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Archive Number 2482 | ||
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Date: Thu, 16 Jan 2003 17:12:50 -0600
Bobby, Yes, it is a judgment and yes, this brilliant man's life and potential was wasted in so many ways. This is the devastation and the waste that happens in life. Many stories are cautionary tales to help us to make different choices so that we do not waste the gift of life. Am I not to make a judgment about the holocaust, racism, an innocent child being killed, and so many other examples of wasted life and potential and the people who perpetuated thses injustice? We make judgments and we must live with our judgments. It is your judgment that I have made a type of judgment and that I shouldn't. If you do not believe in making judgments than please you cannot make a judgment on my judgment. Is it a condemnation? Of course it is a condemning of lives wasted in the throws of drugs and of injustice, etc. and is not your strong reaction to my making a judgment a type of condemnation of my behavior. Yes, I make these judgments everyday and must because it is part of life. Just as you have in responding to my poem. However, I do not wish harm to any person nor do I judge that the person should be harmed. Who am I to wish pain and suffering on someone. However when there is needless pain and suffering and a life is needlessly wasted we must say something and in saying something we are making a judgment. If we do not make judgments we will not be able to hear the "cry for justice." As I taught a class the other day a lesbian woman who often is judged said, "The reason someone says we shouldn't be judgmental is because they don't really want someone to disagree with them and bring up the possibility that they are wrong." We will most likely just have to disagree on this one. Andre ----- Original Message ----- From: "Bobby Avstreih" To: Sent: Thursday, January 16, 2003 3:38 PM Subject: [HEALINGSTORY] Andre's poem > Andre > I appreciated what you said about the process of your poem-story about John. > I will be blunt, as usual, since I find it hard to be subtle on computer > without the ebbs and flows of voice-music and body-dance, but I beg your > indulgence and hope that you find the concepts stimulating and not > oppressive. I find it ironic that, as the one who set off the firestorm over > Elisa'a suggestion of "That Is Good" for dealing with chronic pain, I now > criticize the opposite extreme of "wasted" life. Maybe Henry Kissinger lived > a "wasted life" in that he had both power and intelligence and still could > not do "good", but as for your friend John??? > I only know that in some social communities, such as the blues musicians, AA > friends and African-American communities with whom I have shared parts of my > life, lives are spoken of as lived, not wasted. "Waste" is a judgement, > almost a condemnation: a demand for more than that person had to give. > Loss, longing, sympathy, anger, sorrow and regret...or maybe, "there but for > the Grace of God go I"... but those communities of long-time suffering and > unfulfilled promise have taught me to be more grateful, humble and outright > sad than to think in terms of "wasted". > Hope this came across to you OK, and without too much judgement from my > "voice". Bobby > > > > > > _________________________________________________________________ > STOP MORE SPAM with the new MSN 8 and get 2 months FREE* > http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail > > > To Unsubscribe from Healingstory send the message: unsubscribe healingstory > > > ------ http://USFamily.Net/info - Unlimited Internet - From $8.99/mo! ------ | ||