Several thousand year old trees bulldozed to make room for the West Bank wall.
This photo must be the one that says a thousand words. Israel (not necessarily the State, rather the area in and around Israel) is the heart of the world, the most ancient of lands, the Holy Land. Whatever happens there ripples out to all other areas where it is felt and replicated. Whatever happens in other areas is compounded several times in Israel.
This wall indicates failure of the human spirit to shine forth through the dross of selfishness, shortsightedness, conflict and historical manipulation. Living creatures hundreds of years old rooted up to make way for a symbol of separation, can only cause pain. A people full of pain; land full of pain.
It is the Holy Land because it has registered the footprints and revelation of most of the major representatives of our Creator. It is the most important place, it is the place that symbolizes our present and future. If we believe that people can overcome prejudices, that the human spirit reflects openness, nurturing and caring for others and that larger and larger groups of people are awakening to these possibilities, the world must turn its gaze to Israel. If we believe in these things, Israel must be the stage where these possibilities are to be expressed, to be played out.
Meanwhile I vigorously applaud the valiant souls that chained these ancient trees to this wall. Brilliant. May this be a message to the world that spiritual and ecological destruction shall not be tolerated anymore. I hope the wall decomposes before these trees do.
(Photo taken from Karl's site)
This wall indicates failure of the human spirit to shine forth through the dross of selfishness, shortsightedness, conflict and historical manipulation. Living creatures hundreds of years old rooted up to make way for a symbol of separation, can only cause pain. A people full of pain; land full of pain.
It is the Holy Land because it has registered the footprints and revelation of most of the major representatives of our Creator. It is the most important place, it is the place that symbolizes our present and future. If we believe that people can overcome prejudices, that the human spirit reflects openness, nurturing and caring for others and that larger and larger groups of people are awakening to these possibilities, the world must turn its gaze to Israel. If we believe in these things, Israel must be the stage where these possibilities are to be expressed, to be played out.
Meanwhile I vigorously applaud the valiant souls that chained these ancient trees to this wall. Brilliant. May this be a message to the world that spiritual and ecological destruction shall not be tolerated anymore. I hope the wall decomposes before these trees do.
(Photo taken from Karl's site)
11 comments:
I too hope that all walls fall before any more destruction to our world's environment occurs. Your blog is very interesting to read.
Sharon, Thanks, I appreciate your comment. Hope to see you back again soon.
Shalom, Iguana.
I echo Sharon's words.
Besides pointing to thoughts and ideas that we would all do well to ponder, I find the poetic quality of your writing to be both refreshing and engaging: kudos!
I'll be back!
Dennis (in Phoenix)
I could get in easily Iguana,
Nice blog, theme and topics.Hala Fawzi from dusty hot Sudan
Hi Justin,
I just loved this entry of your blog. I completely agree with you that this picture is worth more than a thousand words. We have really been disrepectul with the environment and nature. This picture, although it shows some kind destruction and death, it also shwows respect and reminds us of what we really are and how our fate is tied to the of all living creatures.
Hugs from Brazil
Jose Antonio
Hi Justin, I got into the blog and posted a comment without a problem.
Dennis - Such kind words. I wrote this really quickly because it caused such an impact on me and I wanted to share it with everybody. It seems to me that when something is really important it comes out cleaner for some reason. Hope to see you back again soon.
José Antonio - That is why this picture caused such an impact on me too. Seeing such a contrast between the destruction caused and the efforts to chain them to the wall in protest is a good example of the two processes that I see happening. On one hand you see the structures of our societies crumbling: economic, political, social, educational, etc... But on the other hand, a constructive process is building new structures from the ashes of the old. All the new NGO's, movements, blogs, forms of communication, civil rights, etc... Right now people prefer to dwell on the destructive process, but soon the constructive process will become more evident and gain more strength.
Ok, hope to see you again soon.
Nina - Thanks, hope to see you again soon.
Hala Fawzi - I love your name, thanks for the comment. Have you had the opportunity to visit Israel? I thought maybe you had given that you live so relatively close.
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