreciated, underpaid underdog is officially overrated. We are now the wunderkinds that can capture the imagination of our nation with our unwavering comittment to Hope, resounding call for Freedom and heart-stopping effort to reveal Truth, Justice and a truly New American Way. It's Easy as ABC: rooted by Awareness, grounded in Balance, acting from Center. We, the willing practitioners of a transformative social change, are the only ones who can shift the current paradigm. We are the moral & inspirational frontline of America. Like no other movement before us, we span the globe, defy description and transcend all boundaries: some of us wealthy in cash, some in culture, we are cross-class and transgendered, Caucasian and Cablinasian, neo-social and hyper-spiritual, we bow at the altar of Authenticity. Our movement has been moved by door-knockers and dreamers, academics and activists, poets and pundits, writers and rappers, EDs and PhDs: we are all One. We've been a Tribe with a Quest to self-liberate even the antidote of what ails us, because complete freedom is the only freedom that matters. It's our time. Auditions are over. We're front and center stage. We must stand up and stand out. We need to take our rightful place as the Real American Idols: the exemplars of excellence that know there is no justice if justice isn't for all. We'll create a Mad World in which Adam can take home the prize AND Steve for a Union in any State of his choosing because there's a Whole Lotta Love and this town is big enough for all of it. Our children will want to grow up to be aligned agents of change, not morally bankrupt bankers, broken-down mortgage brokers or exposed wizards of Wall Street caught with their hands on the levers of peoples' lives. While they all lined their pockets with peoples' pain, We lay the path for possibility and prosperity. We... are...the...champions. It is our time. We'll lift every voice to sing. We'll dance with whole body, mind and spirt. We'll shine from the inside, radiating self-awareness, self-care and self-love. The crowds will go wild. Sitting on the edges of their seats, they'll cheer us on, spellbound by the marriage of head and heart, fierce commitment to humanity and strength of humility that wins where it matters, even when the scoreboard says otherwise. They'll tweet, twitter, digg, fan and follow the triple-threat talent that steals the show every time: — Our courage to take on Responsibility for the work that needs to be done. — Our conviction to be Accountable to our co-workers, communities, and most of all, ourselves. — Our clarity of Purpose that is the container of our intention and the vision for our success. This Radical Relationship to self, other and the Mother is ecological, evolutionary and embodied. This is our time. Well-coiffed and, dare I say, well-dressed, we ARE the bling, we are the Rock Stars, the Sexy Mothers and Mutha...(you get the drift), and Mike wants to be like Us. When the viewers telly and the texts are tallied, we'll be judged by true measures of greatness: how skillfully we exhibit grace under pressure, wield power with precision and receive feedback—even when it seems negative and harsh—with aplomb. Simon says: take what's yours and release the rest. And when the small wins elude us (as they will) we'll flash our pearly whites and see the opportunity to learn from our missteps, sharpen our skill and deepen our practice. We'll accept defeat gracefully as we prepare for the next round with abiding love in our hearts, joy in our spirits, compassion for others and equanimity in the face of it all. Because we know that when met in this way, two steps back can propel us a giant leap forward. We know Victory is ours because justice has ALWAYS been on our side, and now, finally, we need only make it so for now, now now... NOW is our time. --- copyright ©MMXI. angel Kyodo williams changeangel: all things change. (sm) angel Kyodo williams is a maverick teacher, author, social visionary and founder of Transformative Change. she posts, tweets & blogs on all things change. permission granted to retweet, repost, repast & repeat with copyright and contact information intact. Faceboook: Like angel on Facebook Twitter: Follow angel on Twitter Web: Find angel on the Web Blog: new Dharma: live, love & lead from the heart Train: Train Your Mind with angel

Days after California's Prop 8 was propped up by its Supreme Court, former vice president Dick Cheney unapologetically (of course) and righteously affirmed the novel idea that "freedom means freedom for everyone...people ought to be able to enter into any kind of union they wish." Many of us pulled the lever to cast our vote for an oddly hopeful promise of "a more perfect union" of our Divided States. We watch with our breath held, our hearts in our throats, ready to put our bodies on the line as our One Government lets individual Republics of imaginary divides decide one-by-one, state-by-state, who freedom means freedom for: our embodiment of a more perfect union catastrophically undone by an unwillingness to recognize our most precious union: the one of the heart. In an historic constitutional referendum in Bolivia, the voters expressed their more perfect union through the powerful symbolic act of embracing a second official flag: the formerly illegal flag of the indigenous people and of the social movement that brought down the previous corrupt governments. The seven-color Wiphala flag is arranged as 7x7 colors in a square: Historically, it is the flag of the Incan territory that spanned Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Chile and Argentina. Culturally, it is the flag of the Aymara-Quechua Andean and Amerindian people. Politically, it is pan-indigenous, multi-ethnic, cross-class and trans-issue. With it's similarity to the Gay rainbow flag and use for urban social movements, it is becoming an international symbol for diversity and solidarity, equality and equity, dignity and reciprocity...all coming together. A celebration of the order of cosmos, symbol of life and fertility, it's rainbow covers the spectrum of colors and represents the honoring of all that should matter to a society:

• RED for man and the earth
• ORANGE for society and its expression through culture and education
• YELLOW for energy and strength through collectivity
• WHITE for time and community transformation
• GREEN for natural resouces and the land
• BLUE for the heavens and natural phenomena
• Last, most powerfully and sanely, VIOLET for harmonious governance and self-determination of the people.

Taken as a whole and liberated from the neo-colonial closet, it represents that more perfect union that we should all strive for in our quest for a fair and equitable society. Some worry that Evo Morales, Bolivia's first indigenous President, may be inadvertently diminishing the symbol, as savvy politicians have been wont to do, putting a cursory end to movements of the people by absorbing their symbols and slogans into government. Our own Civil Rights Movement came to an abrupt, stunted and co-opted halt on Lyndon B. Johnson's appropriative declaration that "we shall overcome." But as powerful as symbols, phrases and slogans are, they only derive their energy from the wellspring of the people they represent. People that don't just stand in the truth, but express it through the way they live. And just as "words on a parchment would not be enough to deliver slaves from bondage, or provide men and women of every color and creed their full rights" the more perfect union we seek for this country will not arise from a speech, a bailout, or even a healthcare plan. What it will arise from is the embodiment of that more perfect union by folks that know and act on what's right: like the whites and blacks that fraternized in backwoods jook joints, using rhythm to find harmony. From learning how to dance together, they eventually found the ability to pray, sit and stand together "always at great risk." It will arise from the embodiment of principles in and by the people that show up every day to "narrow the gap" between the hope for our society and "the reality of (our) time." It will arise through the embodiment of actions that manifest the longing held in our hearts, the vision that we cannot yet see, but can feel the truth of in our very core. Thus with great faith, we reach inward, act outward, and move toward it. Our more perfect union will arise from within the people. Some think this union will come as the result of the broad view of Analysis: political, social, grounded. Others believe we'll be brought together by the deep current of Spirit: fundamental, ethical, rooted. In the end, it will express itself as nothing that we currently know of, but rather as a constellation, integration and distillation of all. It will be individually-particularized, collectively-driven and universally-appealing. It will be a social movement because we are social creatures that can form the shape that expresses what we wish to become. It will be a cultural movement because together we create the conditions in which new ways can thrive. It will be self-determined and other-honoring. It will be systemic, endemic and talismanic. More than anything, it will, because it must, be transformative. Our more perfect union will be neither this nor that. Leaving nothing and none of us behind, it will be WholeBody: a Third Way that embraces and embodies being fully Human: ever-evolutionary, ever-revolutionary, ever-dynamic and always Divine. From there, state-by-state and heart-by-heart, in our more perfect union, we can get Dick Cheney's wish granted. Jai Bhim! We shall overcome...Si, se puede. A Better World is Possible. Venceremos...Yes, we can. By any means necessary: Power to the People. Power by the People. Power FROM the People. --- copyright ©MMXI. angel Kyodo williams changeangel: all things change. (sm) angel Kyodo williams is a maverick teacher, author, social visionary and founder of Transformative Change. she posts, tweets & blogs on all things change. permission granted to retweet, repost, repast & repeat with copyright and contact information intact. Faceboook: Like angel on Facebook Twitter: Follow angel on Twitter Web: Find angel on the Web Blog: new Dharma: live, love & lead from the heart Train: Train Your Mind with angel

“I am convinced that it is not the fear of death, of our lives ending that haunts our sleep so much as the fear... that as far as the world is concerned, we might as well never have lived.” —Rabbi Harold Kushner

In this past month, two things became clear: any commitment to writing about transformation calls for addressing the greatest transformation any of us will make at least once. The second thing is that we live in a culture that celebrates eternal youth, never-ending life, and an insatiable thirst for immortality. Conversely, we avoid that greatest of transformations, known as Death, as a natural and inevitable rite of passage. Death happens daily, yet most of us are largely removed from it, safely positioned on the passive side of our computer and television screens or the printed page. Thus, when faced with it or its pending probability directly, we are woefully under-equipped to negotiate it. Here a sampling of reflections, learnings & resources for the journey all of us will eventually take: LOSING GENIUS Two deaths in particular have impacted me greatly this month. One was that of my naturopath, Dr. Cecilia Hart. The other, was of course, Michael Jackson. Both were unexpected, felt too sudden, too soon and riddled with questions of “how can this be?” They were both young. Both Virgoes. Both committed to Heal the World...and both so clearly in need of their own healing. One has become intimate and full of personal responsibility in a way that i would not have expected. The other has been far away and collectively held in a way that I would have hoped for. In losing Michael Jackson, who without a doubt embodied the most complex relationship we, the people have with celebrity and celebrity has with itself, my soul brother Greg Tate captures it best: “What Black American culture—musical and otherwise—lacks for now isn't talent or ambition, but the unmistakable presence of some kind of spiritual genius: the sense that something other than or even more than human is speaking through whatever fragile mortal vessel is burdened with repping for the divine, the magical, the supernatural, the ancestral...” a moving and prescient poem by Alice Walker written in 1991... from Natural Star - for Michael Jackson I am in mourning For your face The one I used to love To see Leaping, glowing Upon the The stage The mike Eager... Thrusting In your Fist. I am in mourning... https://www.alicewalkersblog.com/2009/06/natural-star-for-michael-jackson.html In losing Cecilia, who helped guide my health back into balance after discovering dis-ease, I’ve lost, for now, my health insurance: insurance against a system more concerned with medicating then healing even as it denies access to the basic right of health to millions. She belonged to the growing legions of naturopathic doctors, alternative healers, complementary health practitioners, chiropractors and more that stand up to legitimize healing practices that affirm wholeness and well-being, rather than dividing our wholebodies into separate problematic parts to be conquered one office visit and co-pay at a time. After she died, the mystery of her notable slowness was unraveled. Unbeknownst to her clients that read untold pages of books waiting for her, Cecilia literally prayed over each herb, pill and powder to activate the healing energy of that vehicle. She called forth the power of those potions to be in right relationship with the body they would be in. She helped myself and many others reclaim our health and restore confidence in our innate ability to heal ourselves through better relationships with our body-minds. A lifelong teaching every one of us can practice today. WRITE IT DOWN Both Michael and Cecilia's Deaths were also painful reminders that we live in an increasingly litigious society wherein the dispensation of our property, our children, even our very bodies is governed not by obvious relationships and moral right but by strangers behind desks and in robes wielding a legally ordered bullet list that divvies out dominion in a way that may defy the truth of our life choices of family, partnership and love, so:

• Live the life you want; but write down the Death you choose.
• And because Death waits for no one...write it down now. (really, right now)
• Though you can’t take it with you, you do leave it behind for others to deal with (or fight over). Write it down.
• Your last breath may speak your final desire and still your wishes may be dishonored, overridden or overruled. Write it down early, say it plainly and change it as often as needed.

CONNECTION & COMMUNITY What matters most is what I’ve learned about the difference between connection and community and how desperately important knowing that difference is for our not only our lives to be good ones, but more importantly for our Deaths. In an ever-connected, internet-worked world, our Facebook can be thick with Friends, we can be LinkedIn to a web of Connections, our Twitterverse can grow exponentially with little effort. With one simple login, we can create our own private Big Bang. We can scroll a ticker for updates on the status of friends and family, gaining tiny glimpses into the lives of the vast network of people we know intimately, loosely or not at all. Who needs to shout out when you can just tweet? In 120 characters or less, we can be teleported into a virtual visit into someone else’s now. But when Death comes to Friend you, as it will, you can’t ignore it. Where will your vast but virtual network be then? Will they be there to sing songs, share stories and send your ashes back to ashes, and dust back to dust? Will they memorialize Yes, connections can be made quick, Friends, Followers and Fans, but relationships are still slow...and the best ones are grown over time a reflection on why being in relationship matters to social change... in relationship with others by Adrienne Maree Brown “the most important personal and political skill to develop is how to be in relationship to others...the practice of being in relationship with others is what we are missing. individualism - personal individualism and national or patriotic individualism - has created a loneliness amongst humans which is not survivable.” https://adriennemareebrown.net/blog/2009/07/07/in-relationship-with-others/

• Mere connection and true community are not the same; without the latter, we can be "connected" to hundreds of folks and still isolate ourselves literally to our deaths.
• The quality of our deaths is a direct reflection of the quality of relationships we cultivate in life.
• Relationships require reciprocity: Give AND Receive. Don't just touch people...be willing to be touched--and moved--deeply.
• No matter how lofty, your leadership, status, role or position won't separate you from Death, so don't let them separate you from a real Life: one that is in true relationship with others.
• It takes a village to raise a child, and it takes one to rest a soul.

MEDITATE ON THE WAY In many traditions, words for healing and words for Death are the same. Wherever our journey of life and Death may takes us, the path should be paved with encouragement, equanimity and ease: powerfully soothing healing and “death-conquering” mantra sung by Hein Braat and often mistaken for HH XIV Dalai Lama by way of urban legend the maha mrityunjaya mantra [youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=buYFPZuiZHc&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=buYFPZuiZHc excerpt from a reading meditation i offer for the sick, dying and dead on the in-between state leading towards Death... Great Liberation Through Hearing While In Transition modified from Tibetan Book of the Dead for Reading Aloud by Jean-Claude Van Italie and Tibetan Book of the Dead by Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche TO FRIENDS OF THE DYING Oh you, who have come to this place, Sisters and brothers, friends, This person is dying. She has not chosen to do so. She is suffering greatly. She has no home, no friends. Falling as from a cliff, She is entering a strange forest Driven by the winds, swept by the ocean, She feels no solid ground. She is embarking on a great battle. Moved from state to state, She is alone and helpless. Embrace her with your love. THE MOMENT OF DEATH My friend, Now is the moment of death. The time has come for you to start out. You are going home. Oh, Nobly Bord, Now is the moment. Before you is mind, open and wide as space, Simple, without center or circumference. Death has happened. It happens to everyone. Perhaps the greatest opportunity you will ever have in life is to choose how you meet your Death. But without a doubt Death itself is the greatest transformation you’ll ever make. May you go well. Rest in Peace, Michael. Rest In Peace, Cecilia. May you each be liberated. May all beings be happy. May all beings be free. --- copyright ©MMXI. angel Kyodo williams changeangel: all things change. (sm) angel Kyodo williams is a maverick teacher, author, social visionary and founder of Transformative Change. she posts, tweets & blogs on all things change. permission granted to retweet, repost, repast & repeat with copyright and contact information intact. Faceboook: Like angel on Facebook Twitter: Follow angel on Twitter Web: Find angel on the Web Blog: new Dharma: live, love & lead from the heart Train: Train Your Mind with angel

Years ago, Gloria Steinem, the formidable godmother of modern feminism posed a query that my fading memory won't recall exactly, but it irrevocably changed how I view my life. The gist of it was this: if life came to an end for you, if you were hit by a car or something less tragic, but equally sudden while out in the world, and someone had to go through your wallet to find out who you are, would your checkbook reflect your values? Would your statement make a statement and is it the one you would want shared? What story would the carbon copies of what you sign on the dotted line for tell about what matters to you? Not the story of a year ago before the massive nosedive we're in became clear. Today. Now. I know, i know....many of us are so politically correct that we don't write paper checks and maybe haven't for years, but you get my drift: whether its paper, plastic, prepaid or PayPal... What's in YOUR wallet? Later this month, Muslims all over the world will begin Ramadan, the annual 30-day observance of a daylight fast. Neither food nor water passes the lips from sun up to sun down. The same goes for sex and any unlawful, unkind or distasteful acts. Things of pleasure and things of pain are released equally in a daily commitment to taking in less while directing one's energy inwards for reflection, prayer and renewal. Since September 2001, I've engaged this deep practice of total abstinence intermittently, regaining consistency in the last few years. When I commented on it beginning soon (August 22nd in North America), a community member scoffed at its inconvenience: it lands just as we are preparing for our own Fall Practice Period, not to mention working feverishly on our single biggest event of the year. Her concern is well-placed. The outcome of this year's event matters like no other before: like many smart but small organizations, we're sitting on a financial precipice looking over the edge. This is, more often than not, the nature of deep practice: It isn't convenient. It doesn't fit your schedule. It doesn't conform to your whim. It isn't selectable for good days instead of bad. In short, it isn't a hobby...it's a practice. And owing to this practice, as deeply as we are in a literal existential crisis, we are happy. Not happy to be facing the jaws of organizational Death (or Rebirth as the case may be) but happy with who we are, what we do and HOW we show up in the world. I've made peace with the fact that one of the reasons we're in a tight place is because we gave up the Game of jumping through money hoops. We continue to honor our commitment to change from the inside. Daily. 5:40am wakeup bell. 6am yoga. 7am meditation. Week after week. When the bills come and when they go. If not as dramatic, remaining committed to established personal and organizational practice--especially in the face of challenge--is a stance no less determined than that of Gandhi's Salt Marchers, or those folks that continued to cross the bridge in Selma. We put our butts on the line and on the cushion to usher forth a new way of Being Change. Facing financial firing squads, we stand (and sit) committed to finding Right Relationship through real partnership with a community of practitioners, participants and donors that care enough to support this new way even when it is neither easy nor convenient. In the process, we stand committed to maintaining Right Relationship with ourselves. While Ramadan is a fasting practice, it's not about holding back--it's about reconnecting with the places within us that have tightened over the year and re-learning to give generously from that place of connection that knows that we ourselves own nothing. We belong to and are of the Divine and are infinitely blessed to express that Divinity here on Earth. On our knees, with foreheads touching the earth, palms turned toward the sky, our very breath is a celebration of Life. Each morning, we meet the darkness in symbolic solitude and contemplate the challenge before us: a day without eating. As days come and go, humbled in the face of our increasing frailty, physical strength tapped, endurance tested, we meet our humanity. Each night, our commitment is rewarded only by the opportunity to renew ourselves to meet the challenge again. The iftar meal breaks the fast in community, a bonding together to regain strength from not only the food but the energy of shared commitment. Ramadan is ended with a feast, but also with alms-giving--sharing of whatever we have--regardless of how much, an equally significant practice of commitment that brings balance. In an essay on The Transformative Power of Practice Staci Haines and Ng'ethe Maina, two leaders in the field of Transformative Social Change, talk about two kinds of practice: Default Practices are "deeply rooted behaviors that we do automatically, consistently, and unconsciously in response to any given situation" and Intentional Practices are " those that we choose to do in order to transform the way we show up in the world. Through new practices we increase choice and alignment with our values." When we are faced with challenge, it's especially easy to return to--and justify--deeply rooted unconscious practices: fear, contraction, a sense of lack and a resulting need to control. Ramadan shows up every year with a fresh invitation to let go of craving, control and excess with no pat-on-the-back congratulations, no true witness but that of your own deepening alignment with your commitment to Change. Now is not the time to hold out. Not on your commitments, not on your practice and not on change. Change IS on the horizon. The best thing about it is that at this moment, we can't actually make out what it's going to look like. Like much of the unknown, we can take that to be a mark of real danger or of real hope. I'm opting for the latter, but I'm practicing come what may. Are you practicing what you are committed to? or, in other words: What's in YOUR wallet?

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Sure, the best things in life are free. And someone pays--through hard work, advocacy and showing up--for equitable access to much of it. Even if you have a little, break off a littlebit of that something. Put your cash where your heart is. We need a little change to bring about big change. To start you off, here's what's in my wallet. While there were others, I am now reorganzing my priorities to support those that need it most: In no particular order, these are organizations that need support today. Now. Of all the great work out there, I used three criteria to bring these to the top in addition to financial need: 1. Their leadership takes less, little or even no pay, not out of martyrdom, but from a place of studied consideration of what is needed and what is enough. Each brings not only depth of experience, but extraordinarily unique lenses to personal practice as the fundamental basis of systemic change. 2. Their staff, if they have one, are deeply committed to the work, giving of their time and energy generously and unequivocably. The collaborative nature, unpaid volunteers and networks of support make each organization's impact in their fields much greater than their budgets. There's a lot more bang for your buck with them. but most importantly, 3. Their vision is one that holds a unique place for the new change that is still taking shape. They are holding open the doorway to new organizational ways of being, making their practice--how they are being--as important as what they are doing. Simply said, should these uniquely situated organizations disappear, they cannot be replicated and they would take with them a bright lens into all of our future. Every dollar given to these organizations would be multiplied ten-fold by the devoted thoughtfulness, hard work, deep practice, ingenious creativity and sheer will of these organizations and their leaders, the integrity of each of whom i can vouch for personally: Ruckus Society https://www.ruckus.org/donate Oakland-based Ruckus provides environmental, human rights, and social justice organizers of impacted communities nationally and beyond with the tools, training, and support needed to achieve their goals. Through these trainings, we help people learn the skills they need to practice nonviolent direct action safely and effectively. La Plazita Institute https://www.laplazitainstitute.org Based in Albuquerque, Designed around the philosophy of la cultura cura or culture cures, La Plazita's programs strengthen community, families and enable youth to leave behind a destructive lifestyle by tapping into their own roots to express core traditional values of respect, honor, love, family, and community. the stone house: a center for spiritual life and strategic action @ stone circles https://thestonehousenc.blogspot.com/ Just outside the NC Triangle, the stone house is rooted in place. Movements for social justice have always thrived in places of sustenance and safety where people can deepen relationships and envision new strategies for political organizing. and naturally our very own: Center for Transformative Change (CXC) Click to donate:https://www.snipurl.com/cxcdonate Holding it down on the South Berkeley/North Oakland border, CXC is the first national center entirely dedicated to bridging the inner and outer lives of social change agents, activists and allies to support a more effective, more sustainable social justice movement. As a meta-intermediary, this unique hybrid organization is both a residentially-based community of practice (not just theory!) and an astute articulator of the growing movement toward Transformative Social Change.

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--- copyright ©MMXI. angel Kyodo williams changeangel: all things change. (sm) angel Kyodo williams is a maverick teacher, author, social visionary and founder of Transformative Change. she posts, tweets & blogs on all things change. permission granted to retweet, repost, repast & repeat with copyright and contact information intact. Faceboook: Like angel on Facebook Twitter: Follow angel on Twitter Web: Find angel on the Web Blog: new Dharma: live, love & lead from the heart Train: Train Your Mind with angel

a time for action: sometimes, no matter how many ways you try to describe a thing, you have to experience it to know what it really is. i've been talking about transformative change: what it is and isn't. what it could look like and what it can make possible in the world. "beyond the boycott" is the birthplace of an experience of transformative change rooted in nonviolent action. rather than a campaign against Whole Foods, it's a committment to real healthcare & wellness for all. it's a campaign for a more "whole truth." if you're interested, join in the experience, and together, we'll transform the world. -aKw Two weeks ago, like now tens of thousands of others on Facebook, I ran across a post on Why You Should Boycott Whole Foods. If you’re like me, you may have experienced a deeply conflicted moment of some combination of shock, disgust, rage and, um...fear. Fear that you will now have to figure out where to get those admittedly pricey but picturesquely beautiful organic foods you’ve come to know and love and, for some of us, give your whole paycheck for. I’m a stalwart soldier that can take a strong stand for what I believe in. The truth is though, I live in Berkeley, CA, the uber-progressive Republic rivaled only by my hometown of New York City for access to “whole foods” from places other than Whole Foods. As annoying as it might be, it won’t exactly be a hardship for me to go spend my dollars at Berkeley Bowl, Trader Joe’s and the stunning array of year-round weekly farmer’s markets. But how true is that for thousands of us? Especially when Whole Foods is the only game in town—exactly what has made it such a national success—and exactly what I believe John Mackey was counting on when he wrote his now-infamous op-ed The Whole Foods Alternative to ObamaCare. Here’s another truth, sheepish as it may be: I Like Whole Foods. After kavetching like many about the high pricetag on everything from Abalone to Zinneas, and derisively calling it by its’ Whole Paycheck moniker every chance I could get, I surrendered to its wide open aisles, carefully stacked vine-ripened tomatoes and apparently happy-to-be-working-there-employees’ smiles. I do spend my whole paycheck, though not being able to afford health insurance frees up a little cash. And since we’re on a truth roll: I like most of the eight points Mackey made in his piece. I certainly think they’re worth looking into. So I don’t think he’s evil and I definitely don’t think he’s stupid. In fact, I think he smartly calculated the risk of framing his plan as he did. I think John Mackey, like any businessman capable of building a $8B business did some accounting. He accounted for the risk of pissing off a central base. He accounted for sparking a firestorm at a critical point in the healthcare discourse, and I even think he accounted for some boycotts here and there. But he calculated that he would win. Why? Because:

• Most Americans (myself included) have dwindled down to the attention span of a 140-character tweet.
• Boycotts take time, patience and commitment to work. Understandably, we’re sorely lacking on most of that these days, and most impactfully:
• Whole Foods IS the only game in town in too many places for a sustained boycott over an indefinite period of time.

So what to do? Something John Mackey hasn’t accounted for—take the Whole Foods Boycott to another level—tell Whole Foods "I Don't Buy It." If given an invitation, they don’t respond meaningfully to the concerns of their offended core base and those impacted by his statements, we should all get together and go beyond the boycott. Sending peopleTO Whole Foods to SHOP, but DON’T BUY is an action that will get their attention. It’s time to increase the pressure and urgency on Whole Foods, leaving no doubt that we will not only withhold our dollars from them, but will take positive action to drain them of resources. But it's also time for those of us pushing for change to do so in a way that actually seeks resolution, transforming the issue into an opportunity for real change: change that matters. Thus, any action taken should be thoughtful, respectful, measured and leveraged only if it is needed: if understanding where this is headed, Whole Foods won't come to the table. Ignoring it away is not an option. Just like it sounds, in a SHOP. DON’T BUY action, people would: SHOP for groceries, then "pay" with a symbolic 60-Person bill and tell the cashier that their CEO, in effect, said this is acceptable:

• that it's OK that 60 people die every day without access to healthcare
• that it's OK that uninsured adults are 25% more likely to die prematurely
• that it's OK the lack of health insurance is the third leading cause of death for the near-elderly

Naturally they won’t accept the 60P so shoppers get to tell Whole Foods “I DON'T BUY It.”

• DON’T BUY their food.
• DON’T BUY their excuse for John Mackey’s irresponsible statements.
• DON’T BUY any position that allows corporations to avoids responsibility for their leadership when offering a personal view under the banner of their brand.

Leave the store without the groceries. This simple but powerful action can give us voice to acknowledge that, contrary to what Mackey suggests, healthcare IS a right. It is buying from Whole Foods that is a privilege. Going beyond the boycott—which is hard to measure the impact of, potentially loses steam and often devolves into angry protest because people want to DO something—each of us can say "Whole Foods, I'm commited to take action because... I don't buy it that Mackey benignly used scare tactic phrases "socialism" and "government takeover." I don't buy it that healthcare is something that every American shouldn't have access to because "a careful reading of both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution will not reveal any intrinsic right..." I don't buy it "that every American adult is responsible for his or her own health" even though a flawed system has sold access to healthcare from under the feet of 47 million people. I don't buy it "voluntary, tax-deductible donation" is sufficient to address that lack of access, and I don't buy it that even if "many of our health-care problems are self-inflicted" for the many reasons--systemic, market-driven, lack of information--that may be true, 60 people should die everyday. And I don't buy it for Whole Foods to explain this away as "personal opinions" because Mackey used his access and status as CEO to make his surprisingly irresponsible and self-serving statements, branding it "The Whole Foods Alternative..." We can leverage our commitment to action for a more satisfying resolution to the betrayal of our trust in shared values. Now that their CEO has publicly stood against so many, what will Whole Foods stand for? In the absence of a meaningful response to their leader's maybe personal, likely uninformed, but still irresponsible statements, love Whole Foods as we may—-in fact because we love them—-we need to hold them accountable. An organized, nonviolent Shop, Don't Buy action can do that. Finally, Mr. Mackey, I acknowledge that your “eight reforms” might work. But this is no longer only about lowering costs, it's about life and our inalienable Rights—as a careful reading of the Declaration of Independence does reveal—to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. None of those are possible without our health. You’ve got good ideas but you didn’t have to slap us with them. Relationship repair starts with conversations. Can we talk? Some powers that be, naysayers, talking heads and even John Mackey may believe Whole Foods can just wait out a boycott and continue business as usual without significant impact on their bottom line. I don't buy it. And you shouldn't either. Get details on Shop. Don't Buy: https://bit.ly/idbi --- copyright ©MMXI. angel Kyodo williams changeangel: all things change. (sm) angel Kyodo williams is a maverick teacher, author, social visionary and founder of Transformative Change. she posts, tweets & blogs on all things change. permission granted to retweet, repost, repast & repeat with copyright and contact information intact. Faceboook: Like angel on Facebook Twitter: Follow angel on Twitter Web: Find angel on the Web Blog: new Dharma: live, love & lead from the heart Train: Train Your Mind with angel

New York City -- September 11-12, 2001 The devastation of this day is staggering beyond measure. We have all heard the radio, watched the television with our mouths gaping in disbelief, our hearts wrenching in despair. We have heard talk of resolve and determination. Plans for justice and retaliation. Unanswerable questions being asked and unimaginable events being lived. The fact is that as a culture and as a people, we are not equipped emotionally, psychically and spiritually to manage the magnitude of this tragedy in our minds. We have, mercifully, lived for so long under the dark shroud of ignorance to the scope of our vulnerability. I want to encourage you all, first and foremost, to be still. To listen to your heartbeat. To be silent. To breathe. If you listen deeply, it is the voice of sanity and compassion that you will find there. It is the voice that will remind you of your connection with all beings. Yes, you are connected with the untold hundreds, possible thousands of unknowing people that lost their lives instantly in the World Trade Center and Pentagon crashes. You are connected with the undoubtedly horrified passengers and crew of the airplanes turned into weapons of mass destruction. You are connected with the brave rescue workers, firemen, police officers that willingly ran into flaming buildings as others poured out, only to have two of the world's largest structures of steel, glass and concrete fall in on them along with the countless victims trying desperately to escape. You are connected to the mothers, the fathers, the sisters, nephews and cousins of all those people. To their teachers, their coworkers, their friends and their lovers that must carry an unthinkable burden forth. And you are also connected with the men or women that, with frightening calculation, walked onto the planes of four major airlines, knowing that they would pilot their own deaths and take the lives of innocent people on their journey. We cannot close our eyes or our hearts to not one of those people. We cannot close our minds to the unbearable truth of the consequences of our actions. Of creating, perpetuating and sitting on the sidelines of a culture that passes off violence as a reasonable tool to achieve peace. Of doling out so-called justice only to those who are not in our favor. Those who do not say the right things, have the right color, were not born into the right caste, worship the right gods and live the right lives. Our unbalanced sense of justice is increasingly available on behalf of only those who can afford it or offer enough benefit in exchange. Most of us sat idly by, comfortable that our distance made us safe. Now how many additional lives do we need to see taken to make us feel truly secure? What punishment will feel like it is enough? It is tempting to find oneself taking aim at a nameable group and pulling the trigger of anger. Which is why now, more than any other moment in our history, we must make the most courageous effort, take the hardest step towards living in an altogether different way. If we are lulled into seeing the people that have committed this desperate act and the people that will surely pay with their lives in any act of retaliation as separate, different, Others that are not a reflection of the darkest parts of our own selves, we will lose this crucial opportunity. We will lose the window to a realization of ourselves as more compassionate, more thoughtful, more fully connected with the events of our world, and thus more responsible. This bears repeating: if we continue to refuse to take personal responsibility for the cause and conditions: for the oppression, the inequity, the sheer unnatural imbalance of our existence, we will never witness an end to this. So I implore you to not allow your inexpressible confusion, sorrow, helplessness and fear to numb you into turning over your agency. Do not let your desire for a new illusion of personal safety, of "freedom" to give license to further violence. Our military may be "powerful and prepared" but are we? Are we prepared to, with fierce determination, with the strength bestowed by personal realization, insist that we will no longer let violence be perpetuated in our names, in the name of justice, and most cruelly, in the name of peace? We must band ourselves and our hearts together to put an end to the cycle of violence that we now know we are not immune from. We must put an end to the wars being waged against our humanity and become warriors for the common cause of peace. We are desperate to have the answers to every question, to always know what to do and how to respond. It is obvious that there is so much that we don't, but what we do know is that the way it has been done is not working. You have permission to turn off your TVs and radios and simply feel your pain. You have permission to not know. It is easy to see ourselves as good and well-wishing when the fabric of our very being is not called into question. But can we be open and honest about who we really are, about the evil acts we are capable of conceiving while staring in the face of our own remarkable frailty? And can we use that to change? We need to find peace in our own hearts first. Many people find their ways to spiritual paths, to personal paths of transformation when the ground they always knew to be there falls out from underneath them. The ground has fallen out beneath us America. Let us all find the wisdom to see this unspeakable tragedy as a doorway to meaningful change, as a precursor to collective transformation. If we do not accept this challenge, if we are not brave and unrelenting in our demand, but instead cower behind the "quiet, unyielding" and clearly insatiable, emotion of anger, the loss of thousands of lives will not be merely unspeakable, they will be in vain. A meditation, prayer, affirmation for our humanity: "May all beings be granted with the strength, determination and wisdom to extinguish anger and reject violence as a way.   May we seek, find and fully realize the love and compassion that already lives within us and allow them to permeate our every action.   May we exercise the precious gift of choice and the capacity to change that makes us uniquely human and is the only true path to freedom. " --- copyright ©MMXI. angel Kyodo williams changeangel: all things change. (sm) angel Kyodo williams is a maverick teacher, author, social visionary and founder of Transformative Change. she posts, tweets & blogs on all things change. permission granted to retweet, repost, repast & repeat with copyright and contact information intact. Faceboook: Like angel on Facebook Twitter: Follow angel on Twitter Web: Find angel on the Web Blog: new Dharma: live, love & lead from the heart Train: Train Your Mind with angel