Mr Sandman, 21st Century Bogeyman.
Rabbi Dr Belinda Silbert (MTh, Doctorate in Counselling, ABCC)
Vice-President, Association of Certified Chaplains in South Africa
BELINDA METLITZKY SILBERT·WEDNESDAY, APRIL 19, 2017
The political milieu in which we live is one that appears to be laced with the cyanide of uncertainty. However, this is the laudanum of the sandmen not only scattered but also piped insidiously into our gullets, keeping us semi-asleep in the twilight zone of hybernating consciousness in order to pursue their warmongering agendas.
As in all enticing tales of the literary bent, our stage is populated by heroes; anti-heroes; heroines; tragi-heroes and the common or garden man and woman with their hapless progeny in tow. The stage-lighting is “choreographed” to perfection as the limelight shines on certain areas of the globe with strobe-like rhythmic predictability.
Stereotypes abound and those characters step forward into the light at regular intervals in order to sing their arias or deliver solliloquies with great fervour. On occasion, their makeup seems to be more intensely hued than usual...and it gradually becomes apparent that they are daubed with blood to add special effects for emphasis. Dictators from the Orient; Middle-Eastern leaders; Russian Bears and African warriors make themselves known and the scales are tipped with alarming regularity by those at the helm of the so-called “free-world” of the “West.”
Our lids are heavy and the hours are long, we try to wake up but the shepherds of our somnolence are hyper-vigilant and sprinkle their sleeping-potions as soon as open eyes are detected.
The antidote to the sleep of the damned is innoculation with fearlessness. Love will take us to a certain point, but what is needed is action. Action born of courage and conviction will ensure that humanity continues to flower with blossoms in each generation rather than blooming as the deadly night-shade that kills as soon as it is imbibed.
Resist injustice and “do unto others what you would like done unto you.” If there are those who are literally hurting millions, there can be no ambivalence- they are the spawn of evil. Inflicting pain from a position of power is the Hornet’s sting of the most abysmal creatures in the Universe.
Choose to awaken. Brush the sandman’s sleep-dust from your eyelids, awaken and rise.
Supreme Commander at Holy Army
7 年Love will take us to a certain point, but what is needed is action. I would rephrase: 'Love for our 'neighbours' will take us to a certain point, but what is needed is action'. That action finds its cause in the Love for G'd, but it is He who decides what kind of action you must take. The first action should definitely be: do not stand in the way. I really like about this article the fact you recognize the existence of evil.