What does it mean ‘to be Civilized’

in our World, in our Nation, in our Home,

in our Collective and Personal Relationships

with each other and every form of Life

sharing our Planet, sharing our World?

What does it mean ‘to be Civilized’

looking back to our Human Past

or observing our Humanity’s Present Day?

How do we treat each other?

What does History have to say?

What does Today’s News now say?

How do we as Nations or Groups of any kind

now act to get what we want?

How do we treat those who ‘get in the way’

of our ‘goals’, those ‘things we want’?

How do we treat Humans and other Animals-

all those ‘who must obey’?

Collectively and Individually, the ‘Us and I’,

in ‘Costumes of Spirit’ called ‘Bodies’,

how do we treat each other, the ‘Us and I’?

How do we treat those who don’t ‘speak

our Language’- other Human Beings or

other Species sharing this World?

How do we relate to each other?

What does it mean ‘to be Civilized’?

How do we treat our Vulnerable,

our Poor, our Homeless, our Powerless,

our Sick in Traumatized Emotions,

our Sick in Bodies or Minds?

How do we treat our Prisoners,

those innocent or guilty and ‘gone astray’?

How do we treat our Enemies

in National, Racial or Personal Conflicts?

What does Today’s News or History say?

What does it mean ‘to be Civilized’?

What role does Respect for Life

as Highest Value Now play?

Are our Words and Actions ‘Civil’

or do we live in Primitive Ways?

May 31, 2022- Shelley Wilson