JUSTICE
What the hell is justice? It seems to be when I hear people cry out, “We want justice” that their loved one, their person of interest is already compromised, already incarcerated, or already dead. So what kind of justice is that? What about the right to be alive, to thrive, to create, to be healthy and safe, to love? What about ethics? What about morality? What do these words even mean? Oft times, I run in the opposite direction of certain words and phrases because they have been coopted, bastardized, appropriated, turned into something dangerous by politicians, religious leaders, educational systems, governments, financial platforms, corporations, and medical industries, or by what is fashionable, cool, self-indulgent – becoming a different creature in entirety – unrecognizable! If we actually look within our world toward human rights, animal rights, nature rights, what do we see? Who is tending the soul of this planet?
What I see is a forced discourse – no, a Revolution – to retrieve these intrinsic rights for our selves, our children, our planet of nearly eight freaking billion people! How is it that we can bring together a consciousness that vast with respect, strength, courage, and commitment for the wellbeing of every entity residing on this planet? This is the most primary and essential question that must remain at the forefront every single moment of every single day, of every single one of us who has the capacity to think, to care, to act.
This is the time to get things right. Our connectedness has been broken, our elemental connections to the earth and our own inner wild, and with this separation has come the aggression and abuse manifesting in a Me Me Me First consciousness. Tell me, how many cars do you need? How many pairs of shoes, how many houses, how many diamonds, how many people to dominate and control to feel good about yourself? Tell me!
The truth is, with every indulgence that does nothing to deepen the well-being of heart and soul, the transgressor ups the indulgences of greed, avarice, and desire, creating a deep, gashing wound within the lost soul of Self. That inner yearning, played out by punishing others, often masked by a false generosity, only deepens the gashing wound of humanity. We Are Not Separate!
We are thrashing at a crossroads in every possible expression of essence and existence on this planet. We have a stunning opening of opportunity right now – a crack in this cosmic egg – to rethink, to re-vision, to respond differently. First step – Shut Up and Listen. Get quiet inside yourself. The pandemic offered this opportunity, but how many couldn’t wait to break the quarantine and get back to the rat race life they were living? How many chose to actually stop and get comfortable with being massively uncomfortable within their own skin? This is where I found an opening to learn new things. This is where I have come face to face with an internal strength to actually emerge and define who I want to be, what I will do, and how I will tend my life and this world.
I have been quiet. I stopped talking. I stopped interacting with most people. I have been writing non-stop now for four years in my doctoral work and now writing dissertation and a book. I have had no desire to write anything more than that. I have had little desire to speak out. What more could I say? I needed to listen, deeply within my body and being, so I stopped and I got quiet.
Sometimes the balancing of the scales does not feel good to us. Honestly, who cares that one might be inconvenienced or feel discord within themselves? How much are we willing to ‘sacrifice’ for the benefit of others? There are billions of people, animals, and plants that do not feel well, do not feel safe, are sick, dying, and homeless, abused, enslaved. How about we take a look at that? From my humble stance, this is the moral, ethical, and human responsibility for every single one of us to take care of our world, and all its inhabitants, animate and inanimate. It is time to attune to what is Right Action. Not what is right according to our social constructs, but in accordance with the natural world, with divine essence? That intrinsic Rightness – Justice. It is ours to choose kindness, respect, and love – or blow our planet to smithereens. I know what my work is. Where do you stand?
~ Heather McCloskey Beck
MA, DPSOMA & Dissertation Student
June 17, 2020
