remembering the past and anticipating the future

it is election day and the week wecelebrate the saints. what could these two things have in common? perhaps it is about remembering the past and anticipating the future.

who knows how the election will turn out. lots of speculation. it has been a season of finger-pointing and "more of the same" style of election adds. and, i fear, as we move forward after the election results, not a lot will change. why? we don't seem to work together.

we also are remembering this week, our saints; those blessed ones in our lives who have died but who live on in our spirits. i believe when all is said and done, those who have come before us yearn even now for goodness and wholeness and the desire for the best. why can't we just get our egos out of the way, and do what is best -- even if we're wrong?! i wonder why we just can't work together. the human spirit of self-centered-ness gets in our way, and the divine spirit of harmony can't always get through the cracks!

couldn't we just learn to read the signs of our past? and perhaps listen, too?

so, i leave you with this thought. it is from a sign in waha, ontario, next to an inukshuk.

inukshuk (pronounced in-ook-shook). these are stone monuments erected in the image of humans. one of their purposes was to communicate direction in the harsh and desolate arctic. as such, they were a tool for survival, and symbolic of the unselfish act of a nomadic people, the inuit.

the inuit built the inukshuk as signposts to make the way easier and safer for those who followed.

the inukshuk are the product of cooperation, teaching us that as good as our individual efforts may be, together we can do even greater things.

the inukshuk is a symbol of the human spirit; it recognizes our ability to succeed with others, where we would fail alone. it reminds us of our need to belong to something greater than ourselves.

the inukshuk celebrates our "working together"; it continues to remind us of our efforts today to direct a better way for all our us, tomorrow. the difference we make today counts in all our tomorrows.

so, there you have it; an opportunity to remember the past and anticipate the future, by working together for the greater good. now that is an ideal i'd vote for, and be willing to risk my life for. how about you?