I defined Hell this morning in two ways when meditating in the living room with Zinnia. One was an image of Donald Trump showing off his new and shockingly ugly $400 golden sneakers. Perhaps he will wear them to the golf course.
He is no Michael Jordan to me, but he sold 1,000 immediately. The economy may be better than we thought.
Last week, I thought Hell might be two cranky and confused older men as the only two presidential choices we have been given. Hell is just around the corner, if not already here. I’m starting to miss Richard Nixon.
I can’t get those ugly sneakers out of my head.
Towards the end of my meditation, I had another more serious and thoughtful idea. Hell is the absence of love and compassion Hell is Congress.
I needed more thought than that. I came up with a straightforward definition of hell. A place where there is no understanding, empathy, or compassion.
That defines a good many congressmen and women these days; we are all, written on religious pundit, acquainted with Hell’s head. Hell is Gaza to me.
The world’s strong men and women share one thing: they are bereft of compassion. Populism was once about helping poor people.
In our time, it’s about protecting white men and wealthy people from law, taxes, and regulation.
If there is compassion, wrote one theologian I like to read, then hell ceases to be something else. We go after it in small ways, one at a time.
The famed Buddhist Monk Thich Nhat Hanh wrote that we can generate this compassion ourselves. We don’t need political parties or funding from billionaires.
“If you can bring a little compassion to the world,” Hanh writes, “a little bit of understanding, it ceases to be Hell.” That’s how our Army Of Good started. It works.
My theory is much like Hanh’s. If we can all find ways to be generous, civil, and compassionate, then Hell will weaken and wobble. A growing spiritual practice – the start of our year of spirituality – consists of generating compassion, understanding, and goodness and bringing them to the gates of Hell.
The prophets all said that Hell is here, everywhere, all around us. “Hell is in us like a seed,” writes Hanh.
I understand this idea because I need to cultivate the positive within me so others and I will grow the energy of understanding and compassion.
Like fate and greed, we can chip away at the hatred and cynicism that might transform Hell, one step at a time. We don’t need armies or lawyers or billions of dollars.
I’m not sure what God is or if there is a Hell. When I look at the news, I see a Hell, and we are already in it. Time to get to work. More love.
More compassion. More forgiveness, more and more empathy. We can even persuade TikTok to get the idea.
Loved this. Congress is hell because Trump is controlling it. I had a minute of hope for its future when George Santos was ousted. On to the shoes: How “TACKY” is it that a disgraced ex-president is selling shoes to pay his legal bills. I’ve thought about and made comments about Nixon too. He had the grace to resign.
Everything Trump is associated with is hell..For his shoes ….well remember his grand casinos ? All torn down as well as screwing so many companies that worked on them . By sewing them in not paying them after the work was done “stating the work was no up to his standards! ” Of course workers/companies do not have the money to be tied up in court for years. He is a “Hell” of a con artist. Look how he is having his base pay for his legal fees. As you can tell I am no fan of a person who is only thinks of himself. I’m afraid all we can ask for is some medical condition to silence him
and the “Hellish” political climate he breathes .
Teri
Hate is fear with a rock in its hand.
I think Terri said it best. Trump is a con artist. Unfortunately, he appears to be very good at this.