Seeds for Sanctuary

Category: coexist

Pakistan, of All Places

Americans are notoriously amero-centric, myself included, so imagine my delight when I got a letter from a gentleman in Pakistan who had read last week’s Seed, called “Coexist.” His name is Muhammad Tahir Tabassum; he is an Ambassador for Peace and the Founder/Executive Director of INSPAD, the Institute of Peace and Development. It has offices in Belgium and Pakistan.

On Saturday, the worst terrorist attack ever committed in Pakistan happened in Islamabad near the Marriott Hotel. A truck bomb detonated killing forty and injuring many hundreds more. It was a few hundred yards from the Prime Minister’s home where all the leaders of the country were dining just after their new President’s first address to Parliament.

Normally, I would have read this headline with a sigh, said a prayer and let it go, except that my new correspondent is based in Islamabad. My first answer to Muhammad’s email was about his safety! One man, one spirit, one soul dedicated to peace (as am I) in the midst of a terrorist attack put a human face on what had happened halfway around the world from me! One!

And that’s the point. Those numbers in the story: the forty killed and the many hundreds wounded are human beings, individuals, spirits, souls, bodies who will be touched beyond imagination by this terrorist action. Ambassador Tabassum is safe—thank God—he wrote me a quickie response to my original email assuring me he was.

Of note: the Ambassador had spent the day at a meeting for the International Day of Peace—today, Sunday, September 21, 2008. He sent me an article about the ceremony during which they signed an agreement with the Coordinator of IBHI (Independent Bureau for Humanitarian Issues) to establish an International Commission on Kashmir Issue.

Perhaps my peace ambassador, because he spent his day working toward peace, was spared this time. His email to me closed, “Thanks again I am safe, but the country is in danger really.”

No one deserves to live under this sort of threat! No one. We’re all individuals, doing the best we can with what we have at any given moment. Please, please, won’t you pray for peace with me? For Ambassador Tabassum, his country and yourself and me and our world?

INSPAD, Islamabad, Marriott Hotel, Muhammad Tahir Tabassum, Pakistan, coexist, human face, spiritual, truck bomb | admin | September 22, 2008 7:41 am | Comments (1)

Coexist

Seeds X, 38

Seed: Coexist

I drove past a car with a bumpersticker bearing an image similar to the one above for almost a year before I figured out what it said. And, of course, when I went looking on Google images for the exact bumpersticker that had confused me, I could only find images that were as clear as the one above!

Anyway, I can’t find whoever designed this but it’s allegedly a lesson on Coexistence for all beings. Track the symbols with me. First, the Muslim crescent; then, the peace symbol; the astrological symbols for male and female (and I’d add, all the genders along the spectrum); the Star of David; the Baha’i Star; the Taoist Yin/Yang; the Christian cross. From what I’ve read, the creator of this image intended it to be a recommendation to humanity that we are all dependent upon one another and the major religions of the world.

That works for me, but the more important statement in my mind is this: we have no choice, dear one, we all are coexisting whether we like it or not, and we can choose to like it if we want to so choose. Or not, and suffer the consequences. Me, I pick peaceful coexistence.

Be content,

Susan Corso

Dr. Susan Corso

Seeds are remarkable gifts. Sown in consciousness, they bring you to the most important part of your being—your Divine Spark.

When you have friends you would like added to the Seeds e-mail list, send their addresses to me at SeedsDrCorso@comcast.net and please visit my blogs Ode Magazine, and The Huffington Post.

Baha'i Star, Seeds, Star of David, Yin Yang, coexist, crescent, cross, female, male, spiritual | admin | September 19, 2008 7:47 am | Comments (1)