I’ve never been to Paris. Not even to France. Not even to Europe. I have lived in West Michigan all my life, and have traveled only a little outside of this country. But even in this country I have been fortunate to meet people of many nationalities and from many walks of life. My experience has been that we all need and want the same kinds of, if not exactly the same, things.
And just as we are human together in the ways we like to recognize, so are we human in the ways we’d rather not admit to. We all feel fear. We react to fear in ways that are not productive for ourselves or others. We react to fear by lashing out at those we believe are causing that fear. We limit freedom for ourselves and others in hopes of remaining ‘secure’, when real security is an illusion. We promote hate and create arbitrary separations in our world, in hopes of maintaining control over it. And so, at this moment in time that so many find so frightening, we have choices to make, as individuals and as countries. Will we respond in fear and anger to something we see as an overt threat, which is really representative of our lack of control? Will we become extremists like the people we fear, by demonizing a particular group of innocent people, and by killing many in the attempt to rid ourselves of a few? Or will we find a way to love, by supporting people who are being constructive in the world, rather than fighting those who are destructive, thus becoming more destructive ourselves? My own mantra/prayer that I repeat when fear threatens to disable me or cause me to behave in unhelpful ways: The Universe is safe and filled with love. I say it over and over, even when I don’t believe it at the time – especially when I don’t believe it. I believe in the little ripples that even my individual thoughts make in the experience of the world. I can start there. I can change my thinking. From there, I can change my words and my actions. I hope my changes will help others with theirs. Little ripples can become big waves. Look at the Nuclear Freeze Campaign that happened about 30 years ago. It was the beginning of some changes, changes that have since gotten bogged down in the very fears and reactions that plague us now. Look into your heart. Look into the hearts of those you love. Banish fear – or at least recognize it and learn not to be reactive to it. Respond to every situation out of love, not fear. “Sure,” you’re thinking. “Sounds easy, but it’s not.” Perhaps. But even choosing to become more aware of the choices is a start. Start.
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AuthorThinker, lover, curator of Sacred Space. Archives
June 2016
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