Greetings from England. Crossed the line between Scotland and England yesterday at 9:30 AM after leaving Greta. Now we are in Carlyle hosted by the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) at the Quaker House. We have had quite a time. People are approaching the realities today with vigor, as is seen in the Positive News International Network. http://www.positivenews.org.uk/ Some communities are drawing up plans to reduce dependence upon fossil fuels at 3 % per year, the amount projected after peak oil. Humans can take charge of their lives...when they trust with vision. These things I discovered at Global Peace House, a wonderful effort to bring peace by the positive.
Walking from Dumfies was cold and with heavy rain until yesterday. Major along the way was passing the Chapel-cross Nuclear Power Plant on the way. The cooling towers were demolished 10 days before we arrived. Now, it has an ere look with four weathered structures each with a high chimney stack in black. Fifty years of electrical power for billions and a radiation legacy of undetermined effect left us postponing our lunch until we found a better setting. How long can we dot the landscape with these?
We were met coming to Carlisle by a couple and then a CND leader. I asked them about the Hadrian Wall, which crosses the length of the Island and which I just learned about. It was constructed in the second century to keep the savage Scots out. The Castle across the street from the Quaker House is on the remnants of the wall. Our hostess just told me about the 1745 defeat of the Scots by the British. The castle was used to hold hundreds of Scots, whom the British intended to execute. The Carlisle residents said "No." They then had to choose one out of ten for execution. The song, "You take the low road and I'll take the high road", originated from the experience. I need to research these things.
I am not finding much support for our mission here. Our friends say that nuclear power is about all that supports the region. (Note Julie's research about local nuclear disposal (Sellafield where we will be in a few days) into the Irish Sea, two blogs ago.) The coal mines are closed, steel mills down, lumber down. Some farming left. Residents are left with what? We must do more to foster the visions mentioned above. I thought I had discovered a comrade in the message yesterday in James Lovelace's book on Gaja, then was told he now advocates nuclear power!
I feel like I am giving you bad news again, and I am. I hope you bear patiently with this, and seek the truth as I am trying to do. As you can imagine, walking close to Mother Earth for hours gives much time for thought. If I had more time and Internet access I would develop more of these ideas. Our walking and chanting at times just carries us along, beautiful and uplifting. NA MU MYO HO ZIN GE KYO
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
I found this site which talks about the song Bernie mentions. http://ingeb.org/songs/byyonbon.html
Sad. So glad to hear of the Scottish peoples' resistance to execution, though. In fact, in 1998 the country of Scotland abolished the death penalty entirely. http://legalminds.lp.findlaw.com/list/deathpenalty/msg02124.html
Hadrian's Wall, it seems, was the part of the Roman Empire effort to create a border around the Empire, creating artificial barriers if no natural barrier existed. http://www.hadrians-wall.org/WHS_roman.aspx
Kind of reminds me of gated communities. Or our continued arms race and addiction to nuclear arms development. It seems even today empires continue to seek ways to hang onto what they have taken.
Post a Comment