Wisdom of the Week – Self Worth

 Lucian Eyers © 2008

 

I was having dinner this week with some friends and one of them told me discreetly, that he had trouble sleeping – suffering terrible nightmares. I told him it was likely he was taking his worries to bed with him, in which case he was spending his resting hours in the ‘astral planes’ which is a troubled place. I said you need to ask the angels before you go to bed to take you to the ‘spiritual planes’ or to one of the many Archangel retreats. There you can ask for healing and for your concerns to be clarified.

My friend responded by saying that he never asked for anything for himself, only for other people. My response was that it is impossible to love and honour others, until we learn to truly love ourselves.

 

On this subject of self worth, it is fitting that in this week the Chinese people reacted once again to government control and corruption; ‘After two Chinese bullet trains collided in the south of the country, killing at least 39 and injuring more than 200, Mr Wen duly arrived at the scene. 
Standing on a patch of gravel on Thursday that had been cleared of the wreckage, the Chinese premier promised to "get to the bottom" of what had gone wrong and apologised for not arriving sooner, blaming an 11-day illness and doctor's orders to rest.
In the past, that might have been the end of it. But on Thursday, Mr Wen succeeded only in ratcheting up public anger a notch. 
Within hours, photographs of him in seemingly perfect health at various functions over the past week had been posted on the internet and Mr Wen was accused of being a liar. His tears at the sites of various disasters over the years had already earned him the mocking title of China's "Best Actor".

 

 Rage against police: officers were tied to their patrol car in Foshan 

 

What has changed over the past year is partly the growing inability of China's leaders to control free speech, both in the traditional media and over the internet.

As it loses the battle to control the population through the media, and through internet and video surveillance, the government has resorted in recent months to displays of raw power, sending squadrons of paramilitary police on to the streets of several cities to prevent riots.

China now spends almost £60 billion a year on "internal security", more than on the People's Liberation Army. But it has not been able to stop the number of riots from tripling in the past five years to 180,000 in 2011 – or 493 a day – according to a professor at Tsinghua University.’ 1 

The lesson of self worth like any other we are learning is so often forced upon us. A situation can become so intolerable, that patience and tolerance are no longer an option and we feel compounded to react in a forceful way. However, Mahatma Gandhi’s approach to the unfair rule by the British was one of non-cooperation. He showed that with reason and through peaceful means, his people could reign victorious over a mighty regime.
My blessings and prayers for courage go out to the people of China, that they too will find the strength to stand up for themselves with dignity, but in a peaceful way. Their weapon is the truth and in knowing when we are united, no regime however powerful can hope to be victorious.

I asked the angels which poem they would like me to leave with you and they showed me this one. It was inspired by a lady I knew called ‘Patricia’. I think you may agree – the angels made the right choice.

Patricia

Patricia had a problem,

She didn’t like to swim.

But as a baby duckling,

Her fate looked rather grim.

But then one twilit evening,

A visitor arrived,

To glare at mother’s frightened brood,

And then to seize his prize.

“Patricia, jump,” the others cried,

“This breath could be your last.”

And so it was Patricia learnt,

To swim extremely fast.

‘Patricia’ taken from ‘The Sparky Book of Hours,’ by Lucian Eyers © 2008

1. The Telegraph website Friday 29 2011: 'Grandpa Wen' left helpless as internet drives wave of unrest through China’.