We must answer the call of the plight of humanity

Humanity is calling, can you hear her cries?

When you are present in life, you become aware of the opportunities that show up. These opportunities will come and go if you do not apply awareness to the present moment in your life.

As a mindfulness writer and coach, I have not only witnessed this through the observation of my own life but also helped others discover the power of observation for themselves.

You can’t see what you aren’t looking at, just like you don’t know what you don’t know. However, through the mindfulness practice of observation, it will surprise you what comes into view that you missed before.

The once beautiful, lush and joyous country of Palestine has been oppressed for more than 75 years by the very people, whom they welcomed with open arms. Palestine had been a holy land, peacefully living in harmony with jews, muslims and christians for many years before. You, like many in the West, may not have known this until recently, or still may not know the real story of Palestine, because it is currently being politicised and suppressed.

How is this possible? How could you have not known this, you might be thinking?

It’s incredibly simple. You cannot see what you aren’t looking at. In the West, we call this “out of sight, out of mind”.

Not being aware of the plight of the Palestinian people, is also not being aware of a repeating cycle of crimes against humanity. After World War two, we said never again. In the West, you might have thought this had been upheld, yet millions of innocent people of the world in many countries have lost their lives every day to war, whilst in the West, we have blindly sung the songs of peace and democracy, while our fellow members of humanity die in war every day.

For most of my 50 years of life, I have been aware of the plight of humanity, not just in Palestine, but also in many other countries, for what seemed like endless cycles of suffering. I was even aware of terrible suffering too in my own backyard, right here in Australia. Yet most people went about their lives on autopilot all around me, oblivious not only to the suffering in other parts of the world, but also right under their noses.

How did I see, whilst it seemed like most did not? Why was it so obvious to me?

From a young age, witnessing the suffering of others caused me great pain, so much so that it left me feeling helpless, unable to do anything about it. When I brought it up with others like my parents or teachers, they simply said don’t worry yourself about that stuff.

I was confused and like many children even today, I didn’t understand why we picked some people to worry about and others to forget.

This is first-hand social and cultural conditioning, and for some reason, it simply did not stick with me. I cared about everything and everyone and nothing was going to change that within me. Even though I learned how to fit in, on the inside I was always different.

Do you have memories like this as a child? In my unwavering thirst for knowledge, I remained curious about history, and have always been riveted by conversations and listened to the stories of other people, their history, their country of birth, and the plight of their people. I have always found these conversations fascinating and so learned of the plight of humanity everywhere, one person and one conversation at a time.

Fast forward to today, and my curiosity is unwavering. The plight of the Palestinian people is a repeating cycle that has been known to me. My mother always told me to use my intuition, to never believe all I red or saw on the TV. As I became an adult I discovered how dead right she had been. For as long as humans have existed we have caused immense suffering of people.

The real question is, when will we answer the call of the plight of humanity?

When will we stop being distracted by the trappings of Western society?

Will we not see the plight of humanity until it is on our very own doorstep?

In the West, we have access to all the resources, including millions of books written by people from all over the world with first-hand experience, not just history written by the victors of wars, that we are quite literally choked with, as part of the school curriculum that looks more like indoctrination that knowledge building.

There are everyday people, like you and I sharing their truth of the wars, lost loved ones, killed and displaced families, and yet the vast majority remain blind or turn a blind eye, as we like to say in the West.

The genocide and ethnic cleansing being committed in Palestine is happening right now under our noses, and being tested in the international court systems, supported by many countries. Yet the governments of all Western countries are silent, not only that, the West is supporting the oppressor both financially and militarily.

Will we wait to speak only when we are the ones being oppressed, or will we realise that this is an opportunity being presented to us right now, to recognise our collective humanity? That the oppression of any human is the oppression of us all.

Humanity has been calling us from the beginning of time, now she is on her knees in Palestine crying out for us to hear her words.

What we choose today is powerful, not only for the current humanity, but also for the next generations to come. Our children and our grandchildren need us to become aware of the plight of humanity before it’s too late for us all.

I wrote this poem several years ago which sums it up quite succinctly;

Humanity First, she whispers Then she cries If we do not listen She will scream And if we continue to not listen There will be a deathly silence As we all disappear into the ravine Never again to be seen

Humanity is screaming! Will you remain silent and condemn us all, or will you bravely stand up, be present to the suffering of others and step forward to help carry humanity to safety?

We’ve got this, together, all 8 billion of us through the freeing power of love, instead of fear-driven hate.

Love to you all!