Beloved Community

Every morning I get up and read another story about the current administration and my jaw drops and my heart rate increases. When our current president ran on a platform of division, I wondered how people could actually vote for him. But they did and now he is fulfilling his promises of building walls, cutting social services, eliminating all the safeguards to the environment, defunding the public school system, eliminating corporate regulations that were put in place to protect the public, attacking the media, staying silent on racist and hate based crimes that are on the rise, etc. etc. I could go on and on unfortunately.

Back in February Stephanie Sharp of Blissful Heart Studio asked me to contribute an uplifting image of resistance. She was creating a postcard collection for people to use to write their representatives and our government to let them know that we are aware of what is happening and will not be silent about the attacks on our constitution and on the safety net of society.

Around the time when the image was due I attended a church’s Sunday service and the minister spoke about Martin Luther King Jr’s Beloved Community. I added a link below the quote to learn more about his thoughts on the Beloved Community, but here is a brief synopsis.

Dr. King’s Beloved Community is a global vision, in which all people can share in the wealth of the earth. In the Beloved Community, poverty, hunger and homelessness will not be tolerated because international standards of human decency will not allow it. Racism and all forms of discrimination, bigotry and prejudice will be replaced by an all-inclusive spirit of sisterhood and brotherhood. In the Beloved Community, international disputes will be resolved by peaceful conflict-resolution and reconciliation of adversaries, instead of military power. Love and trust will triumph over fear and hatred. Peace with justice will prevail over war and military conflict.

–The King Center.

The minister also spoke about “righteous indignation” and to check with yourself about where it comes from- from the ego or from that sacred space within that is love for humanity and for one’s community. I have found that when I am feeling the anger rise up, checking in with myself, changes the energy in a positive way, rather than a destructive way. Positive action. It’s a difficult tightrope though these days.

After that particular sermon, I went home and created this image for the collection. This and other images from various artists are available at the Blissful Heart Studio etsy shop.

If you need postcards to write your representatives, consider purchasing these. 100% of the profits will be donated to the National ACLU organization.

One last note, an old and wise friend from childhood wrote something yesterday that I feel is important to share. It is easy to get overwhelmed by all that is going on and not every issue will resonate with you. Find the one that does and fight for that. If we all do that, we can accomplish much. Do what you can with what matters. For myself, it is hard to pick just one, but I plan to focus on the environment, public education as well as the ACA. Do what you can with what matters to you. That is all we can do.