Pulse!

Pulse!
©Allen Merritt (2016)

We all have a heart and we all have a pulse.

We have thoughts.
We have feelings.
We breath the same air.
We want love and we want to matter.

We want and need to BE.

Evidently, this is something not everyone can accept and it remains a strong battle among humankind one with the other. But in my mind, if you were blessed and lucky enough to be born, grow up and live this life, than you have all the same rights and possibilities for life as any other living being. This blog is about respect, love, kindness and remembering the truth of what matters most. Those who sit in judgement are not any more favored or special than those they judge.

There is a lot to think about lately what with all the senseless actions of a few that impact so many lives. If one thing stands out clear to me, it's that there are many people out there who simply cannot handle the idea of  'live and let live'. In fact, I read on the internet a story about a so-called Pastor in California who made his sermon about how he wished that more people were killed in the Orlando shootings. My immediate thought was focused on how unreligious, unspiritual and un-interconnected this man was...and, he claims to be a man of the cloth, so to speak. Yet, he doesn't have a clue about anything related to the giver of life. Jim Jones did the same thing and led an entire flock to slaughter. Think about the atrocities purported by Hitler and his regime. Politicians are stepping up to the podiums with their guns a blazing! It's all a bit much.

For me, I see a lack of human compassion in such people. They are making life and death judgement calls on other lives. I do not and never will understand how people can lay claim to make decisions on who should live and who should die and in whose name that should be accorded to. These personality types are the ones causing negativity to exist. They are destroyers. So where does one find positivity in the face of such evils?

I found myself thinking on just that question this week after hearing about these incidents where senseless acts of murder took place in Orlando inside of a week. A promising singer was gunned down outside of her concert. Many people were gunned down inside the PULSE night club. A little boy was attacked and killed by an alligator. Each and every one of those lives no matter the circumstances mattered! All lives matter!

I was working a conference in Seattle during these events. As sad as these events were I observed some of the following things that helped alleviate negativity and create a sense of care and love. Outside my hotel a rainbow flag was raised up next to the American flag. They both hung at half mast in commemoration of the Pulse night club murder rampage. Interestingly, the only flag that was waving in the wind was the rainbow one. I took photos of that. Spirit has a way of talking to us and sending messages of love when we least expect it.

Outside my hotel room window I observed another hotel that chose to light up the entire top of their building in rainbow colors at night to remember the fallen in Orlando. Again, it seemed comforting to know that all around the world these kinds of things were superseding the actual crimes committed.

I wandered around up to the Space Needle and found myself in a large crowd celebrating an African-American festival. The park was filled with a diverse group of human beings of every make, color, religion, and sexual orientation. On this night everyone was allowed to be who they were and join in celebration. They were moving and grooving, singing and shouting and having a gay old time (pun intended). I chose to stay and participate and enjoy the festivities and observe how many kinds of people could come together and "be." There was love and peace in the park that night. I felt blessed to experience it. That is positivity in action.

On the plane ride home I observed how everyone on the flight was similar to those people in the park. Everyone got together to travel to a new destination and have a good time and simply live their lives without incident. And, my thought was this: there are a lot more good people in this world than there are bad ones. It's just that the bad seems more prevalent when it happens. But we are human beings. We are strong and capable. We know how to love when it is important to do so. We know how to help each other despite our differences. We continue on living, breathing, celebrating, because we are "human"; because we do have a heart and a pulse. In thinking these things, I see the positivity that we must live each day, because out lives are a gift and we have to live in the present and not be afraid to do so.

Let's remember those people dancing and being happy and celebrating their lives. Let's remember to be loving, humble and kind even though we may not agree on all life issues. Because isn't love more important. I remember the story of one 33 year old man who simply stated...."the greatest of these is love."

Last night I learned how two young men wrote a song which demonstrates the perfect culmination of love, spirit and soul in the aftermath. I will leave you with their YouTube link and ask that you take a moment to think on it's message.

Can't you see that I'm Scarred
I'm just the same as you are so just
Feel my pulse

Can't you see that we're human
Feel my pulse

Feel my PULSE!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrIvIEa2K48

Go out there and find your pulse and connect with all that is positive this week and share it with everyone in your circles.

Cheers!