Music Playlist for September 2010
Each week we broadcast six New Dimensions programs four times a day. Click here for this weeks listening schedule.
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Hope In Spite of the Evidence
by Justine Willis Toms
Recently we received
an inquiry from a listener
who is grappling
with the many injustices
in the world both now and
throughout history. He states,
"When I read the goals of organizations like
yours, I think how sincere and well intentioned
they are—but also how naïve. The assumption
is that the law of averages is miraculously
going to overcome poverty and injustice, and
that transformation will occur because it has
to be so. I ask, why does it have to be so just
because it seems right? Maybe there is a reason
for the human tragedy that we have not
thought of."
I was compelled to get back to him with the
following response:
"We deeply respect your ponderings and questions.
We also know that you are not expecting
us to have the definitive answers. However, I
feel there is an invitation from you for us to
express some thoughts on the subject of social
justice, and how humanity can turn a corner
from both its present course and that throughout
written history.
"I may not cover your exact points, but here
are a few musing on what keeps me from
pulling the covers up over my head and just
giving up on the world.
"I am inspired by the persistence of growing
green things. For example, a single blade of
grass can push itself up through a large
cement slab. That blade of grass, once
through, is joined by others until the grass
itself is starting to make rubble out of the
cement.
"I feel I’m one of those blades of grass, and
that through actions--motivated by love rather
then fear--I can make a difference within my
sphere of influence. Knowing that a blade of
grass persists against the seemingly huge
obstacle of cement keeps me going in the face
of overwhelming evidence that the world is in
terrible shape.
"When I hear about the devastation going on
in the oceans, I produce a program about it
with someone who is having a positive impact
on the situation. When I feel the Christian tradition
as spoken by Jesus has been hijacked by
shrieking radical Christians, I produce a program
with an evangelical minister who speaks
from a voice of reason and love.
"I can remember that back in the early 1970s
the birthing process was treated like some
medical emergency in a surgical amphitheater
with bright lights, a drugged mother who was
helpless to participate, and a baby pulled from
her body with forceps. We started producing
programs on this subject with such luminaries
as Dr. Frederick Leboyer, who advocated what
he calls ‘birth without violence.’ Since that
time practically every hospital in the U.S. has
set up a birthing center where natural childbirth
is supported by a midwife, low lights, and
a supportive team.
"Also, in the early 1970s New Dimensions was
producing programs on alternative and complementary
medicine. The mainstream media
laughed at us, but now it is acknowledged that
more money is spent on this kind of medicine
than on allopathic medicine. Insurance companies
now pay for some of these alternatives.
"I could go on with other examples of the
changing of an age. New Dimensions has done
programs on prison reform, peace, the media,
work and livelihood, business, politics, and
many other subjects. We are not covering all
that needs to be covered, but we are doing our
part. And that is the point for me. It is good to
look at the history from where we’ve come and
be aware of the terrible injustices that continue
to emerge in the world today. However, we
must keep doing what we can to change that.
"Michael Toms is fond of saying, ‘Hope is
believing in spite of the evidence, and working
actively to change the evidence’"
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