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Saturday, December 30, 2006
So Much Magnificence
I have spent the last few days in northern California, visiting my daughter and son-in-law and taking in the redwoods and the ocean.
After watching the sun open up into flames of oranges, reds and pinks during its descent into the ocean... after breathing in the humid redwood forest air... after standing in awe of the immensity of the redwood trees... after walking in forests where life just wants to burst everywhere (a sharp contrast to the dry climate of Colorado and of the Utah desert that I so love)... after all of that, we came back to my daughter's apartment last night and turned on the computer to read the news of the week.
And I saw that we have lost 2995 soldiers to date (2998 as of this writing this morning).
And I saw that Saddam was hung.
There is so much magnificence in this world. How do I hold it all in my heart? How do I not become a total cynic?
It seems like the hanging of Saddam became an emergency. All of a sudden, it had to be NOW. Does it have anything to do with how close we are to having 3000 of our soldiers dead, while Iraq is a mess (a happy little diversion maybe)?
Now that we have killed hundreds of thousands of Iraqis in revenge for the death of 3000 Americans in 2001, now that Saddam is dead, now that 3000 of our soldiers are dead, where does it stop? Who is the last to give their life to make the tally come out fair?
Yesterday morning, while the whole family was still in bed, a loud bang happened somewhere outside our cabin. An hour and a half later, when we were up and around, we looked outside, and on the porch was a bird that appeared injured, although there were no visible signs of injury. It sat on the porch, breathing heavily, but otherwise not moving. The bang that we heard must've been the sound of the bird flying into the cabin's window.
We talked. Who has the guts to kill this beautiful animal as an act of kindness - to relieve it of its suffering? What if it is not terminal? Do we bring it inside? Would human contact just be another layer of trauma? I believe that animals are much more okay with their own death than humans tend to be. Do we just trust and let the bird do what it innately knows how to do?
Before we left, we contacted the caretakers and told them about our new little feathered friend. By then, it had sat there without moving for probably four hours. One of the women brought a towel to put around the bird so that she could pick it up. As she placed the towel over the bird, it came to life, and flew up into the branches of a tree.
The other woman caretaker did a little circle dance.
I felt like the smile inside me filled my whole body.
Life!
It's such a miracle.
It so wants to be.
It is such a travesty, such an error, for humans to think they know enough and have enough authority to make the decision of life or death for another.
Taking in all of the beauty of this trip, I am also trying to breathe in the anger and hatred that is all around.
And I feel like the magnificence of it all fills my whole body.
posted by Carol at 10:00 AM
2 Comments:
Salams Carol sweetheart! I sure do miss you today, I've got to say. Eid Mubarak, I wish you had been with me today-- it was so positive :) Can't wait to see you soon in shaAllah :)
Hey you!
I went to your blog and read about your magical day. After reading it, I feel like I was there. I am SO happy that you have the community that you have.
Gives me hope!
Maybe you can work your magic when you come to CO and we can bring together bunches of people to celebrate life together (and to get multiple hennaed hands).
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