Acknowledge the evil

The word “live” spelled backwards becomes “evil.” When we turn our backs on life in all its myriad forms, we invite evil into our lives.

In our country money has become our god, the god of prosperity. This god does not celebrate diversity; quite the contrary, it seeks to celebrate only wealth, greed, power, and control. I believe you can see this in the eyes of our president and those who support him. They stare back at us from empty sockets that reflect hate, fear and greed—all indications of that which the Buddhists call the Hungry Ghost realm, the land of cravings that can never be satisfied. The wasteland of life-destroying sameness and the cold, non-affirming lust for object possession, the land of evil.

Here is where we see the marginalization, the discrimination and torture of anyone who is not white and male, anyone who is not heterosexual and healthy, anyone who is not a fundamentalist Christian. Here is where we see the rape and pillage of our beloved planet and the cruelty exacted toward our four-legged brothers and sisters. Here is where we see the poor and vulnerable tossed out like so many pieces of garbage.

We must open ourselves to diversity both within and without. We must recognize our need to achieve success at the expense of all else. We must name this god we have created. We must acknowledge the evil within so that we may recognize it without and resist its attempts to destroy us.

KATHY MARTONE

Eureka Springs