I never saw a wild thing sorry for itself.  A small bird will drop frozen dead from a bough without ever having felt sorry for itself.  – D.H. Lawrence

My upstairs neighbor knocked on my door this evening while I was in the middle of preparing dinner and said that a baby bird had fallen out of the nest that had been constructed in one of the shrubs outside our apartment building.  After a moment of hesitation; trying to decide on what to say and/or do, I stuttered a bit because I was a caught off guard and said okay.  I opened a kitchen drawer and pulled out a pair of house gloves and went down stairs.

My neighbor…already outside, pointed at the baby bird which was hopping up and down frantically in the mulch due to a damaged left wing.  I watched for a moment thinking that I had never touched a living bird before and trying to reconcile the pity and fear I was feeling for this creature because it was absolutely terrified.  I told myself I had to commit to action mainly because the neighbor was watching me, but also I had to do something for it, so I stalled for an additional moment to put on the gloves and then I walked parallel to the bird’s path.  I actually had to steel myself before I reached down to scoop up the bird and not entirely because I was a bit squeamish, but mainly because I was feeling what this creature was feeling.  It saw me coming and frantically hopped away from me and I didn’t want scare it any more then it already was, so I backed off a bit.  Then I tried again and again before I actually got the bird in my hands and three thoughts danced in my mind as I walked with the bird toward the nest:

(1) I actually have a bird in my hands and this feels strange.

(2) I hope I’m not holding it too tight.

(3) I think I’m going to have to throw these gloves away.

I got to the nest and placed the bird back in it but the bird was so terrified that it hopped out the nest and landed back in the mulch.  I looked down and the bird was breathing so hard and fast that I could feel the bird’s terror and fatigue.  My neighbor spoke what I was thinking which was to let it be for a bit to which I was most thankful because this poor thing was actually breaking my heart.  She said to me that should would figure something out and then our downstairs neighbor came out and told us that the mother and the other hatch-lings left it behind when it fell out of the nest and broke it’s wing. 

For a split second I was stunned…asking myself how a mother could leave one of it’s own behind and then I realized I was assigning human notions of compassion and empathy to creatures that have none.  Yet, as I walked up the stairs back to my apartment I thought, that can’t be right because every animal in nature has compassion and empathy so it is not that they do not have any, they simply have different constructs at work.   If they didn’t, they wouldn’t care for their young at all.  The bird’s wing was broken and I believe that this is like a horse breaking it’s leg…it’s never the same.  I opened the door and walked into my apartment and thought, “the mother actually did what had to be done.  She left a child behind because in her world she knew there was nothing more she could do for it and there are other hatch-lings to consider.”  She did something  practical, she in affect…pulled the plug.  She let go of one of her own that was technically already dead. 

Was she being pragmatic or compassionate?  Or, was she being pragmatically compassionate?

I took out a business card I had in my pocket and helped him wrangle the ant on it and we went out side and put him in the dirt.  I said “Aiden, you saved an ant today” and he smiled and said “yeah”!  I said “this is what we call compassion; can you say that word…compassion”?  He repeated the word, “compassion” and smiled.

At 1:27am (Eastern Standard Time), January 26^th 2010, The Order of Ashla reopened its e-doors from a year long revitalization effort.  From the time of its inception, The Order of Ashla Knights was known then as The “Jedi” Order of Ashla Knights…an on-line Jedi discussion and training community.   

Once a truth th is learned it can not be unlearned.  Always allow the truth to guide your way. – Ashla Knights Axiom of Light # 99

So Why the change? 

Well the change is what truly makes this anniversary Special.  You see in the months prior to the decision to renovate, refit and revitalize the Order of Ashla Knights; the myriad of trials brought forth from the many years of walking the Jedi path began to manifest an uncomfortable truth that made instructing the Jedi Way difficult for the Masters.  In our individual ways, each Master was coming to the same realization and eerily at that same time.

First: The Jedi Code is not as flexible as one has been taught to believe.  In fact it’s quite the opposite…it’s conditional and quite restrictive and absolute.  It is because of this many have had, and continue to have problems applying the Jedi Way to their daily lives.  An ideology and/or philosophy must have a core and certainties by way of tenet and doctrine to nurture that core, but those tenets and doctrine must also be flexible and free flowing so one can continue to grow and develop.

Second: Besides being conditional, restrictive and absolute, the philosophy and practice of the Jedi Way is incomplete thus making it inadequate to address the intricacies of life.  The Jedi Way is an amalgamation of aspects from several mainstream religions, idealistic constructs and philosophical disciplines.  In other words it is much like philosophical DNA that has gaps.  There is a firm structure, two strands of nucleotides and several bonds linking them, but many bonds crucial to the structure’s existence and function are missing.

Third: The word Jedi along with the Jedi code, Jedi tenet and what specific aspects of the Jedi doctrine that are know are owned and copyright protected by the movie maker who created them and made them famous in his space opera movies.  For a considerable fee, permission to use these words and terms can be attained but with conditions and restrictions and only in the realm of non-profit, non-religious fandom. 

How can one grow as an Order never- mind as individuals within a philosophical construct such as this?  Well before we answer that let’s regress a bit.  A significant yet ironic aspect that would lead to the eventual realization of the truth described above came not from the challenges of incorporating the Jedi philosophy in our daily lives, but from our duties as Jedi Way instructors. 

During the creation of Ashla Knights I realized we would be working with an incomplete philosophical construct and therefore spiritual, philosophical and ideological specifics in our doctrine would be subjective. Like the incomplete DNA example I spoke of earlier, while preserving the philosophical structure already in place, I chose to bridge the strands with bonds based in reality.  I did this by going back to many of the sources the creator of the archetype drew from and this helped solidify and sustain our core interpretation and understanding.  For our Order this worked quite well and as Jedi Instructors we were able to effectively challenge our students by provoking new insight into their current interpretations and understandings of the Jedi Way.  This along with calling attention to their passions and motivation in regards to Knighthood, many were able to arrive at an inner realization that they had either come from a faith, philosophy or ideology that was truly right for them, or from their exploration into the Jedi Way had discovered a new faith, philosophy or discipline more suited to their spiritual development and personal betterment. 

Of the numerous students who came and went over the years, a good many withdrew from our academy not out of  failure to complete the curriculum and attain Knighthood, but because through our Jedi Way curriculum they either found the right path, or discovered the True North toward the right path.  Welcoming successful students into our ranks as Knights is always a wonderful thing, but helping students find their own path even if that path is not the path of Ashla is just as wonderful.  

Yet as we helped our students see truth; little by little our students were helping us to see truth as well.  Speaking from my own experience; at first the essence of this truth was subtle, I could sense something amiss but it was almost illusive.  But due to events and happenings taking place in my life at the time, I found myself at the precipice…facing out into the far beyond with little foundation underneath me.  Back then things were happening fast but also in sequence.  Amidst events in play, we as an Order had arrived at a time and place where our potential for growth was in conflict with what we believed and practiced.  I remember feeling as if I were sitting on a bench at an empty train station trying to decide whether to ignore or reject truth’s reality and board the train that would take me back to the comfort of familiarity, or accept truth’s reality and board the train that would take me into the unknown.  After all the soul searching and the conversations with the Masters which as I mentioned previously, had revealed a consensus of insight that could not be denied or ignored.  In that moment, a Jedi maxim echoed in my mind…“we take what we are given”.  Truth had revealed its reality and we needed to accept it and move forward.  The decision to move forward which meant removing ourselves and our Order from the Jedi Way had been made and in a matter of a moment a circle had been completed, a spiritual and philosophical journey of exploration and discovery had been concluded.  Feeling both heartbroken and joyful, I sat in my chair alone and in silence as I mentally said the good-bye in that way that only tears can express.  After all the years I had studied, practiced and instructed it was at this moment the Jedi Code truly resonated with in me.

Ashla Knights has been back; standing firm upon its own philosophical foundation there is a tangible feeling of spiritual vastness that is immeasurable and unmistakable.  It is as if one is standing on the bow of a ship gazing out into a magnificent, expansive ocean.  For me, now there is a constant feeling of hopefulness that is indescribable, as if sailing this great and open spiritual sea will manifest great inner peace as I experience my dreams and wishes come to pass.

 As I reflect on the great accomplishments our Order has realized, I also take note of the unfortunate reality our departure from the Jedi Way has caused such as the considerable exodus of members and sadly, some of our Knights.  We must all follow our own paths and do what we feel is right, but I can not deny the overwhelming joy of having so many of our most senior and respect members return.  I remember the excitement of sending out the email notification that we were live and I certainly remember making the first forum post last January.  Seeing so many of our friends…really our family return and post, I admit I was overwhelmed with emotion.

While we lost many of our friends and family we/I have had the pleasure of meeting so many new personalities and interesting points of view.  Also, the release of the Jedi Way has undeniably removed much of the philosophical ambiguity, ideological pettiness and nastiness that has so prominently been the catalyst of confusion and conflict with in the on-line communities that it almost makes me wonder why it took so long for us to make this change. 

While we still have the occasional passionate debate and spirited argument and these will always remain, it just feels so good to have a deeper level of discussion with a higher quality of interaction.  I guess in summary I’m so happy and so pleased with all that has transpired in this first year of our new evolution that I want to thank you, our members for making this a wonderful place. 

You our membership is what makes this first anniversary such a special one!

We saw the cover hover for moments in the air before it struck our car.  Time just stopped, that’s the only way to describe it.  There was so much fear from the both of us that nothing needed to be said…we both just knew what was about to happen.  My girlfriend was driving and simply gave herself to the unavoidable future we were both seeing play out and just remained calm and steady.

The cover hit the car with such force that should have taken us off the road one way of the other. 

The windshield held, she didn’t skid nor did she cause other drivers to panic in any due to any questionable action on her part, she just remained calm and kept driving.  Me on the other hand, I wasn’t right until got to megafest and even then it too me a bit to release the many thoughts and feelings of would could have been.

We almost died today if it wasn’t for my girlfriend’s calm thinking and her quick and steady actions

THANK YOU!!!

Just needed to vent.

The Big Bang, or the moment the entire universe was compressed into a singularity smaller then the size of a dime from which it expanded to its current state 13.7 billion years ago, is referred to by some spiritualists as The Cosmic Egg.

The question of which came first, the chicken or the egg is one of humankind’s immortal questions and it is a question that goes back as far as the ancients.  Greek historian Mestrius Plutarchus wrote; “The problem about the egg and the hen, which of them came first, was dragged into our talk, a difficult problem which gives investigators much trouble.”  The earliest of philosophers pondered the question with considerable depth, because to answer the question is to know the origin of humankind.

A truly fascinating and profound question in deed.  Let’s approach a possible answer from three perspectives; the chicken’s, the egg’s and neither of the two.

(1) The Chicken: If you think the chicken came first well then that would make sense right?  The chicken would “HAVE TO BE” in order for an egg to eventually exist.  This fits for creationists because a Divine will would have created the chicken first so subsequent chickens could be hatched from eggs, and this fits for evolutionists because chickens would have evolved from dinosaurs.

(2) The Egg: If you think the egg came first then this would be pragmatic, evolutionary thinking and speaking of evolution, since it applies to the topic, what exactly is it?    Evolution is the gradual, generational mutation of a species over time.  Now, dinosaurs have been laying eggs long before chickens were on the scene, and chickens just didn’t materialize from a cosmic aether so they had to evolve from dinosaurs.  However this evolutionary change wouldn’t happen throughout a dinosaur’s hunting, eating and terrorizing day…..in other words  the dinosaur wouldn’t wake up one morning and find she was a chicken.  This change would take place during the embryonic stage with in the egg due to chemical, biological, genetic, physical and environmental changes inherited from the dinosaur.  The egg and it’s gradually evolving embryo would be laid and hatched, then another, and another, and another, and another until a chicken eventually poked it’s beak out clucked.  – Corny I know.

(3) Neither: Well this is an interesting point to consider and here’s why.  Human evolution postulates that humankind (homo-sapiens, you and me) evolved from early hominids or…early apes 5 – 7 million years ago.  Now many religious, spiritual, philosophical and even academic perspectives take issue with the theory of human evolution for a great many reasons.  One reason is based on a very common-sense-like question and that is, “where are the bones”?  Sure, archeology and paleontology have over time unearthed some amazing and significant finds that lend to, or from particular points-of-view substantiate the theory of human evolution.  We’ve all heard of the “missing link” which is the evolutionary skeletal system scientist continue to search for that will link early hominid to current homo-sapiens, proving in fact that humankind did in fact evolve from ape.

To date there is no missing link, although in fairness…there have been some very compelling finds, but nothing definitive. 

Now I have no training or schooling in archeology, paleontology, forensic pathology or anthropology and…this is just me here, but besides unearthing relatively complete skeletal systems in a localized area that are either definitively ape, human and sure…a few others that are in-between or all together different, plopping a bunch of fossilized ape heads on a chain of mixed human and ape bones just because the fames and hinges line up does not demonstrate the chain of evolution for me anyway.  

Again, evolution means the gradual genetic, biological, chemical and physical change of a species.  In both cases of the chicken and the egg and human beings, shouldn’t there be thousands if not millions of skeletal remains in various stages of  evolutionary development buried all over the place.  Well, there  isn’t but again in fairness, there are many reasonable explanations for this, however…should the “Missing Link” have turned up by now?  If not…IT, what about one of its clearly distinguishable mutating cousins?

I don’t know, I find many aspects of human evolution suspect, but this reasoning stands for the cosmic chicken and egg because evolution is a slow and steady process.  One of the evolutionary cousins between the dinosaur and the chicken would have been the species to have laid the egg that would hatch the chicken as we know it today.   So…techically in direct relation to the chick and the egg neither came first but some off shoot mutation between the chicken and the dinosaur. 

Now let’s bring the discussion full circle.  An interesting scientific fact: Egg shells can not be reproduced outside the species that laid the egg.  According to a paper written by British researchers  (“Structural Control of Crystal Nuclei by an Eggshell Protein”)who conducted an experiments on egg shells, they determined that the “crystal nuclei” proves that the chicken came first.

Hmmm……

Ask yourself; would you ever really want to see an angel?  I wouldn’t.  Not Ever!

I have also wondered what it would be like if God got sick of it all of our crap and decided to start over.  The thought of a legion of angels descending from Heaven to do just that, to purge our world of human life was enough to give me the chills.  Interestingly, a few days ago I saw a movie titled: LEGION.  The movie is about just that, God looses his faith in humanity and orders his angels to exterminate the human race.  This is tasked to one of Gods highest ranking angels in his army, Michael who is played by Paul Bettany.  However, (and it is unclear if God factors this variable into his plans or not, I assume he has) amid the plans for human extinction, a child is about to be born to a mother who doesn’t want it.  This child will be the ONE who leads what remains of humanity out of the darkness that is to come.  Michael has a profound conflict with his orders and decides to disobey God.

Michael descends from heaven to see that the child is born and protected and as a General in Gods Army, he knows the details of how the impending attack from Heaven will be executed.  A legion of angels will descend from heaven, possessing the week minded and killing those who who are strong willed and cannot be possessed.

Michael knows where the mother carrying the unborn savior is and gathers enough weapons to take on a sizable invasion force.  He commandeers transportation and heads out to the desert of Las Vegas to a run down gas and go dinner in the middle of no where, owned by a curmudgeon played by Dennis Quad.  Michael arrives at the dinner after it’s staff and customers have had their first confrontation with one of Heaven’s possessed humans.  Michael tells these few about the attack that is to come and arms them to the teeth in the hopes of buying enough time so the child can be born safely.

But God is not pleased when the Michael and the humans look as if they might succeed, so God sends the highest of all angels in his army, Gabriel played by Kevin Durand to deal with Michael’s betrayal.  The confrontation between the Archangels is nothing short of brutal and frightening.

As far as entertainment goes, the movie is a good one and I highly recommend it, but from a philosophical perspective, it really makes you think.  If there is a God and the bible is humankind’s representation of his will and plan, then we as a civilization have to be in the orbit of Gods wrath.  If nothing else, the polution and/or imbalance of Life Force Energy must be nearing its spill point.  2012 prophecy and/or paranoia aside, many feel and have felt for some time that a change is coming.  Something is lurking in the horizon and it feels as if its ready to come forth…and soon.

I don’t know if it was all my years of training that kicked in first telling me not to open it because I could feel something amiss…or if I felt something amiss, which triggered my inner voice to say “you know better Derek, release your curiosity, put it down right now and walk away.”  I don’t know which came first, but what I do know one thing for certain… I made a serious mistake by not trusting either warning.

Let me start from the begining…

I have my own a washer and dryer but I prefer public Laundromats.  I’m not entirely sure why…I’d rather leave the house and do my laundry then do it at home.  When I was kid that’s what we did, so maybe its a habit…a tradition even.  It’s an opportunity to kill a few birds with one stone and run some errands while I’m out; maybe thats it.  I have always been comfortable in public and around others so perhaps it’s based on my fondness of being out and about…I don’t know for sure, but one thing is for sure, I always come home with a story.

I’m taking my cloths out of the washer when it must have been in the metal, roller basket I used to move them to a dryer.  It was a small…soft, cloth pouch styled as a $50.00 bill.  I picked it up and felt …“materials” inside.  Using my thumb, index and forefinger I could feel various textures, something gritty, something folded and something that felt like a coin  inside of this pouch.  It was sewn shut, which caused me to notice the stitching, something about the way it was stitched gave me a weird feeling.  I could tell it was slow and methodical stitching.

At first, I heeded the voice in my head’s warning and  put it down, left the Laundromat and went back to my car to read my book.  After 2 minutes I couldn’t stand it anymore…I was having a fight with myself.  I wanted to know what it was, I wanted what was in the pouch but the voice in my mind said, “you know better…not everything needs to be explored, identified and understood…so let it go.” 

It’s not that I couldn’t let it go, I just didn’t want to. 

There was something not right about that pouch and I wanted to know what it was.  So, I walked back into the Laundromat, grabbed the pouch and brought it out to my car.  I tried once more to investigate the contents with my fingers and I could clearly identify that it was in fact a folded piece of paper…as weird as this may read to you, but I determined the folded paper to  be  a denomination of some sort by the texture and sound of the paper.  Then I thought, if there is money in this I will simply turn it in to the attendant, maybe this is someone’s emergency stash of cash or something that got lost in the laundry. 

I decided to open the pouch…

I didn’t want to rip it open so I started to observe the stitching.  I noticed that there was an end that was untied and from there I could use my fingernails to grab one of the tightly stitched loops and pull the loose end through.  What careful and intricate stitching I thought.  After about 10 minutes I was completely taken with how well someone stitched this thing together.  It was stitched as if it was never to be opened again and with that, once again my internal danger sense was spiking.  I mental kicked myself because now I was committed, I had to open it and see what was inside.

I got a quarter of the way down and allowed my impatience to take over and used one of my car keys to pull out the rest of the loose stitching out, and even still…it was slow going opening the pouch.  Finally, I got it open enough to see what was in side.  I was right, it was a denomnation…a $2.00 bill…weird I thought.  But there was something else inside…dried corn, a sea shell, what looked like sand and a strong floral sent.  I sat there and said to myself…”WTF” is this?  I thought, “dried corn…DRIED CORN!”

Then it hit me!

I yelled “SHIT” and closed the pouch and immediately through it away!  I ran into the Laundromat’s restroom to wash my hands.  There was no soap so I pulled out some change and purchased a small, single load box of  beach and washed my hands as hard and as fast as I could.

1. What I felt was Dark Magick…
2. My mind was telling me on both the practical level that this was none of my business, and the spiritual level that something was not right and to leave it alone…

I of all people who should know better.  I decided that my curiosity was more important then the years of knowledge and experience telling me to walk away and let things be.  From what it looked like, it was a simple money/prosperity spell, but depending on the practitioner and the power of belief behind the spell there is no telling what damage if any I could have caused myself or the individual the spell was intended.   

That’s what I get for opening Pandora’s pouch!

The woman driving the car who hit Christina Ricci feels bad that this young woman is alone with no one to care for her so she invites her to stay with her family until she recovers.  During this time some interesting things are taking place.  Two people are killed accidental from falling into a deep hole.  This hole (I believe) is actually a buried Church and the room the two people fell into is one that has a scaled replica of the Crucification and all around the cross is a stone mural of various onlookers.  

It’s Creepy!

During the excavation of this ancient Church, a priest makes a copy of the faces depicted in the mural and through his research, he starts to see the same faces in early Christian art, gathered at times and places historically significant from all around the world and Christina Ricci’s character has seem them in the town.

It comes to be explained that these people are of The Gathering.  2,000 years ago, these were individuals that for one reason or another, by happenstance or by reason and purpose, they came to watch the Crucification of Jesus Christ.  As they watched this event take place, they did nothing to try and stop it, nor did they speak up to protest against this happening. 

They just watched.

From that day forward these individuals were cursed to watch the most despicable and heinous events in human history for all time.  Soon they stopped being simple observers and began taking an active role in seeing that circumstances are aligned so that events will in fact take place when they are supposed to.

Several are putting the pieces together including Christina Ricci’s character who attempts to stop the murder of an innocent child (who is the son of the woman who accidentally hit her), and a devastating event from taking place that would kill many.  With some success she able to manipulate the event from causing significant destruction and death but she fails in her efforts to protect the boy…she is shot and killed.

Relax, the boy is fine…his father comes to the rescue.

At the end of the movie, when all is good and well, Christina Ricci’s character visits the boy while he’s supposed to be sleeping and explains what, why and how.  She tells the boy that she was one of those who gathered to observe the Crucification and getting hit by his mothers car was her second chance for redemption…to right the wrong she had done 2,000 years ago.

The wrong she committed was not doing something! 

Her wrong was that she didn’t try and stop what was happening nor did she speak up…she and those gathered and simply watched.  In coming to realize who and what The Gathering was and neglecting that fact that she was told by one of The Gathering she was one of them, she chose to try and stop whatever was to come and make a difference. 

She chose compassion and died for her efforts but ultimately found salvation.

I don’t know why I decided to watch a movie with little more then 30 minutes left to it.  The acting was bad and the over all film had a low budget feel to it but I watched it and I’m glad I did.  Recently on the Ashla Knights forum board I posted a story about a homeless man who helped a woman who was being robbed and for his efforts, he was stabbed and left to bleed to death on the street: http://ashlaknights.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=362   As the man lay their pooled in his own blood, people passed by without stopping to see if the man needed help.  Many people stopped to snap pictures and take video all while he bled to death.  

There is Close Circuit Television of this footage and not one person…not one, stopped to see if the dying man was okay.  Instead, they Gathered and observed.  For many years I have come to believe that it will be our own humanity or lack there of that will ultimately be our physically destruction and our spiritually damnation.

No Ashla Knight will ever simply gather and observe.  If it is in his or her power to ask and/or do…in the service or support of another, then it is their obligated to do so.

To many, December 21, 2012 is now believed to be the date the world will end.  This date is also the date in which the 5,125-year-long Mayan (Long Count) calendar also comes to an end.  The Mayans believed that on the day this calendar ends…the world ends.  Another interpretation is that the Earth and/or the people of the Earth will undergo some sort of physical or spiritual transformation.  Either way, a great many people believe that this date will be the beginning of a new era.

The concept of the world ending is as heartbreaking as it is frightening and to see the concept played out in your living room in such detail is enough to cause one to pause and reflect upon…take inventory of and process the elements that comprise the sum of one’s life.  All of us has heard the statement, “we have so little time” more then we can possible imagine.  I remember a statement made in a movie called “Meet Joe Black” that accurately represents the truth of this statement, which is “Multiply it by infinity, and take it to the depth of forever, and you will still have barely a glimpse of what I’m talking about.”

We have so little time

In this film…perhaps just over a million human beings survived the aftermath, which made me I think about this as if it were real life.  I thought about many of the confused and conflicted people in the world today.  The substance addicted, the violent, the materialistic and superficial celebrities, millionaires, billionaires, the philosophically deficient, the spiritually numb, the morally and ethically depraved and the ignorant and narrow-minded.  All living their lives without a care or worry in the world, taking everything and everyone around them for granted as bask in the comfort of knowing that their money, power and influence have secured them comfortable lifestyles for the rest of their days.  They have taken steps to see to their wealth, property and standard of living for the professionals they’ve hired to see to these aspects of their lives, have prepared for a great many social, political, economic and financial situations and crises.  However, are they prepare to wake one morning and find that the state they live in falling toward the Earth’s core?  Science proves that nothing is certain, nothing lasts forever and none of us can ever really prepare for everything.

Tomorrow is not promised to you, me or anyone else and that is why we need to live full and rich lives while we are here.  We need to do the best we can everyday to be kind, helpful, consideration, caring, responsible, accountable, loyal, honest, trustworthy, loving, compassionate, honorable, faithful, committed, dedicated, respectful, intelligent, insightful, passionate, cooperative and charitable.  We are not perfect; we all have our problems and situations that come up, which can cause us to shift our focus from what truly matters in life.  Yet, choosing one thing to anchor all other things to, one thing to help shift our focus and attention back to where our hearts and minds need to be…something like the fact that we have so little time will help keep what really matters in perspective.

I often wonder what it would be like for the world to experience such things as depicted in the film 2012.  I ask myself; would it take something on that magnitude to ultimately make the changes the world needs?  What is it going to take for people to wake up and see that life is so much more than sex, drugs and money?  Will it require a systemic systems failure of all the constructs and paradigms that tenuously hold our society in place before people realize chance is necessary?  Will it take an Anti-Christ like figure to rise, seize power and wreak havoc? 

What’s it going to take?

I watched this film and applied the concept to real life and I wept for all the billions of people who think they have time.  I couldn’t help but imagine that the people in the film were the people in real life as they woke to find that those they love were dead or they themselves were slowly dying.  The sudden reality that their fame, fortune, power and influence would not be able to save them.  I wept for ignorance of those who live their lives against the grain of goodness for the sheer purpose of accumulating things and experiencing pleasures all the while thinking they have time to reconcile their lives.  For a long, long time I have been angry and disgusted with society, but after watching this movie, I felt so sorry for society.  As a whole, we are a machine moving onward and upward…using, abusing and consuming everything in our path.  If we can’t stop ourselves, I believe that the planet or the universe will. 

“Nature will choose for itself…from itself” – Dr. Adrian Helmsley, 2012 Film