Today one person, Nora, posted a question which I think is so important that it deserves its separate post. Here is what she wrote:
Nora said:
Saker, I get where you're coming from. I'm truly scared to ask this but you know I've got to: what recourse do we have here in the US? What can we do to stop what's going on in our name and with our tax dollars, both here and everywhere else? I used to think I knew the answer(s). I don't anymore.
My reply will be stunningly unoriginal and boring: "think globally act locally". For one thing, there is really nothing you can do for the people in the Ukraine, at least not directly. And you have already done something crucial: you have identified with their struggle. That is extremely important because the 1%ers are trying to divide us and separate us along national, ethnic, racial, religious, educational, social, political and any other line they can think of. Our response should be, to paraphrase Marx, "99%ers of the world, unite!".
The big mistake of the Marxists (well, one of them) was to think in big terms - stuff like "proletarians of the world". What we need to do is think *small*. Here is the key thing: the struggle against evil happens one soul at a time, especially in the West, and especially in the USA where any organized struggle immediately gets discredited, infiltrated and eventually shut down (or even shot down). Stay small, take little steps.
The first thing that you need to see is whom to talk to. Christ gave us the perfect methodology. One one hand He said "Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you" (Matt 7:6), but on the other hand He also said "what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone?" (Matt 7:9). In other words, do not waste your time on those who are not asking anything from you, but don't deny your attention to those who are seeking the truth. Or even more basically - don't waste your breath on zombified morons, but spare no effort towards those who seek to understand. For one thing, the zombies don't doubt - they already know it all. But others do doubt, all they need is help to connect the dots. A holy man, a true saint, which I once met, told me "one human soul is more precious than the entire universe", and that is quite true. So if all you do in your entire life is help to guide one single soul to the truth, you have had a great life! Just one. And it does not matter where this soul lives, in the USA, the Ukraine, Palau or Timbuktu. All souls, all humans, have the same value - its infinite.
Second, there is only one way to lead people - by example, by inspiration and not by instruction or by polemic. One of the greatest Russian saints, Saint Seraphim of Sarov, said "Acquire a peaceful spirit, and thousands around you will be saved". This thought if often paraphrased as "save yourself and thousands around you shall be saved", which is a pretty good, if simplified, interpretation of his thought. Forget about acting on others, act on yourself. And then you will be able to act on others. This is paradoxical, I know, but most patristic thought is subtle and externally paradoxical. By the way, Christianity is not the only tradition which teaches that, this also what, I think, Mahatma Gandhi meant when he said "We must become the change we want to see in the world".
Complete story at - The Vineyard of the Saker: Reply to a really important question
CC Photo Google Image Search. Source is upload.wikimedia.org Photographer is Victorgrigas - Subject is Gandhi_Graffiti_San_Francisco.
Nora said:
Saker, I get where you're coming from. I'm truly scared to ask this but you know I've got to: what recourse do we have here in the US? What can we do to stop what's going on in our name and with our tax dollars, both here and everywhere else? I used to think I knew the answer(s). I don't anymore.
My reply will be stunningly unoriginal and boring: "think globally act locally". For one thing, there is really nothing you can do for the people in the Ukraine, at least not directly. And you have already done something crucial: you have identified with their struggle. That is extremely important because the 1%ers are trying to divide us and separate us along national, ethnic, racial, religious, educational, social, political and any other line they can think of. Our response should be, to paraphrase Marx, "99%ers of the world, unite!".
The big mistake of the Marxists (well, one of them) was to think in big terms - stuff like "proletarians of the world". What we need to do is think *small*. Here is the key thing: the struggle against evil happens one soul at a time, especially in the West, and especially in the USA where any organized struggle immediately gets discredited, infiltrated and eventually shut down (or even shot down). Stay small, take little steps.
The first thing that you need to see is whom to talk to. Christ gave us the perfect methodology. One one hand He said "Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you" (Matt 7:6), but on the other hand He also said "what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone?" (Matt 7:9). In other words, do not waste your time on those who are not asking anything from you, but don't deny your attention to those who are seeking the truth. Or even more basically - don't waste your breath on zombified morons, but spare no effort towards those who seek to understand. For one thing, the zombies don't doubt - they already know it all. But others do doubt, all they need is help to connect the dots. A holy man, a true saint, which I once met, told me "one human soul is more precious than the entire universe", and that is quite true. So if all you do in your entire life is help to guide one single soul to the truth, you have had a great life! Just one. And it does not matter where this soul lives, in the USA, the Ukraine, Palau or Timbuktu. All souls, all humans, have the same value - its infinite.
Second, there is only one way to lead people - by example, by inspiration and not by instruction or by polemic. One of the greatest Russian saints, Saint Seraphim of Sarov, said "Acquire a peaceful spirit, and thousands around you will be saved". This thought if often paraphrased as "save yourself and thousands around you shall be saved", which is a pretty good, if simplified, interpretation of his thought. Forget about acting on others, act on yourself. And then you will be able to act on others. This is paradoxical, I know, but most patristic thought is subtle and externally paradoxical. By the way, Christianity is not the only tradition which teaches that, this also what, I think, Mahatma Gandhi meant when he said "We must become the change we want to see in the world".
Complete story at - The Vineyard of the Saker: Reply to a really important question
CC Photo Google Image Search. Source is upload.wikimedia.org Photographer is Victorgrigas - Subject is Gandhi_Graffiti_San_Francisco.
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