I had another topic in mind for this weekend, but given what has occurred over this past week, I want to set that to the side for the moment. A while back, I noted that in my dreams, I had been hearing the statement “the storm is coming” for some time. And that shortly after the #Brexit vote, it had changed to a statement of “the storm is here”. I got baked over that by a handful of folks proclaiming that I hated their country (England) for making that statement after the #Brexit vote, along with my opinion that a vote to leave was not how I would have voted – *if* I had the vote. But the reality of that, turned out to be that those who saw that opinion as the notation behind the statement of an oncoming storm was essentially missing the mark. The storm is most assuredly here. And it has nothing to do with #Brexit. Or I should say that the #Brexit issue is just one of many, many markers. Here, in the United States, we have gone through another profound period of violence, racial issues, and political bantering that exhibits even stronger notations that the storm is here.

This storm isn’t about politics. Its not about a country’s population deciding to remove themselves from an economic and political union. Its not even about racial issues. Those are all symptoms of what the issue is — a lack of respect for one another. A lack of respect for our planet. A lack of respect for any other creature inhabiting this planet. Its an egocentric perspective, where my way, for my people, for my country, for my race is all that matters.

Make no bones about it. We are in perilous times now. The divide between “Us” and “Them” grows wider and deeper. We are once again forming definitions over who is “right”, and who is “wrong”. Those definitions are starting to be parsed against social status, economic status, religious beliefs, skin color, and politics. And its happening all over the world, not just here in the United States. The only reason I see the stuff happening here in the States is because I live here. We are dividing up into little groups. How much longer will it be before we start ostracising others based on these divisions? And who will get to make the decisions over who is right and wrong? Well, that’s easy – it will be the group of people for whom the government and political divides place in positions of authority and power.

Even more concerning, is the manner in which certain areas of blame are placed by the people working towards change. For instance, there are commentaries that are going up condemning those that proclaim #all-lives-matter as not understanding what #black-lives-matter really means. I’ll be honest, I don’t give a shit about what either movement means. I want people to be treated fairly, regardless of any condition or litmus test placed upon them. And I want the killing of citizens, and officers to stop. Jam your fucking hashtag where the sun doesn’t shine, especially if you are going to point a finger at me calling me “the problem” simply because I take a movement far beyond the scope of what is currently being desired. In my opinion, one death has already been too many.

From where I sit, the real problem is communication. I don’t need to be black to see that there is a problem, and to relate to where the frustration is. I also don’t need to be a police officer, nor have respect for a corrupt, unfair, and unjust system to grieve for the deaths and injuries to officers. In my world-view, both situations are bad, and solutions need to be found to put this back on the right Path.

How do these solutions come about?  I have no idea. I am just as clueless on this as anyone else. I know the killings have to stop on both sides of the argument. I know that pointing fingers is not going to solve anything. And as my friend Bran states – if we’re pointing fingers, we can’t hold hands. Both sides are talking, but neither side is listening. People are talking past one another. As long as that happens no solution can be found. Everyone needs to hear, listen, comprehend, and DISCUSS. But that’s going to require a change in a lot of headspace. And on issues like this, change does not come quickly. So folks are also going to have to be patient as well.

A fellow OBOD member while on vacation, collected seashells. Her and her family wrote positive messages on slips of paper, and passed the seashells with the notes out to complete strangers. Just a simple gesture of showing people that they matter. And the reception they received from this little gesture has been amazing. I can only imagine the smiles that they have put on people’s faces when this little gifts are handed over. Just a simple gesture of honestly thinking selflessly about others. The world can definitely use a lot more of this type of gesture. Druidry in action, folks.

In time, may there be peace throughout the world…. /|\