My latest painting.

Connected

Over the summer I have been working on a series of paintings. My paintings of late have had certain elements that did not register until now. The elements of connecting lines and spheres and angles have been a constant theme, but until now I took them as a pleasing experiment in abstraction letting the painting direct me to its finish. On our anniversary trip to Fredericksburg, Texas a few weeks ago, my wife and I were taking a leisurely tour of local galleries when it struck me. My art was trying to express something hidden in its lines, shapes and forms. It was about how we are all connected. Our world, each person, each creature, each plant…our Universe is all connected somehow.

Okay, so what does that mean, we are all connected? How are we connected? With so much going on in the World today, with so much strife and conflict, how are we all connected? We seem hell-bent on proving just the opposite, that we are separate from one another. Each of us is an island unto ourselves. And since we are separate beings in our current, prevailing world view of things, we must look out for number one to survive. In a world of chaos and danger, we must look out for our family, our tribe, our state and our own nation. We have developed this perception of “us versus them” with US being ME, the individual or US the group of people who are perceived as the same, with the same beliefs, same look, same gender and so on.

So how do we see ourselves? Are we isolated beings mindlessly struggling to survive in a hostile planet? I’ve got mine…you go scramble for yours! Or are we all connected to the world and the people around us? What I do to you, I ultimately do to myself. Our perception has a lot to do with how we interact with our fellow human beings and the world that surrounds us.

If we see ourselves as isolated beings or groups of beings, I suppose it is easy to see others as lazy, inferior and undeserving of the many blessings we have accumulated through effort and hard work. Why should we share what we have worked so hard for? It would be easy to see people in need, people without our resources as “takers.” Why should we cooperate and lend a helping hand? Why should we participate in finding solutions to other people’s problems? Other people are not our concern, if they are outside our family, our home, our ethnic group, religion,

sexual orientation, social status, our political party or our nationality. I suppose it is easy to see resources as something scarce, something to compete for and possess.  The more we have, the easier our lives and the more power and influence we accumulate. As long as we feel safe, with enough food, clean water and fresh air to breathe, why should we care about war or famine far away or even… if the polar ice caps are melting? What does that have to do with us? I suppose it would be easy to go to war with other nations, other people that don’t look like us, don’t value what we value, believe what we believe or pray to the same god. We don’t have to care; we only have to survive with our beliefs and way of life intact. We are isolated. We are separate from those around us and we act accordingly. Survival of the fittest, the smartest, and the wealthiest would make sense.

It Comes...

But now, if we see ourselves as connected to everything around us, it might be easy to understand the need to care. What we do to others and the world around us…we are doing to ourselves in a larger sense. How we treat other people, how we respect and protect the environment that sustains not only us, but the rest of humanity becomes important. What we do to others, what we do to the air we breathe and the water we drink comes back to us because we are connected to the whole. Problems of humanity now become our problems to solve. Hunger, poverty, inequality become our personal concerns. When we pay forward, when we lend a helping hand, when we find a solution that eases another’s suffering, we are doing it to ourselves because we see that abiding connection to one another. We have that fundamental understanding that in fact, we ARE our brother’s keepers. We seek to find better solutions for education, healthcare, social security and employment rather than merely cutting costs and defunding essential programs that millions depend on. We begin to see and understand the potential in everyone. We reach that higher spiritual truth that when we are blessed in life, it is not ours to hold on to and horde. It is ours to spread around for the greater good. What greater truth, what greater commandment than the words Jesus spoke in the Bible to “Do unto others what you would have them do unto you.”?

My current series of paintings, I realize now, were speaking of a greater truth about our connection to the Whole of everything that is. Whether man should be considered in terms of his good or evil seems almost irrelevant. Perhaps the thought of which holds more Truth…isolation or connection should determine our evolution or destruction.

Food for THOUGHT…

Happy 4th of July!

I just watched the movie Gettysburg for the umpteenth time. I wanted to watch it in honor of the 150^th anniversary of that famous Civil War battle. It was the turning point of the war. As I watched it, I was reminded of all the trials and tribulation our country has faced since it was born. In this one battle lasting 3 days, July 1, 1863 to July 3, 1863, over 50,000 Americans on both sides lay dead, wounded or missing. It remains the costliest war in terms of American lives lost in our history.

I remain puzzled how America ever got to the point of war against itself, brother against brother. How did a people born out of such hardship, oppression and strife, people of common ancestry language and vision come to the point of being able to kill one another? I know the Geo-political things that lead up to this terrible chapter in our history, but how did we as human beings reach that point that we could kill our fellow Americans in these horribly bloody battles?

Today, there are so many parallels in our country to the years leading up to the American Civil War. Instead of Northern abolitionists and Southern slave holders, we have Liberals and Conservatives. Instead of slavery, we have abortion, gay marriage, immigration and a host of other hot button issues to divide us. Every day the politics and hateful rhetoric seem to ratchet up one more notch. Lincoln would feel right at home with today’s Congress and the Right’s disdain for the Obama presidency.

The more I study history, the more I see the same play being staged over and over. Only the actors and the location and the time are different, but it’s the same play. Until man evolves to a point that violence can no longer be the answer…history is doomed to repeat itself.

On this 4^th of July, we need to ask ourselves, how did Americans get to that point where they could kill one another, and then take a step back. As a country, we cannot afford to repeat that dark history. Let’s remember that no mater our disagreements…we are still Americans and we are still the United States of America. We must come together, reason, compromise and get things done with respect for one another. We must find ways to work together as one people, as Americans, before the fabric of this grand experiment in life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness comes unraveled.

Food for THOUGHT…