Forum / Bitter is a Flavor too: For Chris Okum

David Ackley
Dec 08, 03:48pm

In the Desert
By Stephen Crane
In the desert
I saw a creature, naked, bestial,
Who, squatting upon the ground,
Held his heart in his hands,
And ate of it.
I said, “Is it good, friend?”
“It is bitter—bitter,” he answered;

“But I like it
“Because it is bitter,
“And because it is my heart.”

Chris Okum
Dec 08, 05:10pm

Sounds about right.

Have you read Paul Auster's bio of Crane? It's great.

David Ackley
Dec 09, 02:45pm

Actually not, I'll check it out.

Darryl Price
Dec 14, 06:26pm

A friend asked me, Are we doomed? Yes, I said, so it would seem, but not only and not entirely. Evil cannot be completely eradicated, but it can be checked by balances. Good intent is not good enough. It needs to be backed by will power that works for justice, not blind, but kind. No hate, but compassion, even under the most pressing of situations and circumstances. Love does not leave us because we are about to die for what we believe. Keep that in mind. Because that is the central point. What is (the so-called good) life is way beyond ending because of a madman's bullet or another stupid bully's low self-esteem. Love is, no matter what. In Star Wars they referred to it as The Force, but it has many names. It's not a moral, organized truth, but instead The Absolute Truth, for everyone and everything, all the time. That's what evil doesn't understand and doesn't want to hear. They think that special kind of love is only for a select few--and guess who their selection committee is made up of? That is them being cruel and unkind to all other beings on self-righteous purpose. But again, it doesn't make The Real Love any less true. The Light that Lights the world is on.

They(the haters) can't get rid of it in themselves no matter how hard they try, and that's why they are always acting so frustrated and angry. They think The Love can be conned, if they can only work out the game. Only tilt the board in their favor. Only own the whole world and all the people in it. But, of course, that is ridiculous folly to the nth degree, ego so out of control that it flails its arms around like a baby, crying for help or milk or mommy. Sometimes all in the same whiney breath. But make no mistake, the enemy is highly dangerous. The enemy is poisonous. The enemy is heartless.

All of the world's children, animals and plants are depending on us to be the better adults in the room. What we are up against now is more than just the dark vs. the light. It is their cruelty vs. our healing hands. Blunt Knowledge vs. timeless wisdom. Sadistic Coercion vs. sacrifice and soul gardening. Caring and learning vs. suffering and pain. Creativity vs. thought imprisonment. Humor and fun vs. the humorless and greedy. So, are we doomed or not? Not. Because we know how to sing the songs of Freedom! Don't take that literally--although it is exactly about that, too. And by that I mean we know how to recognize and celebrate all the Good Vibrations, no matter where they come from, the kind that immediately feels really good everywhere on your body, that you recognize as your own deepest feeling, the kind that you can't deny without lying to yourself, the kind that makes you remember how to be glad and thankful for every moment, each day that comes, that opens your heart, that welcomes you to the universe. The Good Stuff. No guilt. No sin.

We have a chance, we always have a small chance, to find another way forward. The problem isn't going to go away. We have to, we need to, restore balance wherever and whenever we can, so that one side is not taking false advantage of the other, so that one side cannot enslave the other, so that all sides have Voice and are seen and heard, respected and given space to be, to explore who and what they are to themselves in time, without remorse or insane punishment hanging over their heads. Some call The Force, God, the Source, The Great Spirit or just simply, Love. That has nothing to do with religion. But it has everything to do with you and me, as we are living here. You'd better get busy then.

Chris Okum
Dec 16, 05:07pm

It's strange how a culture so steeped in narrative, so invested in being meta and explicating the rules and tropes of the stories we consume, is either unable or unwilling to take the current narrative to its logical conclusion, especially when the conclusion is so obvious as to be beyond trite. Of course the world won't end; but apocalyptic historical events are just that, i.e., not the completion of the story, but the sudden, violent, shocking end of a particular chapter. Our present tense global totalitarian moment will lead to the death of not tens of millions of human beings, or hundreds of millions, but billions. Between one and two billion people will be erased from our planet over the next few decades because of the criminals who are taking control of the machine. Because that's what criminals do: they kill people. So the situation we are in cannot be ameliorated by faith or hope or positive thinking. We now occupy the terrain of pure random luck. You will either be swallowed by historical forces or you won't. So all you can say to anyone is good luck. If that comes across as hyperbole or melodramatic or massively alarmist, then all I can say is, again, you are either not reading the story correctly on purpose, or simply don't know how to read at all.

Darryl Price
Dec 16, 07:39pm

Agreed, but it's not just a simple look out for yourself kind of situation either. We're all here whether we want to be or not. How we fight is how we fight. The totalitarian enemy is violent in intent as they take control. You are correct. But we can't let that warp our own sense of control to such a degree as to become like them. Trees aren't going to become less beautiful to behold because of their love for ugly, senseless murder. It doesn't now and it shouldn't then. I'm as alarmed as you at the swing toward anti-freedom in all nation's political rhetoric, but we can't just give up civil discourse. It's not hyperbole or melodramatic. Again you are correct. There's no sense in pretending we aren't in deep shit. But why give away even more power to them by refusing to imagine within ourselves, our work, our communities something better in our own thoughts and daily actions? We shall see what it takes.
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