Greetings,
It
is so easy for us to feel overwhelmed
by what is happening in the world, particularly
now that all the efforts to wage peace
seem to have failed for the moment. But
let’s take a moment to look at what may
possibly be stirring beneath the drama
and conflict. Here is an extract from
an email I received from a member recently
who puts this so well:
“So
much is happening here in the USA with
anti-war passions. All of this political
takeover by Bush and his junta have aroused
people’s political instincts.
Almost everyone is impacted by the skewed
use of our resources. We have no
money for schools, healthcare, the environment,
but billions to pour into
this absurd campaign to take over the
oil fields of Iraq clothed in piety
about the suffering of the Iraqi people.
My town has had anti war vigils every
Saturday at noon since July.
The vigils have grown from a few Quakers
to fill both sides of the
main street around the Common. Many people
who drive by honk their horns
and wave and clap to indicate their approval.
While at the vigil last Saturday I met
a man who is a union organizer for
poorly paid ‘health aids.’ Thursday I
will go to a rally to support their
pleas for a decent wage and health care
benefits from a company whose
president makes $4,650,000 a year while
they earn less than $10 an hour
taking care of elderly patients. So the
focus on this war has also allowed
people to come together on other important
social issues as well.
Living here, about ten miles from the
city, I have access to so many
beautiful places to walk in woodland
and meadow. Here I am inspired daily
to believe we can take care of our planet
and each other. I have great hopes
that this outrageous behavior of the
Bush administration will arouse us all
to work towards goals of peace and justice.
I believe that we may turn the
tables on this greedy administration
and use our potential for creativity
to
face our problems and work with them
in joy.”
All
over the world during the last few months
people have come up with ideas and projects
that have caught hold of others’ imaginations
the world over. Alongside the rapid expansion
of state power we see something quite
different occurring – an organic development
of human groupings based not on power
or money but on the values of love, peace,
and justice. And these just happen to
be the core values of Druidry too.
Druids were law-makers and judges in
ancient times, and the concept of Justice
is central to the Druid’s Prayer. Druids
have been associated with Peace from
earliest times. Classical writers, such
as Julius Caesar and Diodorus Siculus,
spoke of the way Druids were exempt from
military service, did not bear arms,
and often pacified warring tribes, passing
between the ranks of opposing forces
urging peace. There is a Druids’ Peace
Prayer, and modern-day Druids plant Peace Groves around the world.
The
other core value in Druidism is Love:
love of the Earth, the body, animals
and fellow humans, plants and trees.
For this reason, Druidism fosters care
for the environment, for the Earth’s
resources, for endangered species, for
children, for the sick, the poor and
the elderly. But in addition, Druids
love history, story, poetry and art.
And in their love of wealth and fertility,
they appreciate abundance, but understand
the crucial difference between creativity
and consumerism, and between the wealth
represented by an abundance of health
and happiness, as opposed to the accumulation
of possessions or money.
In
this section of the website you will
find an article I have written on Druidry & Politics.
At first sight we might think there should
really be no connection, but the article
challenges us to question this thought,
and to explore alternative ways of viewing
the relationship between our spirituality
and our actions in relation to the rest
of the world.
We
live in interesting times. The picture
may look bleak, but the cauldron is being
stirred, and now is the time for us to
focus on the triad of essential values
that Druidry holds dear.
Peace
to all Beings,
Philip Carr-Gomm /|\
