I remember visiting an underground war museum with an elderly relative in Guernsey, off the coast of France. The island was invaded by the Nazis in June of 1940 and its citizens, including my family, lived under occupied rule for the balance of the war. It was to be a "model occupation" for the way that Hitler planned to occupy Britain.
Like most people who survived the experience of living under occupation, there existed a "collective amnesia" about what actually happened during those years, and my relative was no exception. She grew "old" and "befuddled" when I questioned her and said "my dear, that was a long time ago." etc. However, her memory came back pretty clearly as we started to go through the archives of this museum.
She stopped in front of a letter that Rommel had written to Hitler imploring him to stop spending money fortifying Guernsey (he spent millions on this using slave labor from Poland and Russia largely) as he desperately needed assistance in North Africa. Then she moved to a newspaper article written by the Nazis who spoke in glowing terms about their glorious leader and how well the war effort was going. She started to laugh.
"You know", she said, "when we read things like this we knew that the opposite was happening, and the more confident and smug they were, the more we knew they were in trouble. We never believed them. We always believed the opposite of everything that the papers printed."
I feel the same way about most of the media coverage today. I can barely tolerate to read the papers, as I know they are largely (except for the work of a few wonderful columnists) full of half-truths, apocalyptic scenarios, doom and gloom, sensationalism, etc, etc., all designed to fuel fear, anxiety and mass hysteria at this time in our collective evolution.
I know the opposite is true. I know we are looking at a profound shift in the awareness and consciousness of the Earth right now, where the old, tired patriarchal values are no longer relevant, and the status quo is increasingly becoming more and more absurd everyday, falling by the wayside into oblivion (look what happened to the Republicans.). I know that there is a reaching out across the globe in an awareness and a goodness that is embracing all of us, regardless of gender, religion, sexual affiliation or culture.
Of course, this wouldn't be picked up by the traditional media because they are fueled by negativity but it is there, an undercurrent of hope, wonder and optimism. Further, many believe that this groundswell is growing and irreversible, and that it is not optional to remain untouched by its consequences.
We are all in this together.
Some might call it the arrival of a New Earth.
Like most people who survived the experience of living under occupation, there existed a "collective amnesia" about what actually happened during those years, and my relative was no exception. She grew "old" and "befuddled" when I questioned her and said "my dear, that was a long time ago." etc. However, her memory came back pretty clearly as we started to go through the archives of this museum.
She stopped in front of a letter that Rommel had written to Hitler imploring him to stop spending money fortifying Guernsey (he spent millions on this using slave labor from Poland and Russia largely) as he desperately needed assistance in North Africa. Then she moved to a newspaper article written by the Nazis who spoke in glowing terms about their glorious leader and how well the war effort was going. She started to laugh.
"You know", she said, "when we read things like this we knew that the opposite was happening, and the more confident and smug they were, the more we knew they were in trouble. We never believed them. We always believed the opposite of everything that the papers printed."
I feel the same way about most of the media coverage today. I can barely tolerate to read the papers, as I know they are largely (except for the work of a few wonderful columnists) full of half-truths, apocalyptic scenarios, doom and gloom, sensationalism, etc, etc., all designed to fuel fear, anxiety and mass hysteria at this time in our collective evolution.
I know the opposite is true. I know we are looking at a profound shift in the awareness and consciousness of the Earth right now, where the old, tired patriarchal values are no longer relevant, and the status quo is increasingly becoming more and more absurd everyday, falling by the wayside into oblivion (look what happened to the Republicans.). I know that there is a reaching out across the globe in an awareness and a goodness that is embracing all of us, regardless of gender, religion, sexual affiliation or culture.
Of course, this wouldn't be picked up by the traditional media because they are fueled by negativity but it is there, an undercurrent of hope, wonder and optimism. Further, many believe that this groundswell is growing and irreversible, and that it is not optional to remain untouched by its consequences.
We are all in this together.
Some might call it the arrival of a New Earth.