From: Madoc on 8:7703/8
  Re: My New Year's Destitution

Just some random thoughts that might (or might not) be of interest to
our discussions:

Winter is upon us, and this is often considered the season to reflect
on our lives. Christians pause to celebrate the birth of their
Saviour, and Pagans observe the Winter Solstice, and see the Mother
sleep while the Consort roams gloriously free. It snowed in Denver
today, and the sight is truly grand. What a wonder!

Still.

I'm sad as well. Someone cut me off on the highway today, and then
took the time to turn around and flip me off, which made me wonder
again about that eternal question; Is Man Good?

God and Goddess, Lord and Lady, we do seem to be a petty and
quarrelsome people. When we're not busy ripping our planet asunder in
our pathetic search for VCRs, microwave ovens, and "the Quicker
Picker-Upper (tm)," we're killing each other over lines drawn on
maps, or religious beliefs, or just because we don't like each other
very much. In our spare time, we burden our economy with a huge debt
that our children will have to pay, long after we're dead and gone. We
build missiles tipped with death with money that we don't have to
protect us from a threat that does not exist - missiles that cannot
even be destroyed safely.

We search for the eternal, while doing everything in our power to kill
ourselves in the present. We fear everything and everyone, and we
hate what we fear. When an animal fears, it runs. When man fears, he
kills. With all the greatness and majesty of the universe spread
before us like a rich banquet, we turn inward. With all our scientific
ability to bring forth the land's rich harvest, our grain silos are
filled with rotting grain, we pay farmers NOT to grow crops, and
people die of starvation every single minute of every single day.

The human story is one of conquest and enslavement, despoilment and
despotism, hatred and lies.

And yet.

I saw a couple kissing. I looked up the photograph of the Earth taken
by an Apollo crew years ago. We took a drive into the mountains and
looked at the stars for awhile, then had Irish coffee and conversation
with our friends. My program compiled. :-> I saw "Harold and Maude"
again.

The WildMan still shows people how to eat off the land without
spoiling it in New York's Central Park. Daddy Bruce still feeds the
homeless and struggles with the IRS in Denver. A thousand religious
and humanitarian organizations around the world give food, shelter,
money and jobs to the needy. We love our children dearly. Germany is
re-united, citizens in Easten Europe are reclaiming their liberty.
Mother Theresa is still an inspiration to us all.

Some companies are learning that there is a profit to be made in
cleaning up the Earth, that we'll pay more for products that pollute
less. Recycling companies are thriving. Burger King no longer imports
Brazilian beef, so a few trees are spared in the rain forest. Polio
has been conquered, as has Smallpox. There have been breakthroughs in
the fight against AIDS. Jerry Lewis still cries on national TV every
year.

My wife snuggled up to me and told me that she loves me. I love her,
too.

So.

Is Man Good? Yes. No. Maybe. (Choose one or more, or none, or add your
own). Perhaps the question is wrong. Perhaps Man is just Man. From the
glory of the Sistine Chapel to the horror of Auschwitz, all our own
doing. Hexagram 23 - Breaking Apart - No Blame.

Finally.

This is my pedantic and long-winded way of saying that in the coming
year, I'll be trying to learn a little more, to shoot off my mouth a
little less. I want to try to see more of the good in people, to
forgive the bad. I hope we can all take some time to examine ourselves
and see if perhaps we can all benefit from trying, just trying, to
understand each other and ourselves.

I wish my Christian friends a Merry Christmas, my Jewish friends a
Happy Hannukah. To my Pagan friends, I wish us a true Pax Paganus in
the year ahead. Let's all look ahead and not back, concentrate on our
successes rather than our failures. We CAN live with, understand, and
love one another without giving up our identities, religions or morals.

Love to all,

Madoc