By Oran Emile Parter
In writing this article I am doing my best to be completely aware of the fact that it has been over a month since the Sulphur, Louisiana Chapter of the Crane Foundation had what I would call a "physical gathering." For a short period during that month I found myself being disturbed by this. I had to completely step away from the dream of the Crane Foundation and look at it with new eyes, seeing the reality of it instead.The Crane Foundation is not simply another organization coming together at monthly meetings to discuss the problems of the world, but rather a group of real people living real lives, facing the average, everyday problems that we must all deal with and doing their best to find positive, workable solutions to those said problems. This may not be as easy at it seems, but it is not impossible.
I find the Crane Foundation to be more of a way of life rather than just another organization. The ideas and principles of the Crane Foundation were created in such a way as to be easily applicable to all of humankind in a wide variety of situations. Do not mistake these ideas and principles are not laws to follow. They are meant only to be used as simple guidelines, a basic structure on which to build a better quality of life. I find them to fit and work in my own life rather well. Although to most I may present the Crane Foundation as an "organization", I do feel that I represent (as much as it is possible for anyone of us) the way of life and way of thinking that it is persevering to bring forth and I am certain that many of you can say the same.
Agents of Change
It is obvious that many of us have the ability to dream of and envision a better world. I often find myself drifting off into other states Of consciousness where I am able to see many alternate versions of our world; past, present, and future, but it is only the now that is reality.
The society that we live in likes to "guide" us into thinking that we live in a land of endless resources that can be easily acquired by monetary means, but we have only to look around us to see that the forces of disorder and chaos rest right outside our doorstep, in our homes, our communities, our cities, and our towns.
On one side we have those who are striving to do what is just and right, but on the other we have those who can see no further than their need to possess everything and in that need taking and destroying the very life and spirit that is essential to sustaining our entire world. Those who have the financial and political power to make the much needed changes obviously do not, therefore the yolk falls upon the average individual to make a difference.
One person can provide a spark, but the flame which they kindle into being cannot carry on without the help of others. There are simply to many problems for a single individual to take on alone. The burden would be to great to carry, fragmenting the individuals attention, time, and resources, but with each of us taking just one extra step, supporting one another with empathy, words, and works then the burden becomes light, more bearable. It is then that we can truly move forward together as a society of people. It is then that we will see results. It is then that each of us will become agents of change.
We each have our own visions of the future, some positive, some negative, some beautiful, and some bleak, but rather than feed into these I would instead urge everyone to simply have hope. Have hope, have faith in each other, and do not let fear get the best of you, for fear is our most powerful, if not only opponent in the never ending struggle that life has appeared to become.
The words that I use are many, but in the end the words of an ancient text might serve us best. They are the words of Lao Tzu, the author of the Tao Te Ching and they are as follows: " Think of the small as large and the few as many. Confront the difficult while it is still easy; accomplish the great task by a series of small acts. " These words were obviously true in ancient times and still ring true today. They are in fact an integral part of the Crane Foundations philosophy towards life. It doesn't take much to make changes. Sometimes all it takes is a simple combination of a little time, a little compassion, an open mind, an open ear, an open heart, and a cup of coffee over which to share these most wonderful and pleasant gifts. You can make all of the difference in the world by taking the first step and taking that first, most crucial, most neccesary step is what the, Crane Foundation is all about.
What Can We Do?
I cannot recall exactly how many times I am asked the question, "what can I do to help?" This is a very broad question, a question that I find that I am unable to give just one answer. As I stated earlier, the turmoil that looms around us comes from a great many directions. There is not just one problem, therefore there cannot be just one solution .
In pondering this question further I realized that to really give someone a workable answer to this question I would have to know them on an intimate level, know them as I would know myself, know them and all of the circumstances which affect their life.
Realizing this, I then found a place to start, a place where I could begin to not give the individual an answer, but instead help them to step back and take a look at their own life, letting the answers formulate within their own mind, then allowing the solutions to come naturally, creating themselves. With this realization I was able to see exactly what that most crucial and most neccessary step actually is. We must begin to break down the many things that keep us separate from one another, we must look at each person as a being with as much purpose for being here as ourselves, we must strive to bring our communication with each other to a much deeper, truer level, and above and beyond all of these we must simply make the extra effort to get to know each other. Once we do this, the things that we think about doing or would like to see done can enter into the realm of conversation, and it is through this type of conversation that our ideas can be shared with many minds, eventually growing into individual and group action.
If I had to make just one suggestion it would have to be this; step back from everything that you have been told about yourself and about the nature of life, and examine everything with fresh, new eyes. These eyes can see the changes that must be made within us, and they can also see the solutions. If we do this eventually our children's children may walk in beauty, live in harmony, and rest in an everlasting rhythm of peace.
Email: wookie74@aol.com
