(First published 2000 at The Bear Bitch Project)
In the world in which I live today, I see that possibly 88 people have lost thier lives as the passenger plane they were flying in crashed headlong into the ocean off the coast of California. Such death, such a tragic loss to the families of the victims, is unimaginable.
In the world in which I live today, I grieve for the victims and their families.
In the world in which I live today, I see that the Governor of my state has suspended all state executions for capitol offenses, calling the system that determines such things in my state: "so fraught with error (that it) has come so close to the ultimate nightmare." Such death, perhaps for some mistakenly carried out without the weight of truth behind it, is unimaginable.
In the world in which I today live, I grieve for the innocent.
In the world in which I live today, I see that a man who admits killing 10 women in my city since 1993, who then moved to New York to escape the scrutiny, recently moved back to my city - seeing himself as a "shark in a fresh pond" there. He was caught by the fine work of the Chicago Police Department, and admitted not only to the ten killings, but also to eleven rapes. Such sick, selfish actions, causing needless death and pain to the people, is unimaginable.
In the world in which I today live, I grieve for the unwary.
In the world in which I live today, I see that China has banned another spiritual meditation sect, along with the Falun Gong, dubbing it a "evil cult". Zhong Gong (an offshoot of a traditional health practice) adherents, now face the same persecution by a government suspicious and paranoid of its own people. These people now face arrest, persecution, and incarceration for their health and spiritual belief. Such needless persecution, and the pain and suffering caused by it, is unimaginable.
In the world in which I today live, I grieve for the faithful.
This weekend, away from home, a girl lay in my arms. She looked up at me and planted small kisses on my neck and chest. Distracted by her touch, I looked down and noted that she was crying. When I asked her why she was crying, she told me she wanted to thank me for the time I had spent online talking to her, guiding her, chastising her, teaching her, showing her that even in this society, a man can be a Gorean man and that a woman can come to fulfill her place in his life. She thanked me, for providing the impetus that she used to change her entire life.
In the world in which I live today, I grieve for the victims, the innocent, the unwary, the faithful. There is so much needless hate, fear, pain, suffering and loss. We as a species have comitted nearly as many crimes against the nature we so profess to love as we have spent time trying to protect and improve upon it.
In the world in which I live today, I grieve for us all.
And somewhere out there today, there is a small girl working at a desk, whose hair is constantly in her face, who possesses a smile that lights up the room when she smiles, whose words I will carry with me in my heart until the day that I die.
In the world in which I live today, differences can be made. One person at a time.
I wish you well.
Bear-
