So much heaven, so much hell...

(Faithless - Bombs)

"So much heaven, so much hell, so much love, so much pain
So much more than I thought this world could ever contain"

Many many times I see this, I feel this, it is as Echart Tolle says: "Things are getting worse and better at the same time, although the worse is more apparent because it makes so much ‘noise’"

When reading or thinking about things going on in the world my feeling can be so dramatic, and at times so opposed. On the one side I come across subjects that cause me much grief and despair: there are those who are developing more and more sophisticated ways of killing people (Wired for War); those who are damaging people's health in the pursuit of profit; there is the loss of much of beauty in the world; there are those that through their ignorance hurt others so badly, that through maliciousness can destroy lives; and such like.

On the other hand there are those things that give me so much joy, that lift me up, that make me feel everything is alright: there are those developing a deep understanding of how to heal others, and freely sharing their work; there are days with friends when we all share in many ways; there are times with my niece, who shows an intelligence and innocence of being that adults could learn from; their are those developing new, sustainable, loving ways of living; there are those who are waking up spiritually, are looking at the world through fresh and compassionate eyes; and there are those moments that awareness and peace descends, being felt in the soft rain, or in the streetlights reflecting off the pavement, or the sound of birds singing in the dark.

So much heaven,
So much hell,
So much love,
So much pain.

It is hard sometimes, the problems can seem so large, so beyond our power to change. But they are not, they can never be. As ever, the words of Gandhi speak to me:

"When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love has always won. There have been tyrants and murderers and for a time they seem invincible, but in the end, they always fall — think of it, always."