I am doing something
unusual this month: reprinting an editorial
from somewhere else.
We have ODE Magazine in our favorite links
- it's a periodical for "intelligent
optimists" that I have read for several
years. When, after a particular round of
virulence coming from the pulpits of the
UN, the Vatican, the Middle East and the
White House I was in the throes in despair
- what difference can any of us make, if
the world is shortly to be blown to bits?
— this hit me right between the eyes.
Not coincidentally, that is the place of
the
third eye, where we access our intuition,
highest knowing and see beyond the traditional
five-sense world.
I was sitting in a
tent outside London's Heathrow Airport,
waiting
for my flight.
Airport staff people were politely serving
tea and sandwiches. Here and there I caught
a snippet of dry British humour about the
latest security measures; otherwise, I
noticed a lot of stiff upper lips. They're
not easy to intimidate or panic, the Brits —not
even after police broke up a terrorist
operation that would have killed more people
than the attacks of September 11th in the
United States.
Yet the United Kingdom,
too, is falling prey to the prevailing
political tendency
of stirring up fear to win votes. Fear
of terror. Fear of bird flu. Fear of job
loss. Fear of climate change. Fear of accidents.
Fear of the sun — yes, I regularly
see women carrying umbrellas as they walk
through
the bright sunlight from car to store.
Fear is the best breeding ground for fundamentalism.
And fundamentalism is doing well -- first
and foremost, of course, in the Middle
East, but it is steadily gaining ground
in Washington, too. All over the United
States, evolution is being called into
question, gay marriage is meeting vehement
resistance and conservative churches are
rapidly growing. And Europe is close behind.
The Netherlands' most popular politician
now is a government minister notorious
for talking tough and drawing boundaries
where they aren't needed. Similar voices
can be heard in other countries.
While in the tent at Heathrow, my thoughts
turned to the heroes of recent history.
To Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, who
went to address the Knesset, the parliament
of his country's archenemy, Israel. To
the South African leader Nelson Mandela,
who managed, without violence, to dissolve
apartheid and advocate racial reconciliation.
To Martin Luther King, who built a bridge
between black and white in the U.S. And,
of course, to the man who inspired them
all: Mahatma Gandhi, for whom differences
between people existed to be demolished.
Our era demands new
heroines and heroes who can build bridges — to
close the painful divide between rich
and poor, to make the
world greener and more just, to welcome
the inspiration of Islam's traditional
teachings into the modern world. Our era
demands people who do not draw boundaries
but transcend them. Where are they today?
I wondered in the tent, as I ate another
sandwich and drank another cup of tea.
But wait a minute: what about us? What
are we doing to spread hope? Are we saying
loudly enough that we do not believe in
fear, that we feel betrayed by fundamentalism?
And then I knew I must express these thoughts
in the pages of Ode, the magazine we founded
to explore new possibilities and to recognize
the trailblazing bridge-builders of our
time. For years, Ode has been dedicated
to bringing you a world of inspiration
and innovation. And our mission is now
resounding among people in an ever-wider
circle. We are on the way to a world beyond
fear.
-Jurriaan Kamp, Editor in Chief
Ode Magazine
And the contents of that issue held:
...an article on a Bolivian woman saving
her father's food company by turning to
organics and embracing fair trade.
...an article on the best, most innovative, inspiring and sustainable products
and companies around the world for 2006.
...an article on "the promise of politics" being local: mayors working
on the front lines of democracy, the article exploring whether they hold the
key to achieving political progress and restoring people's faith in government.
...an article on Pakistan's leading rock star (yes!) who writes songs about
love and reconciliation; his embrace of social causes has invited comparisons
with Bono.
...an article about England's Summerhill community, where children in charge
of their own education learn more.
...an article about Gacaca, a traditional form of participatory justice, which
is helping to heal the ravaged country of Rwanda.
There was a lot more. There IS a lot
more. And to read a magazine where the
United States is one among many, not the
biggest-and-only-interesting subject, throws
open wide the windows of fresh thought
and ideas-outside-the-box.
Do not be fooled by what
you read, what you hear, or what you think
you know about
the world based on American media. Whether
left or right or middle of the road, they
are not the only purveyors of what is going
on out there, and they certainly don't
have a corner on "the truth." It's
time to broaden our scope and find out
how the rest of the world is thinking -
and doing - in order to do our part in
creating a post-fear world.
Many thanks to Ryan Latimer for permission
to reprint this. And if it moves you, RUN
do not walk to www.odemagazine.com and
subscribe. It's a great lifeline for hope. |
