The "Tree of History" was created many years ago, at the passing of my great grandmother - Nana. I originally sketched it and then chalked it. Yet with the death of Erin's dads, my dear friend and professor Dr. Marler, Jeff, and with grandma in hospice - I was stirred to paint it again. It serves on the creating end, a time of reflection and the lives that have left pieces of themselves on me. I am reminded and spurred by Albert Einstein, when he says: "A hundred times every day I remind myself that my inner and outer life depend upon the labors of other men, living and dead, and that I must exert myself in order to give in the measure as I have received and am still receiving."
The second piece, I am not sure what the title is at this point...
It began to brew in me prior to the reading Jesus for President and it continued to brew more greatly. Listening to speeches by MLK, reading up on Ghandi, reflecting on the US's view of humanity, war, brutality, revenge, and exploitation....I could not run from the pain in which I have been apart of. Not as an active member but my lack of activity for or against is a stance - and a stance for it.
I deeply meditated over these words:
"He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it. He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it."- MLK
"The killing of the guilty is not the way to rebuild justice and reconcile society, rather there is a risk of nourishing the spirit of revenge and inciting fresh violence."
- Vatican spokesperson Fr. Federico Lombardi S.J., on the execution of Saddam Hussein
"A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual doom." - MLK
I can get paralyzed by how BIG the issues are or I can choose to take each moment and see the small steps I can make to be a beacon of peace, offer justice, choose to love, offer respect and empower the voices that are muffled.
