Re: No Real Topic Jehana Sun Jan 31 19:19:06 1999 A gift of comfort, somehow...*p*TopazOwl wrote,*br*: I am sitting here feeling a great sadness right now. I *br*: tried to write a poem about it, but all that would come out *br*: is this one line: "There's a place for us..." And *br*: hey, I think that's a line from another song. :-) So maybe *br*: I'll just write a stream-of-consciousness kind of thing and *br*: get this off my chest.*br*:*br*: I look at my friends here and I know them from another *br*: place, another time. I remember when we discussed and argued *br*: and prayed and hugged each other in the circle around the *br*: fire under the sheltering branches of the trees. I remember *br*: that we didn't always see eye-to-eye, but we did respect the *br*: other's right to have an opinion. We weighed and measured a *br*: man's words against our own teachings and learnings and our *br*: own Truth, and looked for the ultimate Truth therein. *br*: ...*br*: I have stopped trying to argue against those who will *br*: not understand what we have seen, what we have been, what we *br*: are, and what we shall become. Is there a reason to insist *br*: upon what we are when the ears that hear our words are in *br*: the heads of a people who no longer believe in us? *p*You may find that some will not believe, that some will not see. And some of those some are the loudest ones. But "some" is not "all", and if a few can see or glimpse what you can see, take them with you and try as far as it is possible to shut out the naysayers. *br*:*br*: The world has changed. The hearts and minds of the *br*: people are closed against us. We were born into this life *br*: speaking a new language, living in a different culture, *br*: remembering less than half of what we once knew. Can we go *br*: back? Is there reason to, beyond what we can glean for *br*: ourselves on our own path? No. We are not here to go back, *br*: after all, but to go forward, always forward. Those who *br*: don't believe in us are those who never did understand us.*br*:*br*: Within us there is still that overwhelming urge to *br*: teach, and that incessant drive to learn. There is still *br*: that desire to be in service to our people. There is still *br*: the dream of returning the pride of heritage to our people, *br*: the unity of knowing that we once were and are a great *br*: people. But, judging from the attitude of our own...perhaps *br*: our people would rather forget. :(*br*:*br*: It saddens me to know that our people have forgotten. *br*: And sometimes the ones who say they remember best are the *br*: ones who have forgotten the most.*br*:*br*: There is a reason we are all here, now, in this time, *br*: together. I just don't think the reason is to argue with *br*: fools over who can and can't be Draoi. I won't argue it *br*: anymore. I will continue on with my work, and let the *br*: results of that work be the Truth for all to see and wonder *br*: at.*p*Yes, affirmation is in continuing on with your work, not with arguing who is/who isn't in the same place. It interferes with that work you mention. *p*(I tried to find snippables above, & pretty much failed)*p*-- Jehana. *br*"To know what you prefer instead of humbly saying Amen to what the world tells you you ought to prefer, is to have kept your soul alive." -- *br*Robert Louis Stevenson.*p*:*br*: Leigh*br* No Real Topic TopazOwl 348 Sun Jan 31 17:35:07 1999