“When you smoke the herb, it reveals you to yourself.”
― Bob Marley
What a strange quote I’ve picked tonight! It extols the virtues of Marijuana, a drug I haven’t partaken of in over 10 years. I have no objection to pot. When I was younger I smoked quite a bit of it in a variety of contexts both spiritual and most decidedly not. I reached a point where, at the time the effects of it seemed to be less positive so I decided it was time to give it a rest. I may start up again sometime soon given time and opportunity. I see many positive effects and have since learned more. We shall see.
So, why the quote? Tonight I went with family and friends to see the Universal Gospel Choir . They perform songs of faith from around the world (Tonight among others, they did a hymn to the Santeria orisha Yemaya, a Sufi ballad, Ma’oz Tzur (a hannukah song) and One World, One Heart by Bob Marley. Before each song the director gave an introduction to the song and the culture it sprang from and before the Marley number she made several jokes about the Rastafarian use of marijuana as a sacrament. (I don’t judge her for making the comments, our culture has become one conditioned to treat drug use as a joke or a problem as opposed to a sacrament tho oddly enough I have seen many go into religious ecstasy at their first sip of their morning coffee) . I do have to admit tho that as the audience was laughing it did occur to me that at least Marijuana was pretty much guaranteed to have some transformative effect on their consciousness, could they say the same about the sacrament that they choose to take?
Namaste, GAR
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Angelic Flame by G A Rosenberg