Wednesday, November 28, 2018

Post Election Gratitude

The Mystery within...
It’s over.  The campaigning.  I can turn on the T.V. now without being bombarded with cruel and bitter campaign ads.  For that I am grateful. 

I am grateful I found the Dane County League of Women Voters website with their list of questions posed to all candidates running for office in the State of Wisconsin on how each proposed to serve if elected.  I have long longed for such a service.  I am grateful I learned how to find and print a copy of the ballot I would be handed at the polls so I knew ahead of time who would be on my ballot for my district.  I felt better informed when I voted.  For that I am grateful.  

Voting is much more than a civic duty--it is a spiritual exercise.  Governance affects the quality of life, the health and well-being of us all. Education, livelihoods, healthcare, equitable tax distribution, care of the environment, justice, and war or peace are all dependent on how we vote--how we care for one another and the earth. We need a caring economy to be in healthy relationship with one another and the earth.  I am grateful the tide appears to be turning toward understanding our responsibilities for one another's and the earth’s health and well being.

And I am grateful that I am learning to practice sheer compassion for those who govern with self-serving policies that leave so many to struggle without adequate food, shelter and safety.  Breathing from my heart helps get me in touch with Sheer Compassion.  When I remember to do that, I am grateful.

What if we all understood voting as a spiritual exercise and learned to breathe from our hearts to practice sheer compassion toward all?