from A Christmas Carol: The Children Who Belong to Us
Dec 25th, 2009 | 24 responses
Not in remonstrance, but just to ask we not forget… and to do what we can to help… within our reach… in your own way… to go beyond your reach also by helping those who are already helping…
From Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
The chimes were ringing the three quarters past eleven at that moment.
“Forgive me if I am not justified in what I ask,” said Scrooge, looking intently at the Spirit’s robe, “but I see something strange, and not belonging to yourself, protruding from your skirts. Is it a foot or a claw?”
“It might be a claw, for the flesh there is upon it,” was the Spirit’s sorrowful reply. “Look here.”
From the foldings of its robe, the Spirit brought two children; wretched, abject, frightful, hideous, miserable. They knelt down at its feet, and clung upon the outside of its garment.
“Oh, Man! look here. Look, look, down here!” exclaimed the Ghost.
They were a boy and girl. Yellow, meagre, ragged, scowling, wolfish; but prostrate, too, in their humility. Where graceful youth should have filled their features out, and touched them with its freshest tints, a stale and shrivelled hand, like that of age, had pinched, and twisted them, and pulled them into shreds.
Where angels might have sat enthroned, devils lurked, and glared out menacing. No change, no degradation, no perversion of humanity, in any grade, through all the mysteries of wonderful creation, has monsters half so horrible and dread.
Scrooge started back, appalled. Having them shown to him in this way, he tried to say they were fine children, but the words choked themselves, rather than be parties to a lie of such enormous magnitude.
“Spirit! are they yours?” Scrooge could say no more.
“They are Man’s,” said the Spirit, looking down upon them. “And they cling to me, appealing from their fathers…
This boy is Ignorance. This girl is Want.
Beware them both, and all of their degree, but most of all beware this boy,
for on his brow I see that written which is Doom, unless the
writing be erased…
Deny it!” cried the Spirit, stretching out its hand towards the city. “Slander those who tell it ye! Admit it for your factious purposes, and make it worse. And bide the end!”
“Have they no refuge or resource?” cried Scrooge.
“Are there no prisons?” said the Spirit, turning on Scrooge for the last time with Scrooge’s own words. “Are there no workhouses?”
The bell struck twelve.
Stave 3. The Second of Three Spirits
_________
CODA
A Christmas Carol was published in 1843. Now we are living in 2009. The cultures of the world continue to drag the children of earth behind the runaway horses of commerce and war. There is an illness in modernity that sneaks about trying to poison us into thinking the issues are too big, too far away, that we are helpless. We aren’t. Not on any count. If we can’t help directly, then we can help those who are already helping the downtrodden and neglected, the abandoned and hungry, the displaced, the egregiously misused. Anything we can do, for even one soul, for all souls, for a moment, or forever… will help. And thank you. So very much, thank you.
The photo of the children with bags and rags over their heads are Filipino children, victims of child prostitution, waiting to testify before Philippine Congressional committee on child prostitution and human rights, as 200 street-children rallied in a downpour outside, in support.
The picture of the young boy in blue jeans being manhandled by soldiers has lost his bladder in terror, and though some think to quell the innocent in the moment is the way to cow others, in fact, often when it is the young who’ve been assaulted, they grow up to feel a hatred against their oppressors that trumps any fear they may have, creating an entire generation of paybacks. Payback for payback then, for eons.
I would never say I know the answers. But, as the Spirit said to Ebenezer, ‘on his brow I see that written which is Doom, unless the writing be erased…’ Though hoards are writing doom on the heads of our young, I know our work is to do what is within our power to ever unwrite such heinous theft of our children’s very souls.
opinions powered by SendLove.to
24 Responses to “from A Christmas Carol: The Children Who Belong to Us”
What a kind reminder of the work that still needs to be done to elevate our consciousness and to get our priorities right in the world. The holidays bring me much anxiety and when I saw your stark images in this article I can only imagine the daily anxiety these young souls have to survive everyday. Thank you for reminding me of the great need that still exists in the world beyond our little scope of reality. I pray that we can all be part of the change we need to see in the world.
Truly may these children and all we cannot see know peace and safety and a world that has the heart to embrace with love and well being. Thanks for shining the light for the children.
Dr. E. i hope you don't mind me sharing this link. Others may already know about this site called Culture Unplugged but i only came across it a couple weeks ago. It is a treasure of film-makers and story-tellers concerning important social issues of our world from people in all nations from:
Hunger & Poverty, Religion & Belief, Human Rights, War & Conflict, Environment,
Housing & Sanitation, Education, Peace & Democracy, Crime & Violence, Globalization,
Health, Politics Science, Trafficking, Spiritual Awareness,
Relationships, Social Development,Race, Migration.
Most of these documentaries are film makers from their own countries telling their stories from their direct experience, and often the first step is in awareness of the issues. Dr. E. the first film i saw was one called The Flowering Tree and several times while watching thought of your work and was hoping you have seen this one for the story-teller was surely a kindred soul with you.
Culture Unplugged
http://www.cultureunplugged.com/festival/whatis…
you are welcome always to leave links to whatever, whomever can awaken, can help those who suffer. Thank you Mariaycorazon and Sparrow.
No child should ever have to suffer such atrocities. I will do more to help. I was reminded of the verse in the Bible that said: and “a little child shall lead them.”
When I gave food to the poor, they called me a saint.
When I asked why the poor had no food, they called me a communist…..
Beware the clergy. They are liars…..and what do they do with their billions? They buy bangles and beads and golden statues to pray too……but they don't pray to statues they say and they simply don't have enough to help everyone…..or child….but they will pray for them.
Give your money to UNICEF, not demigods.
Funny that you would dismiss religion, when it has been religious organizations that started and funded most private charities. it would be better to teach your more liberal companions to stop wasting so much time on activism and get their hands dirty actually helping people personally.
Thanks for this rebuke of Father_Time. He seems to have multiple mental issues.
That little hand in the first picture has stayed all day. . .As frail as it is for that little one to still draw breath is such an image of the tenacity and endurance of the human spirit. . .and just a little from the surplus of this or most any day in our lives would make difference between life and death. . .Father Time truth there are many faith based and secular organization which need our partnering to make life possible for “the least of these”. If you feel good about UNICEF then that is good.
Hands
It’s hands
that show hunger—
fingers spread,
palms up,
outstretched, grabbing
at bits of sky;
‘cause there’s
nothing left
to reach to
but a fist full
of empty bellies.
It’s hands
that show indifference—
fingers clenched,
in pockets,
turned inward, clamped
around purse strings;
‘cause there’s
nothing better
to reach to
than a fist full
of privilege.
Author and poet, Debbie Ouellet
My intent is not to shame anyone with this poem, but that little hand and the other images too with all they represent needs volumes of heart opening. What ever one can do is good. . .reminds me of one of your poems Dr. E whose last line is “just do something.”
Thank you for sharing this site. I just signed up and it is very enlightening.
Oh no you didn't….
I PERSONALLY spent more than ten years in Africa with UNICEF and ICRC. I saw exactly what religion does, and, what charities does what, and, where. I know exactly whom is BS and whom is real. I have PERSONALLY known several people that have died in the work.
Religion comes with their leased relief plane loaded with bibles that the locals use for toilet paper or fire starter. We loaded our relief planes with food, medicine, and, the sick and wounded. Space on aircraft is very expensive in all circumstances. So give your money to religion if you want. Odds are your money won’t even get there, but if it does, you can find it in a pile of crap.
What have you done for humanity….voted for school vouchers?
I'm assuming that you were Atheist before you went. I don't know which relief organization that you speak of, but the ones that our church supports bring education (i.e. building schools and training teachers), and brings food and clothing to people in disasters in remote areas. Domestically, it supports a food bank, where my wife volunteers, a halfway house for women escaping abusive relationships, and a free clothing warehouse. If you hate all religious charities because of one of them, then why don't you hate the federal government, which has many programs that deserve contempt?
I do not hate the Federal Government because we, the people, are the Federal Government. We should blame ourselves for not being more in agreement nationally. Our elected officials behave as we allow them to behave.
You sound as if you are part of the Salvation Army, a branch of the Universal Christian Church. In fact I respect the Salvation Army and give the bulk of my domestic charity to them. They actually do something IMO.
My apologies for offending you. I only know the truth as best as I actually have experience it. My perception may indeed be skewed, I don’t know, but in the final analysis, our perception is all that we all have.
I was not an Atheist before I went. I’m not even sure that I am now. You might call it a “crisis in faith”. However I assure you that I am truly pissed-off. The catholic church destroyed my faith, which was protestant before I studied theology and Catholicism for two years and long after I ended relief work. My unfortunate “crisis in faith” has little to do with my relief work experience, but my relief work experience has left me quite disappointed with religious “missions” or non-secular relief work in general. A major complaint shared by more than I, is that for the billions and billions of dollars that go to churches each week, very little get to mission. Very little actually help the poor. Only a tiny amount of the graft actually get to the poor, be it protestant or catholic. I’ve seen many missions and basically they are pathetic examples of relief work. In fact their primary purpose is not helping people at all, its “spreading the word”. What “helping” they do is only to gain the attention of the poor, for evangelization purposes.
There are several secular relief organizations commonly known as NGOs that are well known. Many that I am sure you have heard off and many I’m sure that you have not. Believe me, name recognition has nothing to do with how effective their efforts are, and, “effective” is the most important word in relief work. Many of these non-secular organizations are basically useless also. The vast number of NGO’s fall under UNICEF or another UN agency in the field since they rely heavily on the UN for political and logistic reasons. As well donor countries keep an eye on the UN through government organizations such as USAID and OXFAM. This so because Governments have their requirements for their donations. For example the United States requires that 30% of goods and services be purchased from U.S. entities. However there is little regulation holding religious organizations to any standard. Thus their comparative effectiveness is laughably poor all things being equal. African Inland Mission is one of the better non-secular organizations, and, Safe Harbor one of the worst, to name a couple. No church really stands out.
Why “Not in remonstrance?” Why not rebel, complain, call a spade a spade? Why not say what can't be said? Why not ring “dem bells?' Is it not astounding that in the year 2009 we care no more about children or their mothers, whether they are starving or if we (the sky people-*see Avatar) just blow them out of the sky with drones or bulldoze their families the way Israelis do. The war on Poverty goes on unabated. THich Hnat Hahn would say it is this way over there because it is that way over here– non duality.
You raise some very good points. There have been some comparative effectiveness statistics done on global charities, but I haven't seen them myself. Maybe with those, we could agree, since I consider it an obligation to verify the worth of charitable donations, and it sounds like you do also.
I am a Protestant that went to a Catholic school for two years: I have to say that there are some “interesting” parts of their history and theology. I suppose that's a large part of why I go to a non-denominational church now, where people can disagree on even some basic theology, but still work and fellowship together.
BTW, I wasn't offended per se., I just like to find and reveal truth wherever I can, which is why I like this blog where I can wrestle with people like you without the discussion descending into name calling and attacks. Thanks for a polite, and informative, discussion.
thank you Prof, appreciate the grace greatly, throughout.
blessed holidays,
dr.e
Dear Spirasol, Blessed Holidays to you and yours.
My memory of Thich Nhat Hahn is his speaking to us, “Call Me by My True Names.” That's what I personally can understand of what he says in my mind-limited ways.
with kind regards,
dr.e.
Call Me by My True Names
by Thich Nhat Hanh, Buddhist monk, escaped from Viet Nam
Don't say that I will depart tomorrow –
even today I am still arriving.
Look deeply: every second I am arriving
to be a bud on a Spring branch,
to be a tiny bird, with still-fragile wings,
learning to sing in my new nest,
to be a caterpillar in the heart of a flower,
to be a jewel hiding itself in a stone.
I still arrive, in order to laugh and to cry,
to fear and to hope.
The rhythm of my heart is the birth and death
of all that is alive.
I am the mayfly metamorphosing
on the surface of the river.
And I am the bird
that swoops down to swallow the mayfly.
I am the frog swimming happily
in the clear water of a pond.
And I am the grass-snake
that silently feeds itself on the frog.
I am the child in Uganda, all skin and bones,
my legs as thin as bamboo sticks.
And I am the arms merchant,
selling deadly weapons to Uganda.
I am the twelve-year-old girl,
refugee on a small boat,
who throws herself into the ocean
after being raped by a sea pirate.
And I am the pirate,
my heart not yet capable
of seeing and loving.
I am a member of the politburo,
with plenty of power in my hands.
And I am the man who has to pay
his “debt of blood” to my people
dying slowly in a forced-labor camp.
My joy is like Spring, so warm
it makes flowers bloom all over the Earth.
My pain is like a river of tears,
so vast it fills the four oceans.
Please call me by my true names,
so I can hear all my cries and my laughter at once,
so I can see that my joy and pain are one.
Please call me by my true names,
so I can wake up,
and so the door of my heart
can be left open,
the door of compassion.
1989
Notes by Thich Nhat Hanh
I have a poem for you. This poem is about three of us.
The first is a twelve-year-old girl, one of the boat
people crossing the Gulf of Siam. She was raped by a
sea pirate, and after that she threw herself into the
sea. The second person is the sea pirate, who was born
in a remote village in Thailand. And the third person
is me. I was very angry, of course. But I could not take
sides against the sea pirate. If I could have, it would
have been easier, but I couldn't. I realized that if I
had been born in his village and had lived a similar life
- economic, educational, and so on – it is likely that I
would now be that sea pirate. So it is not easy to take
sides. Out of suffering, I wrote this poem. It is called
“Please Call Me by My True Names,” because I have many names, and when you call me by any of them, I have to say, “Yes.”
Yes, I think the Catholics worship suffering more than anything else.
Thank you CP for your good wishes and may I wish the same joy and merriment to you and those you hold dear.
Yes the poem underscores the concept of non duality, though more on an individual basis; he sees that– were fate to have dealt him the cards of another– he could easily be playing that hand. I remember being shocked at first when I heard Marion Woodman say that she doubted she could have resisted the call of Nazism in Germany at the time it occurred. In the current zeitgeist fear and terror/terror and fear seem to be a sort of marriage and has everyone in its grips.
I once heard Thay (TN Hahn) speak in a different way about non duality. In that talk he was talking about poverty. He said that the gluttony of first world peoples and the starvation of 3rd world peoples go together. Likewise starving children, draught, and poverty over here and wealth and abundance over there.
I know it is more complicated than I am capable of expressing but here are what a few notables have to say about it.
Dalai Lama. “No matter what part of the world we come from, we are all basically the same human beings. We all seek happiness and try to avoid suffering. We have the same basic human needs and is concerns. All of us human beings want freedom and the right to determine our own destiny as individuals and as peoples. That is human nature.”
Leonard Ingram (Bhagwan Ra Afrika). “When one is truly in contact with reality, and not one's concept and abstraction of reality, no choices arise. Choices are created by the mind – not by reality! Reality is simply the case.”
Drew Hempil. “I assert and aim to demonstrate that sound-current nondualism is the foundational model for resolving the root theoretical contradictions of the global eco-justice crisis.”
Charlene Spretnak. “Spiritually, ecofeminists are drawn to practices and orientations that nurture experiences of nonduality and loving reverence for the sacred whole that is the cosmos.”
Masanobu Fukuoka was born in 1913, of a family that has farmed the Southern Japan Islands for over 1,400 years. Educated as a microbiologist and soil scientist, he is now a Mahayana Buddhist who practices simple agriculture as a spiritual path. He is the father and master teacher, the Sensei of the art of Natural Farming.
“On this planet we do not have something we can call Nature any more. We have lost it. We do not have Nature we can go back to. What we must do is search for Nature. But human knowledge cannot do it. We can only ask Nature. So we, and especially seed companies in the world, should collect all kinds of seeds on the planet, and offer them to God, Nature and pray. This kind of attitude toward Nature is necessary. Of course, even if we pray, God will not say anything. We may not be inspired, either. But the plants which start growing are God's answer. Nature will teach you.”
Deepak Chopra. “From the beginning of time into present-day civilization–whether it's ethnic cleansing in Kosovo or in Sri Lanka–if there's been bloodshed, it's been into the name of God, and it's been in the name of a fragmented God, not a God of wholeness, not a God of nonduality.”
Can suffering can be a doorway to salvation? Does anyone really want to cling to happiness as a vehicle for salvation? The Buddhists would say that acceptance that life is suffering is what frees us from it.
thank you spirasol for such a rich boat of quotes to carry us just further as we can Thank you.
in answer to your last question re suffering, I do not know, except for the salve part, as in Salve regina, the mother of the conquered, mi madre. Too, I tend to think of happiness of a certain kind that senses like balm to soul, but mutes ego… not the kind some seem to be inferring when they say they seek happiness.
re nazi-ism, I wouldnt be shocked that someone born safe in Canada would speculate such. But coming from a family who lived firsthand through the war and lost all their children and men, I know so so many opposed nazi-ism, saw it and called it what it was in menace and abject evil, and tens of thousands of the merchant and professional classes fled even before Dachau /Auchwitz/ Birkenau/Treblinka/ Malthusen were built, and many of the other souls who protested without weaponry… the farmers, peasants (my people) who tried to defend, protect their villages and familes… their blood ran in the ditches and through the stove channels for speaking, for resisting… and others if not mowed down by the nazis, were destroyed by the red army which Churchill and US president unleashed on Eu through Joe Stalin… and some of the most elite throughout eu in the duration of nazi control, bowed, pretended, enjoyed proceeding as usual… you know the rest.
Because of my firsthand witness of the aftermath of the war, and at disaster sites in several parts of the world, I've been far more interested in those who speak for, with, about, in order to raise… than those who turn away, or else attempt to oppress or obstruct others from helping. That last is a psychology all of its own. Than Shwe comes to mind.
Nazis:
Is it true that the German people's resistance was strong? I am not a scholar of such, but I saw once, some films put out by our Government just after the war that attempted to show how many Germans turned a blind eye when questioned if they knew of the camps and their doings just outside of town.
Though some may have tried to stand up or escape, still it is difficult to stop it once it starts to move. Woodman wrote about this in her book “addiction to Perfection” attempting albeit briefly to address the attempt to create a “master race.” What she was attempting to address is the hypnotic attraction (addictiveness) of being part of that movement, that she saw, like Thich hnat Hahn, that had she been there at the time, she could see that she might've/could've been swept up in it. I am talking here about when the cultural tools are brought out and ritual, song, art, and theater, and perhaps even storytelling begins to create a false though supportive backdrop for what is happening in the streets. The press too, which I think has been going on in the USA for a while now, in support of the bogus war on terror (here I don't mean to deny terror, both individual or state terror, only to say terror is available to all of us, to one degree or another, and likely, on a bad day, the less conscious we are, we can all imbibe or use it–.
Yes, resist, expose, defrock, protect. The truth is precious and with many carats.
Dear CP, someone earliar, I don't remember who, posited that AVATAR was a mere story or fairytale…..or something like that. I would like to encourage you to accept a friendly challenge to speak of the value of mythology, –story telling in whatever form it takes (scripts/books/poem/childrens books/, etc.).
I have come to believe that as NEWS has blended with entertainment so has entertainment blended with the news. So the search for truth and understanding comes not just from so called “factual news” (News is not fact checked anymore imo), but also truth is hidden in so called “fictional” accounts. What the news programs are not allowed to say, can be said in the form of a story or a script. Some call this backdoor teaching or 3rd ear learning.
thank you spirisol for your suggestions. I've not seen the film avatar, but did take my family to see christmas carol, then afterward read the actual from Dickens, which is so rich in images without being 'given' them via 'cinema.'
Re the 'news,' have spoken to many journo associaitions, press groups and news orgs about the value of story and paucity of story in our times. As you know, those who have the ears to hear…
re Jungians; many of the old timers used to make in their books and speeches, watered down references re Nazis esp when/if they themselves were being confronted strongly by pro-some-other-psychology followers that Jung was a Nazi sympathizer. This was esp true about 20 years ago.
Myself, the Jungians wouldnt be my choice to read for depth on this period of history 1930-1950 if I wanted to truly know and see, but other writers and poets who were first person witnesses …. who have little to defend other than the soul, and who weren't swallowed up in various 'media-made' points of view, defenses of their professions, etc… There's a lot to be said for breadth, depth that comes from truthful memoir …and often enough based in the idea that people are born good and born free, no matter whoever else insists otherwise.
There is one essay that Jung wrote, that I return to time and again, however. It is a short overview of what it takes to 'make' a dictator. I find Jung's imaginings in that short piece as useful about nations as about the everyday minarets in families and golden boys and girls at work.
thank you spirisol for your suggestions. I've not seen the film avatar, but did take my family to see christmas carol, then afterward read the actual from Dickens, which is so rich in images without being 'given' them via 'cinema.'
Re the 'news,' have spoken to many journo associaitions, press groups and news orgs about the value of story and paucity of story in our times. As you know, those who have the ears to hear…
re Jungians; many of the old timers used to make in their books and speeches, watered down references re Nazis esp when/if they themselves were being confronted strongly by pro-some-other-psychology followers that Jung was a Nazi sympathizer. This was esp true about 20 years ago.
Myself, the Jungians wouldnt be my choice to read for depth on this period of history 1930-1950 if I wanted to truly know and see, but other writers and poets who were first person witnesses …. who have little to defend other than the soul, and who weren't swallowed up in various 'media-made' points of view, defenses of their professions, etc… There's a lot to be said for breadth, depth that comes from truthful memoir …and often enough based in the idea that people are born good and born free, no matter whoever else insists otherwise.
There is one essay that Jung wrote, that I return to time and again, however. It is a short overview of what it takes to 'make' a dictator. I find Jung's imaginings in that short piece as useful about nations as about the everyday minarets in families and golden boys and girls at work.