Being imprisoned because of her words and her popular leadership, Aung San Suu Kyi has not depended on the powers of this world (see Luke 4:4-6 and John 18:36). Instead she has proclaimed, “Without a revolution of the spirit, the forces which produced the iniquities of the old order would continue to be operative, posing a constant threat to the process of reform and regeneration. … A people who would build a nation in which strong, democratic institutions are firmly established as a guarantee against state-induced power must first learn to liberate their own minds from apathy and fear.”

Enduring imprisonment she has lived out her universal call to overcome “fear of imprisonment, fear of torture, fear of death, fear of losing friends, family, property or means of livelihood, fear of poverty, fear of isolation, fear of failure.” Instead of fearing, she has relied on “the wellspring of courage and endurance in the face of unbridled power … [and] a firm belief in the sanctity of ethical principles … [and] a historical sense that despite all setbacks the condition of man is set on an ultimate course for both spiritual and material advancement.” She believes in a “vision of a world fit for rational, civilized humanity” and in “concepts such as truth, justice and compassion” which empower her “to dare and to suffer to build societies free from want and fear.”

A BBC article, also found under Empower News (see tab above), provides more information on today’s release of Aung San Suu Kyi.

God bless Aung San Suu Kyi and God bless us all!

The night before last, I had a dream of a man who was in a barracks building in which he lived. Without warning some uniformed men entered the building and arrested him. They took him to another building and accused him of disturbing the social order because he had asked this question: “If our work with underground oil can suddenly cause such a catastrophe, what can result from our work with bombs?” The interrogators viewed the man as a danger to society and intended to keep him in custody for a long time.

Today, with a much greater appreciation for the scriptures, the Catholic Christian tradition identifies Bible readings for each day. After the dream, I read the Gospel reading of that day. It is very relevant to the Aung San Suu Kyi’s call toward liberation from apathy and fear:

“’As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be in the days of the Son of Man; they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage up to the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. Similarly, as it was in the days of Lot: they were eating, drinking, buying, selling, planting, building; on the day when Lot left Sodom, fire and brimstone rained from the sky to destroy them all. So it will be on the day the Son of Man is revealed. On that day, a person who is on the housetop and whose belongings are in the house must not go down to get them, and likewise a person in the field must not return to what was left behind. Remember the wife of Lot. Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses it will save it. I tell you, on that night there will be two people in one bed; one will be taken, the other left. And there will be two women grinding meal together; one will be taken, the other left.’ They said to him in reply, ‘Where, Lord?’ He said to them, ‘Where the body is, there also the vultures will gather.’” – Luke 17:26-37.

In an earlier post, Make Your Noise, I also quoted Aung San Suu Kyi.

Dr. Riki Ott. and Dr. J. Steven Picou exchanging notes before their presentation, photographed July 6, 2010 by Dawn McKinney

Part of the concerned audience behind me, photographed July 6, 2010

For me and surely most present it was much more than information overload. The emotional content was even more powerful. Even with the very academic approach, the tears from the audience began to flow especially from mothers worried about their children and the future.

Dr. Riki Ott and Dr. J. Steven Picou spoke of how we can change our future too. Move beyond the “warning,” “threat,” “impact,” “blame” cycle to the “mutual assistance,” “charitable action,” “commercial cooperation,” “entrepreneur leadership” cycle to leverage our own immense “experience” and “resources.” Use “collective common sense,” give “hugs not shrugs,” “maintain families,” “rise up,” “be leaders,” “choose … to live … and get control of the tiller,” “your power is from the community … the people … from the bottom up,” “speak as a community,” “have your cry, get through it, and make a plan.”

The following morning I sat up in bed and cried too. Sorrowfully I thought of our natural surroundings and our communities. I saw how we get distracted so easily and make ourselves nearly powerless by dividing ourselves with all kinds of respectable labels: liberal and conservative, rich and poor, this religion versus that religion or denomination, republican and democrat, … Sorrowfully I looked at our bubbles and walls, the illusions of success, comfort, … It’s quite strange how we seemed to need the Deepwater Horizons wake-up call to see the human and natural disasters around us and involving us.

So what’s the plan, the prayer, the dream, …? Listen to the calls within you to hold suffering people, to hold families together, to hold birds and fish too, … Despite all the bad news, together we have an incredibly positive future ahead of us, a future far better than our past. Let me share this prayer with you. I look at each line as springboard for conversing with God, our All in All, and as springboard for my actions and hopes for the day. Let the wind blow where it will.

You-Are-Who-Are, Infinite Lover of All, Eternal Creating Spirit!
Kumbaya to us, Your beloved children.
Live fully in each of us and be our All in All in each moment.