I have followed this thread with interest since the beginning. Alistair, you are to be commended for starting it, and I found your posts to be well thought out, sincere and, for the most part, right on the mark. Well, at least as far as they can be coming from an Englishman, he said with tongue planted firmly in cheek. As badly as I wanted to contribute, I found that between yourself, Katlaughing, Catspaw, MMario, Steve P and all that it was not necessary for me to contribute. You are an amazing bunch. And I was very happy to see Bob Landry contribute the plight of the Acadians.

So instead of going over old ground, let me talk of the future. The problem is that so much of this has to do with how we are raised to fear or mistrust that which is different. As most of you know from reading other posts of mine, that I believe it is the nurturing of this which causes the generals to be able to send us to war against one another. The ability to turn us against one another, to make the different something to be feared is at the root of most of the major problems in the world today. I fell prey to it at a younger age. It was on one of my periodic disappearances into the woods that I figured out the next step. From time to time I have the need to get away and sit and figure things out. Nothing mystical here......it is just easier to hear the eternal when you are sitting under the stars and pondering God's best work. You can look around and be amazed at how it all fits together like a perfect puzzle. And you can look at the vastness of it and realize that you are part of that puzzle. I had developed a deep revulsion for racism, dehumanization, ignoring problems because they weren't "our" problems and so on. But I wondered what it was that I could do. And as I am watching the natural world and lost in my thoughts, I start to see the birds with their young, saw a fox with a kit, and so on. And it came to me that the answer lies with our children. That we canna make a massive change and solve it. But I can raise children that are sensitive to others. Instead of being fearful or uncomfortable about that which is different, I can teach them to be curious about it. I can teach them to celebrate that which is different about us all, and to worship that which we have in common. I can teach them not to follow the herd when it is headed in the wrong direction. I can teach them NOT to be silent, when the ancient voice of their people speaks to them from inside, and warns them of the injustice they see. Some people refer to this as conscience or intuition. I prefer to see it as the voice of all that have gone before trying to give us the benefit of their experiences. If one will peel off the pretexts that we find ourselves sheathed in, and try to see each encounter in its purest terms, perhaps a little at a time, we can erase our fear of that which is "foreign". Perhaps we can realize that nothing, and no one, is truly foreign. Just different...................And that is marvellous, another of God's best works.

KatlaughingYou are among the best among us. I love your insights, and your obvious love of life. I read your posts and realize that you are probably exactly what I refer to. My guess is that you have raised marvelous children who share your love of life. And it seems that your hubby knows what a 'pearl of great worth' he has in you. And you probably also drive him nuts.***belly laugh***

Catspaw, you dago, you. You are right on the mark with your comments. So much of this revolves around what you mean, as opposed to what you say. What one is, speaks much louder than what one says he/she is. I found nothing offensive in your comment, in fact I took it as a term of friendship. And we certainly have become friends. You have become an essential piece of this community.To all of the rest, thanks for being a part of this thread. It is the Mudcat at its best. Kat, this thread should be a part of the book. It could serve as a primer of what is right in this little hunk of sod that we all live on.

All the best to all of you,

Mick