Turning to One Another

There is no greater power than a community discovering

what it cares about.

Ask "What is possible not "What's wrong?" Keep asking.

Notice what you care about.

Assume that many others share your dreams.

~Meg Wheatley 

I feel like I am locked in another stupor of history. My states of subconsciousness are becoming more frequent: Syria, Sudan, people lost at sea fleeing war and poverty, abductions in Nigeria and now--Ukraine. Meg Wheatley asks us to consider what is possible. I ask what the prognosis is for breaking out of the stupor that many of us in the world are experiencing watching Ukraine being invaded. What can we do to recover from catatonic event depression. This is a serious condition. The gravity seems impossible to overcome.However, Meg offers us the first step: name what you care about and make the reasonable assumption that many others care about the issue as well.What if only 1% cared, in a world with close to 8 billion people, that would mean 80 million people. Think of it! Eighty million of us on the streets, in city centers, in houses of worship, meeting in community halls. Work with likeminded people. They are there.

Support the people in Russia who are protesting by you doing the same. We can't expect them to shoulder the burden. Put up signs, write editorials.If you post on Facebook, Twitter, or other social media—consider ONLY posting messages of support for the Ukrainian and Russian people, add no more war mimes, shout out that we need to put an end to nuclear weapons. Delete messages of blame from your feeds. Be nice, be firm, make certain that people know you are on the side of humanity. By the way, all of this is Compassionate Action.

Find the best way for you to help the one million refugees that are on the borders of Ukraine. Shortly, we will be asked to open our homes, just as we are now being asked to open our wallets. Find local Ukrainian support groups in your communities ask them what they need and how you can help. We know what is wrong, now let's do what's right.

With warmest regards,

Marilyn 

This message from Marilyn Turkovich, Executive Director of the Charter for Compassion, appears in our 03/08/2021 weekly newsletter. To sign up for our newsletter, scroll all the way down to the end of this page to get to the bottom menu, in the newsletter section enter your email address and click on subscribe.