Looking East

A Message of Hope

All the world's a stage, And all the men and women merely players...

I took a walk in the woods today to quiet myself and search for answers as I have many times before. As I journeyed, I pondered this play, this life. I considered its nature, its origin, its purpose, its effects, and its power. It is a wonderful thing to reach the core of yourself, and when you finally get there, after much struggle and introspection, and see yourself for the first time as you really and truly are, it is a life-changing moment. Once you learn to see yourself, honestly know yourself, the truth of your part in this play becomes clear.

I have come to realize that it is a complex series of events, reactions, decisions, emotions and intentions that have combined to create the tragedy we face today. I have come to realize that my role in this play is that of a fiction. Even though the tentacles of that reality have entangled me in this web, and labeled me accordingly, I know that is just a fiction, a false reality created by that system. It is not me. It is not the truth. I know this because I know myself, because I can see myself. I have come to realize that making the play right will be a struggle of epic proportion, one that may or may not ever mature. I also know that one day, the fiction will eventually be made plain to the world. Albeit, right now I know the truth, and for me that is enough.

It seems that the epic battle is already well under way. Texas Voices has experienced much success with the 81st Texas Legislature at the Capital in Austin. For the first time in the history of this State there will be an interim study of these issues. The truth is beginning to rise above the hyperbole. This is a direct result of the efforts of the Texas Voices family standing for the truth. We have done much to educate the people and illuminate the issue across the state. Other groups across this great country have done the same. Clearly, the tide is starting to turn, sometimes easily, sometimes with great difficulty, sometimes smoothly and quickly, sometimes painfully and slowly. I know that the real battle lies within, it is a spiritual war in which we must find and conquer ourselves, and face the dawn of that understanding.

In reality, we have very little control over this system. We take steps and we engage in the battle, and the victory lies out there before us. Still, we are along for the ride and cannot change it right now. What we can change is how we think and feel about it. Nevertheless, the spiritual power of this realization runs deep and strong, like the rushing floodwaters of a mighty river. I have come to accept this as a part of my experience, not a part of me in terms of who I am, rather as part of my struggle of who I will become. The way I see it, is that I can let this become a sickness that eats me from within, or I can embrace it as a source of strength and power, and leverage it as an opportunity to be a source of inspiration and help to those suffering in the darkness.

I choose the latter, and I choose to be a light that shines in the darkness. My struggle becomes a tiny point of light in the night, combined with all those other wonderful people in the Texas Voices family, and all our extended family around this nation. Together our tiny points of light combine to form inspiring constellations of star-fire in the night sky, becoming Polaris and Mintaka to those on the path searching the darkness, and a source of comfort to those swallowed by the depths of the night. So as we approach the year 2010 I encourage you all, and extend a personal invitation to each one of you in the struggle, to join us on the cosmic journey home. Come and shine with us and be a beacon of hope and illumination to a world trapped in darkness. As you travel on this rough and uneven road, over mountains and through valleys, through deserts and floods, remember to look up at the night sky. Your brothers and sisters are there with you and they light your path home. Look to the where Mintaka rises to mark the east and where the first spark of a new day is born. I will wait for you…. Come quickly, our Dawn approaches.