Things I Desire

Things don't always work out the way that we plan. Right now, I am sitting at the D Gate in McCarren Airport in Las Vegas. My flight was cancelled. I am rescheduled for the next flight. But, if it is late, I'll miss my connection in Chicago, on Asiana Airlines, to Seoul, Korea, and from there on to Manila.

So, at this very moment, I am facing a very real (although I hope remote) possibility that my vacation plans are about to get seriously screwed up. Anyway, as I sit here and think about it, this is a trivial inconvenience. And, in any case, better to be late than to be aboard a flight experiencing mechanical failure. And, now, I have a little extra time to ponder situations that don't go my way.

The truth is I have a big list of things that have gone wrong, things that I have had to accept. And I know that I desire many changes. Here are eleven of them:

(1) I desire that the United States not launch unprovoked wars.

(2) I desire that people no longer kill animals for food, clothing and decoration.

(3) I desire that Al Quaida (and others) stop attacking innocent people.

(4) I desire that people of higher integrity assume government power in the U.S.

(5) I desire stronger voices for moderation in the Muslim world.

(6) I desire that people no longer starve to death every day.

(7) I desire that research findings in parapsychology be accepted in the scientific community.

(8) I desire that women enjoy equal rights everywhere.

(9) I desire a viable solution to the nuclear waste problem.

(10) I desire greater educational opportunities for the poor, worldwide.

(11) I desire enlightenment for all sentient beings.

Some spiritual traditions, I understand, suggest that we must let go of all desires. Perhaps so. But, for now, I think that these desires are desirable. This, incidentally, is one of the lessons of Falling Awake (to which I have referred earlier).