This article is read by Eunice Wong, a Juilliard-trained actor, featured on Audible's list of Best Women Narrators. Her work is on the annual Best Audiobooks lists of the New York Times, Audible, AudioFile, & Library Journal. www.eunicewong.actor
I will repeat my comment I posted on this article yesterday and add my thanks to Eunice for adding a human voice to the words.
Chris, Your voice is a glimmer of light in all the darkness we face these days. I hope and pray you stay safe while bearing witness to the horror inflicted upon the children (and the adults) in Palestine. Your words break my heart every time I read them, but I must read them to hold onto my humanity. Thank you for all you do.
Thank you for your tender understanding in the face of such horror.
Your voice during this crazy time is what the world needs.
You have tried.
How hard is "hard enough"? The fact that the outcome continues to be unspeakably destructive does not diminish in any way the power of the work you do. The difference you make is not a measure of its worth.
You have been, and continue to be the voice of truth in a post truth world. We need your insights, your passion, your strength and your safety. Should anything happen to you, incredible you, it would be a loss to the world, a loss to the hope for the children, a loss for humanity.
We have reached the point at which we are observing a humanitarian ethnic cleansing, at best, and humanitarian genocide at potential worst, imposed. The poignancy of this piece, and the response of utter sadness and the concomitant desperation in its cry for forgiveness will remain with me for a long, long time. Thank you, Chris and Eunice. God help us all.
So poignant and heart-breaking - really bringing home the terror, brutality and cruelty to which these tender human beings are being subjected. This Israeli slaughter bears direct comparison with the industrialised murder orchestrated by the Nazis against them in the 30s and 40s. But they've accomplished it with large parts of the world looking on in SYMPATHY!!! I'm with Chris in hanging my head in utter desperation and shame.
Once again Chris calls on his (our) better angels. Eunice narrates beautifully. Once again I'm sad his voice is not heeded and often silenced. He doesn't just talk. He acts. Please be safe so you may continue to bear witness. I yearn for the day when those who call for war but don't participate and those who participate don't show up. ...Jon Carver, I do hope you got that off your chest. You do excel at criticism. I wonder just how much research you've done and how much history you know. May you add a positive action to your criticism.
I feel the same, Chris. Thank you for bearing witness for us in this poor nation of warmongering, imperialist profiteers with motives. We THE REAL People DO NOT want killing to continue. Stop arming Israel NOW!
Horrific, Chris, what is going on in Gaza now. Alas, this round was started by Hamas, and I wager Hamas very much hoped Israel would respond in this way, meaning, Hamas doesn't care how many Gaza children and adults get killed by Israel, and it bothers me that you don't condemn Hamas, as well as Israel. and It bothers me that you don't address the cause of all of this, which is the Jewish Scriptures, the Christian Old Testament and New Testament, and the Koran. A friend of mine said that Hamas does not worry about how many Gaza people Israel kills, because they become martyrs and go to Paradise. Maybe if America had accepted the post-World War II Jewish refugees, there would be no Israel today, and the three Abrahamic religions would have nothing to fight over in Palestine. Maybe if Israel becomes so desperate that it unleashes its nukes, Palestine will be uninhabitable and in that way the three Abrahamic religions have nothing to fight over in Palestine. What if America offers today, what it did not offer after World War II - a home to every Jew living in Israel? Do you think the American Christians would go for that? Or would they say no, again. Would they want Israel to continue to defend where the Jew Jesus was crucified at the behest of Jewish leaders 2000 years ago?
I count 39 comments by Jon Carver. To summarise his position as nearly as I can understand it: Religious belief makes you make logical errors which specifically incline you to want to kill children. ‘Anybody agree with that? I get the sense that he’s looking for some support with that notion.
Depend upon it, sir, when a man knows he is to be hanged in a fortnight, it concentrates his mind wonderfully.
- Samuel Johnson, The Life of Samuel Johnson LL.D. Vol 3
I have become increasingly disturbed by events since 9/11. I’ve had much joy in my life - a strong marriage, raising a much-loved daughter and enjoying my four adult sons, my students and friends, making art, etc. But at the same time, I have been profoundly saddened by the dishonesty, corruption, wars, and environmental crises.
I hired a psychotherapist to help me process my anguish. He’s been wonderfully supportive and talking has helped me clarify my thinking. The following is what I’ve come to, humbly offered for any of you who may also be despairing.
It has become clear that there’s a distinct possibility, perhaps probability, that we are all to be hanged in a fortnight. Or next week or tomorrow! Between the certainty of economic collapse and the increasing likelihood of nuclear war and/or environmental disaster, the doomsday clock has been reset to seconds before midnight.
So how has it concentrated my mind? Simply put, it has changed my perspective. I withdraw my attention from the content, the day-to-day interactions and altercations between people, dogmas, the leaders and the led, and focus on the context which gives rise to all that content.
In his book, “The Meaning of Human Existence,” the sociobiologist, E.O. Wilson said that humanity is operating under the context of rivalrous tribalism, and that if we don’t end the context, it will surely end us.
Other scientists cite earlier contexts as the cause of the present content. The neuroscientist, Iain McGilchrist believes it dates back to the advent of left-brain domination - which gave rise to rivalrous tribalism. Joseph Campbell contended that our underlying context is the fear that accompanied self-consciousness, specifically the awareness of ourselves as separate beings who have to kill to live and end up as food for worms. Others believe our guiding context is still older, our unconscious. They point out that neuroscientists have discovered that we are conscious of only .5% of our brain functions. Certainly, if I’m aware of only .5% of my brain functions, it’s reasonable to assume that the other 99.5% is far more influential than my imagined “I,” residing in the .5%, can comprehend, much less utilize.
So, running out of time as I am, where do I come out on this? What am “I” to do with my conclusion that, contrary to what our egos tell us, we human beings are severely limited creatures? Where does one go from there?
I have chosen to withdraw from my specie’s game of asserting to advance interests, particularly my interests relative to yours, and to spend whatever time remains appreciating the absurd gift I have been given, the gift of life as a human being here on planet earth in the year 2023 CE.
Basically, I’m choosing to spend less time asserting with intention - and tolerating being asserted at, and more time listening and attending to the non-verbal, less assertive.
Eliciting and listening, I should say. I have to invite the universe to speak to me in order to acknowledge my commitment to pay attention and be accountable for what I learn. When I elicit and listen to my heart, I listen to the silences between the contractions and closings as well as to the beats. Very wise, human hearts, which makes sense given how long they’ve been around - a lot longer than brains. You have to listen to them with your right brain because your left brain doesn’t speak heart talk, and your heart doesn’t speak left-brain abstraction.
To invite the universe and its various elements, such as my heart, to speak to me, I put myself into the condition known as awe or wonder. Nice state in which to dwell. I find it expands my perceptions and experiences and leads to richer interpretations and more effective responses. It also leads to increased appreciation of, and reverence for, life itself, i.e., to love. I’m spending the fortnight before my appointment in Samara concentrating my mind on loving the gift of life. All of it, the good, the bad, the heretofore unacknowledged, and the utterly incomprehensible.
And this. As a teacher of self-understanding and personal integration, I’ve noticed that nothing motivates us to open to the truth like desperation. Looking out at the world, I’ve also noticed that, while the creation of a new, man-made context is all that may save us, the vast majority of us aren’t doing much to transform ourselves or assemble and mobilize the critical mass necessary to transform our species. Some are, but they’re few, far between, and not yet organized. Will this change as humanity acknowledges its desperation? Based on my experience, I believe it will. I hope, with mass communication technology, it will do so spontaneously as opposed to gradually, and universally as opposed to locally.
Should I be right, it will mean that the act of accepting my personal demise and concentrating my individual mind on awe, wonder, and reverence may also serve our shared goal of saving life on earth. Those who are eliciting, listening, and loving are not at the same time dismissing, blocking, and hating.
One thing I have learned in a long life: that all our science, measured against reality, is primitive and childlike. We still do not know one thousandth of one percent of what nature has revealed to us. It is entirely possible that behind the perception of our senses, worlds are hidden of which we are unaware. – Albert Einstein
Take Care of Yourself. Stay at home and pretend you're sick, wait for everyone to bring weed over and offer their help. Let the people do their thing, they'll look out for you. There are realms of abstraction to survey, theories about how Love is the substance of the Universe, my God, Marines won't cross town without a mounted M-60 all Rambo style. Hypermasculinity, man, you should have none of it. Just sayin'.
I will repeat my comment I posted on this article yesterday and add my thanks to Eunice for adding a human voice to the words.
Chris, Your voice is a glimmer of light in all the darkness we face these days. I hope and pray you stay safe while bearing witness to the horror inflicted upon the children (and the adults) in Palestine. Your words break my heart every time I read them, but I must read them to hold onto my humanity. Thank you for all you do.
Chris is a special soul!!⭐⭐
Dearest Chris and Eunice,
Thank you for your tender understanding in the face of such horror.
Your voice during this crazy time is what the world needs.
You have tried.
How hard is "hard enough"? The fact that the outcome continues to be unspeakably destructive does not diminish in any way the power of the work you do. The difference you make is not a measure of its worth.
You have been, and continue to be the voice of truth in a post truth world. We need your insights, your passion, your strength and your safety. Should anything happen to you, incredible you, it would be a loss to the world, a loss to the hope for the children, a loss for humanity.
Stay safe.
Love
Julia
We have reached the point at which we are observing a humanitarian ethnic cleansing, at best, and humanitarian genocide at potential worst, imposed. The poignancy of this piece, and the response of utter sadness and the concomitant desperation in its cry for forgiveness will remain with me for a long, long time. Thank you, Chris and Eunice. God help us all.
So poignant and heart-breaking - really bringing home the terror, brutality and cruelty to which these tender human beings are being subjected. This Israeli slaughter bears direct comparison with the industrialised murder orchestrated by the Nazis against them in the 30s and 40s. But they've accomplished it with large parts of the world looking on in SYMPATHY!!! I'm with Chris in hanging my head in utter desperation and shame.
Thank you for this amazing heartbreaking piece that we all need to read or hear.
Bless you & those you write about.
Once again Chris calls on his (our) better angels. Eunice narrates beautifully. Once again I'm sad his voice is not heeded and often silenced. He doesn't just talk. He acts. Please be safe so you may continue to bear witness. I yearn for the day when those who call for war but don't participate and those who participate don't show up. ...Jon Carver, I do hope you got that off your chest. You do excel at criticism. I wonder just how much research you've done and how much history you know. May you add a positive action to your criticism.
Thanks Chris
Take care.
So powerful. The people see but the "leaders" remain locked in old and dangerous deals.
Damn, this is all so sad.
I feel the same, Chris. Thank you for bearing witness for us in this poor nation of warmongering, imperialist profiteers with motives. We THE REAL People DO NOT want killing to continue. Stop arming Israel NOW!
Please stay safe.
Jane
Horrific, Chris, what is going on in Gaza now. Alas, this round was started by Hamas, and I wager Hamas very much hoped Israel would respond in this way, meaning, Hamas doesn't care how many Gaza children and adults get killed by Israel, and it bothers me that you don't condemn Hamas, as well as Israel. and It bothers me that you don't address the cause of all of this, which is the Jewish Scriptures, the Christian Old Testament and New Testament, and the Koran. A friend of mine said that Hamas does not worry about how many Gaza people Israel kills, because they become martyrs and go to Paradise. Maybe if America had accepted the post-World War II Jewish refugees, there would be no Israel today, and the three Abrahamic religions would have nothing to fight over in Palestine. Maybe if Israel becomes so desperate that it unleashes its nukes, Palestine will be uninhabitable and in that way the three Abrahamic religions have nothing to fight over in Palestine. What if America offers today, what it did not offer after World War II - a home to every Jew living in Israel? Do you think the American Christians would go for that? Or would they say no, again. Would they want Israel to continue to defend where the Jew Jesus was crucified at the behest of Jewish leaders 2000 years ago?
I count 39 comments by Jon Carver. To summarise his position as nearly as I can understand it: Religious belief makes you make logical errors which specifically incline you to want to kill children. ‘Anybody agree with that? I get the sense that he’s looking for some support with that notion.
Thanks Chris
Take care.
Concentrated Mind
Depend upon it, sir, when a man knows he is to be hanged in a fortnight, it concentrates his mind wonderfully.
- Samuel Johnson, The Life of Samuel Johnson LL.D. Vol 3
I have become increasingly disturbed by events since 9/11. I’ve had much joy in my life - a strong marriage, raising a much-loved daughter and enjoying my four adult sons, my students and friends, making art, etc. But at the same time, I have been profoundly saddened by the dishonesty, corruption, wars, and environmental crises.
I hired a psychotherapist to help me process my anguish. He’s been wonderfully supportive and talking has helped me clarify my thinking. The following is what I’ve come to, humbly offered for any of you who may also be despairing.
It has become clear that there’s a distinct possibility, perhaps probability, that we are all to be hanged in a fortnight. Or next week or tomorrow! Between the certainty of economic collapse and the increasing likelihood of nuclear war and/or environmental disaster, the doomsday clock has been reset to seconds before midnight.
So how has it concentrated my mind? Simply put, it has changed my perspective. I withdraw my attention from the content, the day-to-day interactions and altercations between people, dogmas, the leaders and the led, and focus on the context which gives rise to all that content.
In his book, “The Meaning of Human Existence,” the sociobiologist, E.O. Wilson said that humanity is operating under the context of rivalrous tribalism, and that if we don’t end the context, it will surely end us.
Other scientists cite earlier contexts as the cause of the present content. The neuroscientist, Iain McGilchrist believes it dates back to the advent of left-brain domination - which gave rise to rivalrous tribalism. Joseph Campbell contended that our underlying context is the fear that accompanied self-consciousness, specifically the awareness of ourselves as separate beings who have to kill to live and end up as food for worms. Others believe our guiding context is still older, our unconscious. They point out that neuroscientists have discovered that we are conscious of only .5% of our brain functions. Certainly, if I’m aware of only .5% of my brain functions, it’s reasonable to assume that the other 99.5% is far more influential than my imagined “I,” residing in the .5%, can comprehend, much less utilize.
So, running out of time as I am, where do I come out on this? What am “I” to do with my conclusion that, contrary to what our egos tell us, we human beings are severely limited creatures? Where does one go from there?
I have chosen to withdraw from my specie’s game of asserting to advance interests, particularly my interests relative to yours, and to spend whatever time remains appreciating the absurd gift I have been given, the gift of life as a human being here on planet earth in the year 2023 CE.
Basically, I’m choosing to spend less time asserting with intention - and tolerating being asserted at, and more time listening and attending to the non-verbal, less assertive.
Eliciting and listening, I should say. I have to invite the universe to speak to me in order to acknowledge my commitment to pay attention and be accountable for what I learn. When I elicit and listen to my heart, I listen to the silences between the contractions and closings as well as to the beats. Very wise, human hearts, which makes sense given how long they’ve been around - a lot longer than brains. You have to listen to them with your right brain because your left brain doesn’t speak heart talk, and your heart doesn’t speak left-brain abstraction.
To invite the universe and its various elements, such as my heart, to speak to me, I put myself into the condition known as awe or wonder. Nice state in which to dwell. I find it expands my perceptions and experiences and leads to richer interpretations and more effective responses. It also leads to increased appreciation of, and reverence for, life itself, i.e., to love. I’m spending the fortnight before my appointment in Samara concentrating my mind on loving the gift of life. All of it, the good, the bad, the heretofore unacknowledged, and the utterly incomprehensible.
And this. As a teacher of self-understanding and personal integration, I’ve noticed that nothing motivates us to open to the truth like desperation. Looking out at the world, I’ve also noticed that, while the creation of a new, man-made context is all that may save us, the vast majority of us aren’t doing much to transform ourselves or assemble and mobilize the critical mass necessary to transform our species. Some are, but they’re few, far between, and not yet organized. Will this change as humanity acknowledges its desperation? Based on my experience, I believe it will. I hope, with mass communication technology, it will do so spontaneously as opposed to gradually, and universally as opposed to locally.
Should I be right, it will mean that the act of accepting my personal demise and concentrating my individual mind on awe, wonder, and reverence may also serve our shared goal of saving life on earth. Those who are eliciting, listening, and loving are not at the same time dismissing, blocking, and hating.
One thing I have learned in a long life: that all our science, measured against reality, is primitive and childlike. We still do not know one thousandth of one percent of what nature has revealed to us. It is entirely possible that behind the perception of our senses, worlds are hidden of which we are unaware. – Albert Einstein
Peace and love.
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLGdHquFKUwRyAr8GXdOJXh6FbGeXOcyfz&si=fAuIIfQHcG2I63Sf
Take Care of Yourself. Stay at home and pretend you're sick, wait for everyone to bring weed over and offer their help. Let the people do their thing, they'll look out for you. There are realms of abstraction to survey, theories about how Love is the substance of the Universe, my God, Marines won't cross town without a mounted M-60 all Rambo style. Hypermasculinity, man, you should have none of it. Just sayin'.