
1 MAR	Today the World Weeps MICHAEL W. JACKSON March 1, 2022 Today, February 24, 2022 the Russian invasion of Ukraine is well underway creating suffering and destruction in a country that was for the most part at peace. Most of the world’s population is not touched by this tragedy as these events are taking place in another part of the world. Today we live in a different world where the Internet and economic ties has linked us so that very few parts of the world are totally isolated. This being true, all of us will feel Ukraine’s suffering either directly or indirectly. As the people of Ukraine suffer, the rest of us will go about our lives and conduct our daily routines as we normally do. However, let us take a little time to reflect that what is happening in Ukraine could happen to anyone of us. Now, you may feel secure where you are because you do not live anywhere near Russia. When you are in control of your life, you can have a sense of security. Yet there is one thing no human being has control over and that is their birth. I had a friend once tell me, “I do not live in America and you do not know what it is like to live in my country.” Sadly this is true because economic opportunities are not equitable across the world and where you are born can have an impact on your quality of life. The process of birth is the same for all of humanity. Babies do not have a choice in the matter. The person that is inside my human body could have been born in Ukraine, could have been born hungry or born with a congenital disease. The evolution of our lives makes us different and takes us in different directions. Nevertheless, most all of us are born the same way, naked and crying as the lungs take in their first breaths of oxygen in a new world. The best of us and worst of us come into the world the same way. Mother Theresa and Adolf Hitler both started out as babies. Yes we have a similar starting point but as we move on in our lives, how do we remember that despite our differences in ideology, economic status or location on this great planet, we are all the same? I believe love is the answer. It is said that music is a universal language. Yet love is a power that is much deeper and experienced by all of humanity the same way. There may be cultural or religious differences in how love is expressed but the feeling inside when two human beings love each other is universal. It is a feeling that not even words give justice to. When one person truly loves another person, the superficial stuff that is often given relevance ceases to matter. Have you ever loved someone or had a best friend from another country? It did not matter their sex, race, ethnicity, religion or political affiliation. We pay so much attention to the external labels, it seems like the human race is forgetting how to love. Yes, we can love those who are close to us or similar to us, yet we tend to put up barriers to those outside our social circle or who are not like us. So as tears fall in Ukraine, let us not get too caught up in our immediate circumstances that we forget our brothers and sisters in Ukraine. Their tears are also our tears for humanity is one family with the same source. Like love, we all know what it is like to feel hurt. Yet LOVE the most powerful force in world, stronger than Vladimir Putin and the Russian army, heals what hurts and replenishes what is not whole. Love is the glue that binds us all together. In whatever way or capacity in which you channel love, let us all as the global community shower the people of Ukraine with LOVE. In your own life, allow love to expand your vision. As we expand our vision, we must push our love energy so that it continually grows to encompass a wider field of influence. It can grow beyond our immediate social groups and embrace others who are unfamiliar, excluded or subjugated. On a global scale this can seem to daunting a task but remember all of humanity is the same family. LOVE makes all the members feel included. Dedicated to the people of Ukraine Michael W. Jackson Back

1
MAR

Today the World Weeps

MICHAEL W. JACKSON

March 1, 2022

Today, February 24, 2022 the Russian invasion of Ukraine is well underway creating suffering and destruction in a country that was for the most part at peace. Most of the world’s population is not touched by this tragedy as these events are taking place in another part of the world. Today we live in a different world where the Internet and economic ties has linked us so that very few parts of the world are totally isolated. This being true, all of us will feel Ukraine’s suffering either directly or indirectly. As the people of Ukraine suffer, the rest of us will go about our lives and conduct our daily routines as we normally do. However, let us take a little time to reflect that what is happening in Ukraine could happen to anyone of us. Now, you may feel secure where you are because you do not live anywhere near Russia. When you are in control of your life, you can have a sense of security. Yet there is one thing no human being has control over and that is their birth. I had a friend once tell me, “I do not live in America and you do not know what it is like to live in my country.” Sadly this is true because economic opportunities are not equitable across the world and where you are born can have an impact on your quality of life. The process of birth is the same for all of humanity. Babies do not have a choice in the matter. The person that is inside my human body could have been born in Ukraine, could have been born hungry or born with a congenital disease. The evolution of our lives makes us different and takes us in different directions. Nevertheless, most all of us are born the same way, naked and crying as the lungs take in their first breaths of oxygen in a new world.

The best of us and worst of us come into the world the same way. Mother Theresa and Adolf Hitler both started out as babies. Yes we have a similar starting point but as we move on in our lives, how do we remember that despite our differences in ideology, economic status or location on this great planet, we are all the same? I believe love is the answer. It is said that music is a universal language. Yet love is a power that is much deeper and experienced by all of humanity the same way. There may be cultural or religious differences in how love is expressed but the feeling inside when two human beings love each other is universal. It is a feeling that not even words give justice to. When one person truly loves another person, the superficial stuff that is often given relevance ceases to matter. Have you ever loved someone or had a best friend from another country? It did not matter their sex, race, ethnicity, religion or political affiliation. We pay so much attention to the external labels, it seems like the human race is forgetting how to love. Yes, we can love those who are close to us or similar to us, yet we tend to put up barriers to those outside our social circle or who are not like us.

So as tears fall in Ukraine, let us not get too caught up in our immediate circumstances that we forget our brothers and sisters in Ukraine. Their tears are also our tears for humanity is one family with the same source. Like love, we all know what it is like to feel hurt. Yet LOVE the most powerful force in world, stronger than Vladimir Putin and the Russian army, heals what hurts and replenishes what is not whole. Love is the glue that binds us all together. In whatever way or capacity in which you channel love, let us all as the global community shower the people of Ukraine with LOVE. In your own life, allow love to expand your vision. As we expand our vision, we must push our love energy so that it continually grows to encompass a wider field of influence. It can grow beyond our immediate social groups and embrace others who are unfamiliar, excluded or subjugated. On a global scale this can seem to daunting a task but remember all of humanity is the same family. LOVE makes all the members feel included.

Dedicated to the people of Ukraine

Michael W. Jackson

Back

1MAR

Today the World Weeps

MICHAEL W. JACKSON

March 1, 2022

1
MAR