Why Do Small “Zones Of Peace” Matter So Much?

Having dealt with the anguish of a dying kitty this past week – and – also having had the uplifting experience of playing another New Horizons Truth Or Dare GAME, my morning reflections leave me with a mixture of feeling bereft, today, and consciously reaching out for the lift and the hope Saturday’s GAME provided, as I awaken to a dull, cloudy cold day.

Is the dying of my Beloved kitty, Cassandra, at the heart of my malaise? 

Or is there more to it, I ask myself, not wanting to linger unduly in misery? 

Where is the sunshine for me this day? 

Cassandra: In loving memory

Hiding behind those grey clouds I see in the sky?

Certainly Cassandra’s passing lies at the deepest place. 

But I am wise enough to know that light is, also, somewhere nearby.

The grief over her loss feels insurmountable. But there is much else that is also disheartening.

Briefly checking the day’s news headlines on my Smartphone offers no relief. 

The world beyond my bedroom window is as cold and bitter as Accuweather reports the day’s forecast to be.

The government shutdown continues. And children remain separated from parents at the border. 

Racial tensions intensify and murders are committed near and far. No one seems willing or able to take action.

In the midst of this, each day brings more and more tales of human turmoil and devastation at the hands of a tyrannical president who seeks only to exert his Will and a Congressional body that won't assert its own in the service of citizens.

No one is winning! How long can this last?

Is this America, the land of the free and the brave?

The land my Eastern European grandparents sought out for the safe, secure, beautiful futures  they would find to replace Russian oppression of their families and themselves?  

It worked for them. Why not for others, now?

I am scared, frustrated and angry – and – of course deeply sorrowful, wondering how I can help what is in motion around me. Not even certain I can keep myself above the enveloping darkness.

My mind wanders back to the GAME, just passed, where cooperation, honesty and fairness were the order of the day. 

Recalling that safe, secure space, I am remembering that I had spent much of the week prior to it holding my dying kitty close to me, tending to her every need, searching for the slightest sign I might draw from her as to how I could help pull her through whatever affliction was pulling her under.

In the end, there was nothing I could do. Cassandra ceased to breathe and to live.

So I am left, once again, trying to find solace in loss and make sense of that which eludes. 

This is a condition of being human. But why must there be so much of it, especially on American soil?

One main thought, above all, comes to mind. 

Above all, that one idea answers the question “Why Do Small “Zones Of Peace” Matter So Much?”

In the midst of the upheaval and chaos, the words of Gandhi, below, upon which New Horizons rests its foundations keep running through my mind, with their urging of humanity how best to not only endure, but also to thrive. Gandhi states -- 

“We do best to begin by carving out territories or zones of peace in our personal relations where violence and deceit won’t be used.”

Then there are the words of Benjamin Franklin, with meaning not unlike those of Gandi. 

"We must all hang together or most assuredly we will all hang separately"?

And in the Bible, in the Gospel of Mark 3:25, Jesus states --

"And if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand." 

These are ideals that people everywhere often strive to uphold.

Why not now?

At New Horizons’ we draw from philosophies such as these for footing on the solid ground, underlying our collective commitments to building and sustaining small "zones of peace,"  everywhere we go, beginning with how each and every one of us, behind this beautiful initiative, handles ourselves personally and with others.

It is our pledge and our commitment.

We are committed to doing our best to be winners in carrying it into lives. 

Winning for us always comes back to win-win.

Why is our Congress so far from this objective, I ask myself, as I start off another day praying for the abating of the surrounding insanity of our national society and politics?

Nothing comes to mind as an answer from myself. No one else seems to know either.

After worrying my head and my heart for too long this day, I vow to let it all go, for a bit, deciding to tackle the cold outdoors with another mountain road trek. 

That I can manage.

At least the sun has come out there, again,