Faced with the Sins of My Past and the Desires of a Better Tomorrow

Althought I should be sleeping right now, here I find myself, wide awake and writing to my blog. Its been quite some time since my last post, which with my track record of blogging isn't all too surprising. I've always wish I were more expressive, better able to put my thoughts into words and write them down. I always questioned why I don't write more often. Sometimes my thoughts astound me, and I don't mean to sound narcissistic when I say that, but merely reflect upon the fact that I believe I share many of the same ideals and aspirations as do other people and I think I could benefit sharing them with others.

But, alas, it takes a special amount of effort or that occasional gem of inner thought to motivate me enough to actually sit down and spend time writing, or typing for that matter. I've realized something a bit strange of myself, I fear the finite. This is a bit related to what I had to say in my previous post, but it scares me to think that our existence is finite. Why do I bring this up? Well, I think that part of my lack of writing is that I fear that by writing something down, by writing something down I somehow am taking away from a finite source. It bothers me to think that if I keep writing things down eventually I'll have written everything I could possibly write down and therefore the finite source has been exhausted. It is absurd to that that, since I believe that one could sit for an eternity writing things down and never cross over on the same topic twice. Of course, one would have to develop their creativity and wisdom, but I believe that even as I speak the enormous amount of things we've created is a strong statement for the infinite-nature of reality.

But, this is slightly divergent of what I wanted to address here. I posted on my Facebook a proposal. I did some research, and while I can not verify the validity of what I read, it disturbed me to think that this has an ounce of truth. That what we were once taught about Thanksgiving being a time of celebration between the Pilgrams and the Indians and a time of peace was in fact a myth used to cover up a far darker truth. Where, in fact, the time of thanksgiving was started by a governor to give thanks for the massacre of Indians. To think that something as horrendous as this could be true frightens me. But, it lead me to think that even if this was not true it does not mean that all the other horrifying acts that we as Americans, and even that we as human beings have committed. Whether one regards the violence that we perpetuate against one another or the simply apathy that we seem to be plagued by when it comes to compassion felt for our fellow (wo)men, we are guilty. The crime of devaluing, harming, or dehumanizing another human being is the most terrifying and horrendous act we can committ, and it is a travesty of nature in the highest regard. And yet on a daily basis we go about our lives in a selfish manner in complete disregard for our fellow (wo)man. Thus, I propose we have a week of atonement, a national holiday where we as a collective people and a united nation fast and seek atonement for the sins of our past, of our present, and the transgression we have yet committ.

I once again want to state I'm not simply concerned about the gluttonous aspect of Thanksgiving. I myself had my own little (vegetarian) feast. But I do feel that it is somewhat backwards to take a holiday that celebrates giving thanks by stuffing our own face. We are a lustful, greedy, and selfish society. And while no act that we engage in can ever erase the pain and hurt that we've caused in our past, a week of atonement would show that we are at least mindful of our transgressions and maybe facilitate enough of a shift in conscious that we would be more mindful of our actions towards other in the future. While those who are ill, too young, or for whatever reason absolutely unable to participate in the fast would of course not be criticized for not doing so, I would hope that everyone else would participate in such an endeavor. The food that we would otherwise selfishly consume ourselves during this period would be well-deserved among those who are impoverished and suffering from hunger both here and abroad.

I know I'm being far too naive in this, and that such a thing would never come to pass in a country like the US. However, I do know that I will remain committed to fasting this week and will be mindful and attempt to set aside one weeklong fast a year as a time of atonement for my transgressions and sins.

We must be more compassionate towards other human beings and living things. The time for the needless violence, war, and hatred is over and the absurdity of it all has gone on far enough. Our arrogant ways have alienated us from ourselves and each other, and we find ourselves lost in a roaring torrent of confusion and fog, unsure of who we are or where we are going. Instead of squabbling over whos right and whos wrong we must stand together as the collective human race if we are ever to achieve a better tomorrow.

And while what I'm saying has not already been said before, it is important we be aware of this idea continuously.

Thank you all, and I bid you good night and Namaste.