2004-02-24 - 1:19 p.m.
this weeks thought of the week. i met a man, yesterday in the survivors clinic that i think is what howard zinn is talking about here. a hero in every sense of the word. gotta go but i am flying high off that exchange. a poet, a guerilla from El Salvador who was so disarmingly human after torture, blindfoldings and guns to the head, burns to the legs and shocks to the back. we talked and talked, in spanish and i think we treated all his medical problems.
A Marvelous Victory, Howard Zinn (02/24/04)
There is a tendency to think that what we see in the present moment we will continue to see. We forget how often in this century we have been astonished by the sudden crumbling of institutions, by extraordinary changes in people's thoughts, by unexpected eruptions of rebellion against tyrannies, by the quick collapse of systems of power that seemed invincible.
To be hopeful in bad times is not just foolishly romantic. It is based on the fact that human history is a history not only of cruelty, but also compassion, sacrifice, courage, kindness.
What we choose to emphasize in this complex history will determine our lives. If we see only the worst, it destroys our capacity to do something. If we remember those times and places -- and there are so many -- where people behaved magnificently, this gives us the energy to act, and at least the possibility of sending this spinning top of a world in a different direction.
And if we do act, in however small a way, we don't have to wait for some grand utopian future. The future is an infinite succession of presents, and to live now as we think human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory.
--Howard Zinn
To better understand ourselves and our surroundings, some of us friends decided to schedule an hour from our daily schedules to meditate. To this day, it continues to give us many insights into the fundamentals of life. Our usual schedule is:
7:35 Meditation
8:35 Discussion on thought above
9:30 Dinner in Silence
Read More
We don't propose any agendas nor do we care for particular results; if you're in the SF-Bayarea and would like to join, please email
