Its Been a Blue Moon or Two Since My Last Post

It has been more than a few moons since I have posted anything.  Several of you have expressed concern over my absence. The photo of me with the full moon between the towers of Notre Dame, taken after a crown of thorns veneration this winter, was in a post that never got published.

Moons are cyclic, regulating not only the tides of the immense seas but aspects of human physiology not fully understood.   Full moon illumination can symbolize hope, enlightenment and optimism, but in the past several months, the shadows seem more ominous. 

I was profoundly touched by the crown of thorns veneration.  Afterwards, I felt called to write about what I saw as an analogous suffering of many inflicted by deliberate thorns of current US  incentives to punish, humiliate and victimise others in stark contrast to the Beatitudes of Christ, plus the vast job losses and benefits resulting from governmental department slashings.   Yet, I shelved it.

My reluctance to express intense feelings regarding the dismantling/destruction of American democracy and the erosion of freedom of speech derailed my intent to publish.  I am not one to add fuel to the fires of conflict and division.

Indifference to suffering and injustice is hard to fathom.   That, plus the continuous, tremendous suffering of those in war-torn Ukraine, and Gaza, unreleased Israeli hostages, and now expanding conflict with Iran, is too much.    Feelings submerged in empathy yet with a sense of powerlessness, grate on me.

I think of the times here in Europe during the holocaust, when witnessing the atrocious deportation of millions of Jews to the gas chambers was an everyday occurrence.  The courageous, saintly people who risked their lives to rescue and hide as many Jews as they could turned their empathy into action.

Today, the rise of antisemitism has been acerbated by the warmonger leader of Israel, despite many protests of Israelis who wanted him removed, putting a greater number of innocent Jews worldwide at risk of violent racism.

The precariousness of possible U.S. involvement in the volatile Israeli/Iran war is terrifying.   Europe well remembers the horrors of the last world war on its soil.  Therefore, European mentality leans towards de-escalation, rather than hawkish direct provocation and intervention.

There are many greater voices with more eloquent words than mine expressing shared fears.  My mere voice is like lighting one small candle in vast darkness, but it is past time that I do.

I have been attending fascinating conferences at the Louvre given by world-renowned archaeologists about various long-lost societies. Societal evolution and dissolution have been occurring for millennia.

Great societies come and go.  Bravo to the Greeks, with ancient Athens noted as the cradle of democracy and Western civilisation.  Despite multiple foreign invasions and occupations, their restored modernised democracy remains.

Man, notoriously, does not seem to learn much from history, repeating mistakes that lead many great societies into demise and disappearance.  I hope America can preserve its constitutional democracy, which was once a beacon of hope to many who sought refuge and freedom.