A Plus by Peter Graf
It is hard to believe that I started the Diary of Worm postings six years ago in January, 2006. I will need to slow down some time this year to read over some of these postings. But in the meanwhile I will need to renew some of my New Year resolutions of the past. Some are personal, like eating healthy and less and exercising more to lose weight; and some are public like to stop the teaching of war and killing without conscience at Marquette University, the local Catholic Jesuit University. There are always the old standards like more disciple, reading and meditation.
The key to any change in life, I believe, is conscious awareness. When we are really awake and conscious of our actions we are truly ourselves and can make changes in our behavior. Part of the reason for this observation diary of the worm is to make myself more aware of the life around me, to see deeply into even small everyday life. Change follows awareness.
After the liturgy this morning someone made an announcement that was really a statement of how prison camps for Japanese and some Germans were created for World War II, how labor unions were formed with hard fought struggles and now how the President Obama signed yesterday the National Defense Authorization Bill which among many violent things allows US citizens to be held without due process by the government. Hopefully this person provoked some new awareness of the dangerous times we live in when the government is not serving the common good as much as centralizing its power over individuals. The question is when will people be awake enough to hear this message.
I read an article today from a young Catholic Worker how there are all forms of violence, like words, outside of physical violence. This is so true but she forgot to mention one of the most harmful forms of violence these days, keeping silent and ignoring the inconvenient messages. If we see and hear the truths of everyday life we would need to act and speak out. Breaking the Silence would not be a choice.
So awareness and action is where it is at to make change and be the difference.
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