Mandala #38: We were Talking about the Power of Awareness, Acceptance, Action

In looking for quotes to accompany a meditation on awareness, acceptance and action, I found that Martin Luther King, Jr., spoke most clearly to me:

Awareness:  “I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality… I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word.” 

Acceptance:  “We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.”

Action:  He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it. He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it.”

From Voices for Creative Nonviolence:

"And in Bellingham, WA, our friend Mary Mele is planning to honor the 14 million Yemenis in danger of death by famine with a “Women Fasting for the Children of Yemen” event – for fourteen hours on Nov 14, she will set up 14 chairs in front of her city’s Federal Building – women will be invited to sit in them for an hour, then fast for fourteen hours."

"Women Fasting for the Children of Yemen" / Fasting for the myriad of present troubles / November 14, 2018

Click on the above image if the print is too small.

Images of starvation in Yemen bring to my mind the Great Famine in Ireland, the starvation in the death camps in Nazi Germany, the starvation of the Sioux people restricted to a narrow band of land along the Minnesota River that led to the Sioux Uprising of 1862, the starvation in Ethiopia in 1984 and 1985, and the list goes on and on.

The above flyer was generated locally, before the news in the last 24 hours about a possible ceasefire in Yemen.  Of course, I am noting the timing by the current political administration in the U.S. in turning its attention to Yemen in the last days before the mid-term election, as did this spokeswoman who also noted the timing:

A spokeswoman for the International Rescue Committee, a charity operating in Yemen, said hostilities needed to end as soon as possible so aid could be delivered to those suffering the most.

"From our perspective there's a lot that could have been done before a call for this ceasefire, but [it] is a significant breakthrough in this war and a welcome recognition that the current policy is failing," Kellie Ryan said.

Although I will not be able to sit in one of the 14 chairs, I will be fasting for 14 hours on Wednesday, November 14, 2018, between 7 a.m. and 9 p.m. 

The 14 chairs idea is a visible and visceral way of bringing attention specifically to the children of Yemen and the power of women who can sit together with their intense feelings of anger and grief as they ask themselves, "What kind of response can we make to one of the greatest famines in modern times?"

I have heard that something along these lines has also been organized in New York, also prior to the news about a possible ceasefire.  Has anyone else heard about the event in New York?

As I fast on November 14,  I will be asking myself another question in addition to the one posed on the flyer, "What kind of wholehearted response can we make to the myriad of present troubles that have deep roots and touch us all?"