Lovingkindness

I have been unable to write about the devastating Christmas Day fire in Stamford that claimed the lives of three young sisters and their grandparents, while their mother and a family friend, as well as the arriving rescue workers, were unable to help.  And so, with my current reading of Happiness is an Inside Job by Sylvia Boorstein, I offer this metta meditation for them.

May the souls of Lily, Grace, and Sarah be at ease.
May the souls of Lomar and Pauline Johnson be at ease.
May Madonna Badger be comforted.
May Michael Borcina be comforted.
May Matthew Badger be comforted.
May their family members and friends be  comforted.
May the firefighters and other rescue workers be  comforted.
May their Stamford neighbors and community be comforted.
May other people who suffered loss, pain,and  illness during these holidays be comforted.
May people who suffer loss, pain, and illness be comforted.
May the people who help and care for them be comforted.
May we all be at ease and come to the end of suffering.

Viva Zuccotti!

Protesters were forcibly removed and arrested in the darkness of the middle of the night by police, who tried to maintain a media blackout by keeping journalists away, all on the order of a wealthy leader for the benefit of corporate interests.

Sounds like something in a authoritarian state ruled by a dictator, where pro-democracy protesters fight for their freedom and very lives?

Except, of course, this was New York City.

I was disappointed, depressed, ashamed.  But like many enablers, not enough to do something about it directly.