Relating to Others
Power, responsibility, and other people. Three inseperable topics. Three very dangerous mineladen topics, as well.
People, in general, like power and fear responsibility. Given that they're inseperable, this clearly doesn't work well, but people do it anyway. Responsibility sucks, after all. It's work, and even if we delegate we're responsible. Power is easy: we do what we want. Responsibility is hard: we have to do it right. When you see only the power side, it looks great. But it never works that way.
We are all Divine. Not just the people that we like, unfortunately. I'd be happier if I only had to recognize as Divine people that I agreed with and was able to say other people weren't. But not only is that a lie, it's a very dangerous one. Almost every atrocity we commit, from the everyday horrors of abusing each other to the extreme ones we do in war, come from the segmentation of humanity into those we like and those we don't, and putting the ones we don't into some kind of lesser category. We are ALL Divine. Every last one of us. While we all have the absolute right to dislike each other (thank goodness, there's a lot more people I don't get along with than I do, and quite a few I really don't like at all .. I am NOT a saint!), we have no right to treat each other as anything less than Divine.
It's just, y'know, some people are a particularly annoying piece of the Divine. :) But holy for all that.
ooh, question time .. or really, answer time.
How are we related/how are we separate .. that's one question to me. We're related because we're all part of the Divine. also, we're all human, and we're all dependant on each other. We're separate because we're each individuals. I am not you, but we are both Divine, even though we show that in very different ways.
Why are we responsible for the choices that we take, but not for the ones offered? Because we're only responsible for those things we have power over. If I get stuck with the choice of giving a mugger my purse or getting shot, it's not my fault I got mugged. (it IS my responsibility to minimize chances where I CAN get mugged, because it's really damn stupid to court that sort of thing. But that doesn't ever mean one deserves to be attacked). On the other hand, it's absolutely my responsibility to deal with the results of GETTING mugged once it happens.
Power over ourselves giving us responsibility. I think that's the most important point. If I have the power over myself, I can't blame other people, Satan, or anything else for the choices I make. For the choices I have AVAILABLE, perhaps. But the ones I make, I make of my own will. As a culture we seem to like chipping off bits and pieces of our own power and giving them over to people. Often, oddly, people we hate, because those we hate do seem to end up with a lot of power over us. But we are the only ones with power over ourselves. It IS always our own choice what we do. And when we're held between two very ugly choices, sometimes that's a very hard pill to swallow. Nevertheless, it is our choice. It's never something where we were powerless once there's a place where a choice can be made. We simply need to learn to recognize our own options.
People, in general, like power and fear responsibility. Given that they're inseperable, this clearly doesn't work well, but people do it anyway. Responsibility sucks, after all. It's work, and even if we delegate we're responsible. Power is easy: we do what we want. Responsibility is hard: we have to do it right. When you see only the power side, it looks great. But it never works that way.
We are all Divine. Not just the people that we like, unfortunately. I'd be happier if I only had to recognize as Divine people that I agreed with and was able to say other people weren't. But not only is that a lie, it's a very dangerous one. Almost every atrocity we commit, from the everyday horrors of abusing each other to the extreme ones we do in war, come from the segmentation of humanity into those we like and those we don't, and putting the ones we don't into some kind of lesser category. We are ALL Divine. Every last one of us. While we all have the absolute right to dislike each other (thank goodness, there's a lot more people I don't get along with than I do, and quite a few I really don't like at all .. I am NOT a saint!), we have no right to treat each other as anything less than Divine.
It's just, y'know, some people are a particularly annoying piece of the Divine. :) But holy for all that.
ooh, question time .. or really, answer time.
How are we related/how are we separate .. that's one question to me. We're related because we're all part of the Divine. also, we're all human, and we're all dependant on each other. We're separate because we're each individuals. I am not you, but we are both Divine, even though we show that in very different ways.
Why are we responsible for the choices that we take, but not for the ones offered? Because we're only responsible for those things we have power over. If I get stuck with the choice of giving a mugger my purse or getting shot, it's not my fault I got mugged. (it IS my responsibility to minimize chances where I CAN get mugged, because it's really damn stupid to court that sort of thing. But that doesn't ever mean one deserves to be attacked). On the other hand, it's absolutely my responsibility to deal with the results of GETTING mugged once it happens.
Power over ourselves giving us responsibility. I think that's the most important point. If I have the power over myself, I can't blame other people, Satan, or anything else for the choices I make. For the choices I have AVAILABLE, perhaps. But the ones I make, I make of my own will. As a culture we seem to like chipping off bits and pieces of our own power and giving them over to people. Often, oddly, people we hate, because those we hate do seem to end up with a lot of power over us. But we are the only ones with power over ourselves. It IS always our own choice what we do. And when we're held between two very ugly choices, sometimes that's a very hard pill to swallow. Nevertheless, it is our choice. It's never something where we were powerless once there's a place where a choice can be made. We simply need to learn to recognize our own options.
posted by Vieva | 11:29 AM
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