And the Answer Is....

walking down to the mailbox this morning, I was overcome with feeling.
   the wind was whispering softly through the pines that lined my path.  

as i continued walking, i felt an overwhelming sense that these pines were actually watching me.      

  they seemed to say 'good morning' in unison, as soft murmurs and sounds of rustling branches filled my ears.  

   i stopped and looked up...'good morning to you', i said.

at that moment, an awareness of all things being whole, all things being one, overcame me.

  at these moments nothing on earth matters because i've glimpsed what cannot be seen but can only be felt.

  even though these moments are fleeting, somehow the memories become embedded.  

but how can you reconcile these extraordinary insights with the stark and very dark reality (to many) known as everyday existence?  

  the reality that we rise, we eat, we live, we are.

the (possible) reality that today might be our last day on earth.

  the (possible) reality that someone, somewhere, will do us harm?
there is a unruly savagery to this planet - kill or be killed; the weak will perish, the strong will survive.

  it is inherent not only in the animal/plant kingdom, but also in human beings.    

how is it that we continue to watch hopelessly, helplessly as people are brutally subjugated, tortured and slaughtered across the world?  
  vehemently being denied their natural right to live freely?
where is the outcry?  i only hear silence.
how is it that human monsters continue to thrive, caring nothing about the well-being of those they serve,
  but serving only to terrorize, subjugate?  
why this constant tug of war between good and evil?
 who will win out?
will it be good?
  will it be evil?
what is good?

  what is evil?

we have groups of individuals in this world who are solely bent on wiping others out.
  was it always this way?
yes, but not to the extent that i'm personally sensing it at the present time.      

  there are people in this world who are so consumed by hate for those who will not convert nor subvert their wills, their very souls, into accepting an intolerable and twisted belief (a perverse version of who should live          
  and who should die) based solely on what that particular individual believes that they are:  
hoisting their flag of intolerance and hate and using declination to decapitate.
  did you or i give them permission to do this?
of course not yet they are actively engaged in usurping the will of people all over the planet and will  
  not hesitate to step on my body to get to yours.  

---

think about where we (collectively) will all be fifty years from now.  

  it's not that far off.

is there really a global cabal that wishes only to enslave us all?

  to compartmentalize, dehumanize each and every one of us according to its deformed doctrine?
if so, are we willing to stand up to this rape of the human spirit, this cabal of contagion?
  their mayhem and lies are deceptively packaged.
if so, are we willing to stand up to and resist the attempts by those whose primary goal is subverting the very
 purpose of human existence which is to ultimately live together freely and harmoniously?
as one spirit.