The Gift

Greetings all,

It's been a full week.  I had unexpectedly taught an extra class this week and had two holiday parties. So I've been running around.  Still I have a hard time getting into the holiday spirit this year.  I'm still reeling from the political fallout of the fall, and to be honest a year of letting go of a lot of routines.  So I'm kind of looking for the gift in all this.

I try not to be too political with my blogposts, but I find it increasingly hard to avoid this topic.  I've followed the events of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe and the Water Protectors very closely.  I've followed the list of appointments into the next president's cabinet.  All around me I see intolerance, bigotry, and ignorance being celebrated as great virtues.  The shapes of energies that are falling together show me quite a dark future for the planet.  I see more destruction of habitat, the poisoning of our water, air, and lands.  I see blood demanded for those that serve, for the profits of billionaires who just want more for themselves and less for everyone else.  I see poverty spreading, famine, pestilence, and death riding high upon the backs of those who have the least, and risk the most.  I see all this amidst the glitz and glamour of presidential pageantry.  So I'm not very merry.  I don't have it to warm my heart as they year grows cold.  I like everybody get down.  I used to think it might be depression, but I realized quite late in my development it was that I had awful people around me (at the time).  Right now I can't think of any reason why the events of the world wouldn't depress me.

I have thought of just checking out; living in the moment oblivious to the world around me, but I just can't do that.  I am connected via this web of life and internet.  I have thought of leaving this land of my birth, but I can't do that either.  (It is hard to relocate internationally).  Even if I could somehow secure residency elsewhere it would mean leaving the people I care for behind.  Still I did look into it and even had the offer of a job and place to stay in Canada should the need arise.  You see I remember history classes and the climate in the US right now is similar to Nazi Germany.  So as hard as it might be I may have to do it someday.  Yes the Mooneagle has actually considered the fact that he may be a political refugee, just let that sink in.

One of my teachers always said there is a gift in every situation.  Well I'm looking around for it and it has been hard to spot.  I think the problem though was that I was looking for that gift outside myself. I have been made more aware of who my neighbors are, and what they really think.  I have found out through Facebook posts and comments just how compassionate (or not) the people in my network are.  I've become aware that I need an evacuation plan, and that may one day save my life.  Still it is a bitter gift.  Knowledge earned is not always a cause for celebration.  I realize in all of this that what I choose to do is going to matter.  I can't just check out emotionally or physically from the situation.  I did that the day after the election and my family descended into fights which seemed to come out of left field.  We never know our impact on others until we withdraw our energies.  The sad thing is they often don't know either.

So dear reader I must apologize.  I try my best to be insightful and uplifting, but this week I just can't manage it.  Christmas is not my favorite holiday and brings its own emotional baggage, but this year it is the straw and I seem to be the camel in this metaphor.  I would ask that you consider what gifts are open to you right now?  Which ones do you have to share?  What has been revealed to you and how can you use that knowledge to best serve yourself and your community?  I'll lift from winter shadows eventually, hopefully ready to fight on, and I earnestly hope you'll be there standing with me.

Peace and Blessings,
Thomas Mooneagle