Being fair in a greedy world

What does being fair mean to you? To me it means that whatever I do I try to treat others and the world around me in a fair way, that is I honour everything and respect it. This means that I buy food and clothes that are fair traded whenever possible. This is getting easier to do as more people become aware of fair trading. I like to know that what I buy has been collected or made in a good way and that those collecting or making are paid a fair wage for their work and that the conditions that they work in are also fair and there is respect for what they do.

Someone asked on a forum a while back if spirituality made me more politically aware or was it politics that made me more spiritual. For me, the two are very much intertwined. If we want people to have a decent way of living with food, clothes and a roof over their heads then we have to help them to acquire those things. Being greedy and wanting cheap clothes and more money to spend or waste on things we don’t need, does not go with a spiritual path.

We have seen the result of greed this week when safety regulations were ignored and many lost their lives working in slave like conditions. Is this what we want to see in our world?  You can help to change these kind of things by voting with your feet. Do not buy goods that are not fair traded. I have some trousers bought at least 10 years ago that were made by a fair trade system in India where the women work in light airy conditions and in small groups. These trousers cost me more money that cheap jeans from you-know-who but they are still in good condition and have worn well even after repeated washings and should last me for a few more years. To me it was money well spent and someone else got a fair wage for making them. We live in a throw-away world where items only last for a couple of years before they wear out or break down. What happened to the little shop where repairs were done? And what happens to the items we throw away? How can you help? How can we make factory owners become less greedy and more aware of fairness and good working conditions?

What does this have to do with druidry? Part of my druidry is seeing the interconnection between all things so think on this and how things are connected and that what we do has an impact on others and on our planet. Be the change you want to see in the world and act now!

Staying hopeful in a challenging world

I hear so many people say that they have no hope left, that there is no light at the end of the tunnel. But we need to have hope and see that there are positive things in our lives and that our lives can get better. This is hard for many especially after the kind of week that we have had. Many explosions occurred in several countries and two large earthquakes in others.

But if you look and listen carefully you can also see that there is hope and that better things are happening. Much of the ‘bad’stuff is a way of cleansing, clearing out and getting ready for the new. Look at how nature works. In the autumn she gets rid of things she no longer needs like leaves, and plants die down ready to sleep during the winter. But when spring comes, they appear again and sprout new leaves and bring flowers too. Look for the positive things that are going on, in nature, around you, in your country and in the world. There are many bright and hopeful new beginnings occurring everywhere but you need to look.

One day last week I noticed that my peony had suddenly grown about 8 inches almost overnight and when looking around the spare piece of ground at the back of my garden I found a cluster of beautiful yellow flowers. A sign of hope like the buds on the trees. What are your signs of hope?

Injustice and what it means to you

So what is injustice? According to Wikipedia injustice means gross unfairness. It also refers to the absence or opposite of justice. Most people will have suffered from injustice at some point in their lives. It is something that has gone on for thousands of years and we never seem to learn from past mistakes.

Recently while doing some work on something that had originally been done many years ago, it brought to mind various examples of what I felt was injustice in my life. Looking back I can see how hard it was to deal with and at times it was put at the back of my mind but there were also times when I thought about it and decided to forgive those who had caused the injustice. It is not a good idea to continue resenting unfairness; you have to let it go and forgive, but learn from it and try to make sure that it does not happen again. As spirit beings in a human body we have all the ‘bad’ feelings that are part of human nature but we need to rise above these and learn how to work together for a fairer world, to share, to help others and to discuss our needs openly so that others can offer their help and also do this in return.

However much injustice has hurt you, in order to move on you have to accept and forgive and work to  make this world a better place for all of us. There are some countries in the world that are working on being a fairer place and we should look to them and see how they are doing this. Please let me know your thoughts on injustice and how you deal with it.

I’ll get off my soapbox now and find a photo that gives us hope. Think of the trees, they appear to die and the leaves wither, but in the spring they are renewed.

Respect for others

I nearly called this blog tolerating others but felt that respect was a better word. But how often do we tolerate what others do and are there times when we should not be tolerating these things but doing something about them. On the other hand, druidry teaches respect for others and what they do.

We are all on some kind of path whether we believe in one god or many gods or no god. Maybe some believe in materialism or whatever gives them a strong path in life. So we should respect their path whatever it is. But as I said in the previous paragraph, are there times when we should not respect or tolerate the doings of others? Are there times when we should intervene or say something to someone who can intervene? I am thinking here of people doing things which are cruel to others or to animals or are disrespectful? Do we let these things pass by because we think that those who do these things have to learn themselves that it is wrong or disrespectful?

I would love to hear your thoughts on this? The theme came to my mind because of events here in the UK this week which were very painful for many and cost lives.

But on a more cheerful note, I have a photo to show that Spring really is on its way. My rose bush has new leaves and it definitely feels warmer this morning..