A person who believes, as she did, that things fit: that there is a whole of which one is a part, and that in being a part one is whole: such a person has no desire whatever, at any time, to play God. Only those who have denied their being yearn to play at it...
The huge metallic arm came up again. "We are attempting to make peaceful arrival,” the elbow said all on one note. “Please inform others that this is peaceful arrival. We do not have any weapons. Great self-destruction follows from unfounded fear. Please cease destruction of self and others. We do not have any weapons. We are nonaggressive unfighting species.”
Ursula K. Le Guin, Lathe of Heaven
4 comments:
'Great self destruction follows from unfounded fear': I am struck that I can apply these lines both to myself but also on a global scale. Re-reading this, the sense that we are a part of the whole, and the different relations that follow from this is something I take very much to heart as well.
My first thought reading this was how similar it sounded to China's official reactions following Obama's reception of the Dalai Lama-actually, just about any statement China has made when it comes to human rights issues. Our friends there (who believe the words) don't understand "why America hates China" and why the "whole world is against us." They are words with lots of potential--and lots of potentials. If I take it/say it as a person, there can be something like restoration. If it proceeds from the mouth of machines/institutions, there seems to be more room for skepticism.
David,
I love your quote, "Uncertainty precedes discernment" in your "Sacredness..." book (p. 157). In the notes you credit it to Fred Clark. And even though Google is my friend, I have not been able to track down a source for the original. Any chance you can point me in the right direction?
jon.
Hi Jon,
Weirdly, I don't have a copy of the book on hand (I sit in a cozy room in Bethany, OK), but this here is the amazing Fred Clark:
http://slacktivist.typepad.com/
good to hear from thee,
jdd
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