So, how are you doing, friends? All this turbulence in the world — the extremism, polarity, accusation and fear — does it bother you?
Are you someone who has made the decision to stay high on your eagle's perch to avoid being dragged down into the mire?
Are you very politically engaged, and if you are — what is your perspective? Left? Right? Centrist? Floating voter? Has your perspective changed in the last few years, or are you steadfast to the course you'd set?
And if you do feel tossed about by everything tearing the world apart, what are your preferred ways of keeping your equilibrium?
From the wise spiritual people I listen to online, I'm hearing unanimous recommendation that we do well to find solidarity in groups that lift us up and encourage us. Are you in a group like that, or are you more isolated? If you are in such a group, do they keep you steady? How? By what means?
And your group — is it near (walking distance) or do you have to travel to meet up, or can you meet only online?
So many questions! I hope you don't mind!
It's a gloriously sunny day here on England's south coast, as you can see.
Of other news, our kitchen is now fixed and — praise be to God — when the cabinet came out so we could inspect the damage, the disastrous effects were mainly restricted to that one cabinet. The work tops had to be replaced, but the floor was okay, and the wall behind it. It's all calmed and back in place now, looking like this.
Waving from the sunny North and so happy to see you and read your words. I’ve also enjoyed reading reading your older posts on simplicity 💕
ReplyDeleteThank you for the thoughtful questions Pen and yes I’m heartily sick of the polarisation, extremism and violence in this world, that is why you will always find me here in this space.
I’ve always voted Labour largely as a means of outing the Tories and very occasionally because they were offering a slither of hope amidst the dross. I cannot imagine voting for them again but if I vote Green am I giving a vote albeit vicariously to Reform instead? The whole parliamentary system is not fit for purpose and there are times I wonder could proportional representation work but there’s no doubt issues with that too 😬
I’ve appreciated your reflections of anchoring your light and for me I relate it to being in your own ‘anchor hold’ ( I use that term loosely and not as Mother Julian lived) and doing your best right where God has placed you, for me it is in my vocation as a wife and mother. Even in a small family community there is a microcosm of society reflected in our daily actions - holding and supporting one in need, navigating conflict resolution, managing the home economy and being good stewards of our resources.
I guess you could say I’m a ‘solitary’ in both the lived world and in online spaces. I was pondering our family pilgrim path and realised this morning that it is where we are meant to be and that is largely through your words on an old blog post of yours. In the post you shared that reading before work was frowned upon by your mum and seen as ‘being lazy.’ Your mum was always busy but your path of really listening to life and observing people, nature and seasons has led you down the path of a writer. We need people like you Pen who walk the quiet paths and remind us there is another way to live life well.
With much love
San xx
Forgot to say I’m so glad the kitchen was easy to repair and it’s now up and running. Your stew sounds delicious xx
ReplyDeleteWaving to you, San! I really loved what you said:
Delete"I was pondering our family pilgrim path and realised this morning that it is where we are meant to be"
That lifts my heart — I'm so glad you are on the right path for you, both as individuals and as a family.
About the politics — I wonder if people might vote differently in local elections and national ones?
In our last slew of elections I voted Green, as did many others in our town. I think I'll vote differently when it comes to a General Election, but I'm very pleased with the way I voted for Hastings. Our Green councillors stormed home and they have turned out to be absolutely brilliant for Hastings. Particularly what I love is that they are patient, courteous, thoughtful and people of integrity. No back-stabbing, and they talk things through conscientiously and work tirelessly to get everything as good as we can manage.
So, though my politics no longer align with the Green Party's — because the political landscape has changed so much and so fast — I'm even so very happy with the way I voted. They're doing a grand job in our area.
Yes I wonder too if folk vote differently. I must admit I voted Labour in both elections and we’ve ended up with a Reform council! There are things about the Greens that I’m not mad keen on and don’t wholly align with where I’m at. I’d forgotten about Lib Dem, Ed Davy is big on supporting carers and the disabled. I know for sure I couldn’t vote Tory or Reform. My Dad in law refused to vote because there wasn’t a box stating ‘none of the above!’
ReplyDeleteRecently I've thought that if we had a General Election tomorrow, I just do not know how I'd cast my vote — not least because we rarely get what was proposed in the manifesto and promised by the candidates. I always have voted, thinking that if I don't vote then I've voted for whoever gets in. I'm just hoping that things will become clearer as we move toward the next election.
DeleteThere are many things in the news here in the USA that vex my soul, so I looked for a biblical remedy and found some things in the Psalms and 1John. Psalm 1 tells me not to walk in the counsel of the ungodly, stand in the way with sinners or sit in the seat of the scornful, button delight in the law of the Lord day and night. Psalm 101 reminds me that it’s OK to choose different path from the world around me, and Psalm 16:4 gives me permission not to worship anything less than the Lord. 1 John 2:15-16 helps me not to get too attached to the systems of this world.
ReplyDeleteI don’t expect everyone around me to follow the same path I am on, and I don’t feel isolated. I’m sure there are others loving God and following Jesus in similar ways because it just stands to reason. The world is wildly variable, but the lord and his word never change. He is my anchor.
❤️ That sounds like an excellent recipe. x
DeleteI've been consistently conservative in almost every way for many years now. I decided on my position a long time ago, and the further I live, the more clearly I realize that I was right. My friends share it, so we are united in the main thing. To make life better, we read aloud to each other over the Internet almost every day. We've almost read "That Hideous Strength" by C. S. Lewis. An amazingly relevant piece!
ReplyDeleteAnd more. One wise man, whom I respect very much, said this:
ReplyDeleteIn general, I believe that Russia's biggest problem is the lack of love for one's neighbor. Comprehensive.
The "upper people" consider it normal to solve problems at a sort of "state level", without giving a damn about how the specific details of the decisions taken will affect the simple little people below.
There is also a "state level"! What do you like the interests of little people!
A huge number (most of them active!) of "ordinary citizens" demand mainly certain prohibitions, repressions and restrictions.
For those they don't like. For those who are at least a little richer or better off ("Why, is he better than me??"). For those who think about something else.
This can be seen at least by the fact that "activity against" – how else to prohibit something wrong or infringe on someone unsympathetic - is always an order of magnitude greater than the more necessary creative "activity for".
The result is political decisions about how to solve state problems by making it equally forbidden and bad for everyone.
This is a consequence of the way of thinking of both sides - the upper and the lower. It's very nice, of course, to put all the responsibility on top of it - but it's a lie to ourselves.
Specifically, the budget deficit for pensions and medicine is a direct consequence of the demographic crisis.
The demographic crisis, meanwhile, is not a direct consequence of material problems and difficulties, but of a lack of that same love for one's neighbor.
Because the birth of children is the apotheosis of embodied love. To the neighbor – not least.
And contempt for families, the view that having many children "breeds poverty," that "parents are a source of threats and problems," the practice of urgently punishing everyone for having children so that they live "as they should" is the apotheosis of lack of love for one's neighbor, turning into direct hatred for him.
Love gives birth to people. People create wealth and prosperity.
Not the other way around.
No love? There will be no budget first, then no country.
If there is love and intelligence, there will be understanding.:
— from below – that problems should not be solved at all through the distribution of state benefits;
— from above, that the problems cannot be solved by increasing extortion and control over everything around.
And then there will be real solutions, not this one with elements of cannibalism.
I think all this can be said about a lot of countries nowadays...
❤️ Разделяю ваши взгляды.
ReplyDeleteАналогичные проблемы здесь — и их становится всё больше.
That's how they are all over the "civilized world." As they say, they poured from one barrel.
DeleteЯ думаю, наша задача — алхимизировать это там, где это встречается на нашем пути.
ReplyDelete