Choices

In the mailbox this morning a sober and sad reminder:

Today marks the 131st anniversary in 1890 of the Wounded Knee massacre on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota of some 250 Lakota men, women and children by the U.S. Military. Scars left by such idiocy and horror can be absorbed into the DNA of survivors and passed for generations. Black slavery in America has no doubt left similar scars.

Millions of people have suffered violent horrors, rooted in ignorance and fear of the “other.” Yet, some have managed to find ways to confront their future, sometimes, sadly, having to meet violence with violence. Two examples :

Irish peoples on this day in 1937 ratified The Constitution of Ireland.

It is also National Revolution of Freedom and Independence Day in Mongolia, this holiday commemorates Mongolia’s autonomy. On December 29, 1911, Mongolia officially declared its independence from China.

We cannot change the past. The best we can do is be aware of our history. It is never too late to change the future by the choice-making we undertake in the present moment-by-moment.

All wars have two losers.