September 2018 Dragonspeak

The world news seem to be full of man’s inhumanity to man. Lying, bullying, cheating and violence seem to herald the ascendancy of darkness across the world. Anger and fear seem to dominant many people’s thinking and behavior which leads to anti-democratic actions. Democratic forms of government seem to be under assault.

When you see the leader of a democratic nation spend his life bullying and cheating and is rewarded by a high governmental position, what example does that give to the rest of the world? When there is so much corruption from business people and government officials that result in great profit for them, what is the message for the regular person? Integrity, honesty, compassion, and patriotism are not valued. Where do we go from here?

How do we stand up in the face of this corruption and hold “old-fashioned” values and behaviors of love of country and love of your neighbor? Are we starting to see some individuals who are willing to stand for the truth in the face of “alternative truths” and who stand for “common decency”, which is not common anymore?

The majority of people are holding on to their center and know right from wrong. Unfortunately, the most visible figures in government are the outliers and want the majority to believe that the old values are no longer working. Right now we are seeing some glimmers of hope that truth is coming back into fashion.

Perhaps the darkness we are experiencing helps us to see clearly the value of caring for the Earth and each other. It also helps us to see the value of integrity and authenticity. The absence of something often shows us how important something is to us.