SPIRIT IN MATTERS: Taking a Higher View of Life on Earth
By Dianne Eppler Adams

Vol. 1, No 2 - June 26, 2003

GUIDING PRINCIPLES
...Ours is an interconnected, interdependent, sacred world.
...All relationships--personal, communal, national, global--are equal and best approached with fairness, respect, honesty, and compassion.
...Darkness is overcome, not by avoidance, but through shining the light of awareness on it and choosing otherwise.


FROM THIS VANTAGE POINT...

    Where does cynicism come from? Does it have a benefit?

Recently I found myself in a conversation with a friend who spoke very cynically about any possibility to change certain government policies he didn't like. I said, "Do you realize how cynical you are being?"

I am not sure he did. Whether or not my feedback was helpful to him, it started me thinking about cynicism. Where does it come from? Does it have any purpose or benefit?

The dictionary defines cynic is "a person who believes all people are motivated by selfishness" and cynical, the adjective, describes being "scornful of the motives, virtue or integrity of others; expressing or exhibiting scorn and bitter mockery."

If I hold that ALL people are motivated by selfishness, doesn't it mean I too am focused on my own self-interest and am without virtue or integrity?

Now, I am not into total selflessness, but believe instead that we must first and foremost pay attention to our needs. It is when I am feeling cared for and abundant that I am better able to care for others. Another example of interdependence!

Self-interest or selfishness is a lonely project. It pits you against those who may, at every turn, be seeking to take from you or do you in.

Cynicism, I think, arises when "my way" is viewed as unattainable. In reality, as we interact with the world, some of our needs will be met and others will not. Being cynical may serve to rescue us from acting to change things, while thinking what we desire is unachievable.

The thought may be -- if all people are selfish, I'll never get my needs meet -- that is I won't get everything I desire in just the way I designed it.

Let me be clearer about my view...

Cynicism allows you to avoid acting to make changes that would meet at least some of your needs. It disempowers and ensures status quo...the very thing that created the cynicism in the first place is now guaranteed to continue.

When I find myself sounding or even thinking cynically, what might shift if I just envisioned one step I could take to move toward the way I would like things to be, without expecting things to turn out just as I want them to?

What might be possible...moving one step at a time?

Cynicism come from selfishly wanting only our way. No, it is not beneficial, unless what you want is more of the status quo.

(Your comments are welcome to SpiritInMatters@aol.com.)
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"Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it!" Goethe

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FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION...

Why Two Women Went to War, by Naomi Klein
Wednesday May 21, 2003 by the Globe and Mail/Canada
http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20030521.uklein0521/BNStory/International/?query=Naomi+Klein

Jessica Lynch and Rachel Corrie could have passed for sisters. Two all-American blondes, two destinies forever changed in a Middle East war zone. Private Jessica Lynch, the soldier, was born in Palestine, W.Va. Rachel Corrie, the activist, died in Israeli-occupied Palestine.


Locked Up in the Land of the Free
by Scott Shane
Sunday 01 June 2003
http://www.truthout.org/docs_03/060203H.shtml

With a record-setting 2 million people locked up in American jails and prisons, the United States has overtaken Russia and has a higher percentage of its citizens behind bars than any other country.

...On a per capita basis, according to the best available figures, the United States has three times more prisoners than Iran, four times more than Poland, five times more than Tanzania and seven times more than Germany. Maryland has more citizens in prison and jail (an estimated 35,200) than all of Canada (31,600), though Canada's population is six times greater.


Inspiration Point: Coping With Disappointment by Eric Butterworth
http://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/Pages/inspirational.html

...Each of us has the God potential within to rise above any and all disappointments. In life you will have many trying times but there is a tremendous capacity within us to rise above any situation, any challenge and any limitation. Always we must know that if I'm discouraged or disappointed it's not because of what happened; it is a result of my own consciousness, my own negative awareness. You can decide that you're going to meet all things from the highest possible perspective. Your job is not to "set" things right but to "see" them right.


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"Fear not the path of truth for the lack of people walking on it." Robert F. Kennedy

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©2003 Spirit in Matters: Taking a Higher View of Life on Earth. All rights reserved.
Permission is granted for reproduction or redistribution of the complete e-newsletter issue only, provided this statement is included.

Comments are welcome at SpiritInMatters@aol.com.