Good morning. Happy Sunday!
Do we live in love or fear? Do we live in separatism or in unity? Do we value people or stuff? Is it our ego or our higher self that guides us? Something to consider as we spend more cold days inside, hopefully taking some time to meditate on who we are.
There is an air of desperation descending over the planet like a soft, dark cloak. I feel it in subtle ways as I interact with individuals and realize that nothing can come between people and protecting their own. Evolutionarily speaking, that is perfectly normal as we tend to subconsciously strive to do anything possible to get our DNA into the future. People appear to be in the process of forming clans or tribes, which in fact may be the only way to survive the coming dark times. This is, however, going against the norms of socialization that has been the predominant way of life at least in the United States for the past 60 or so years. The celebrated nuclear family is falling apart in many cases and giving way to people who either spend their lives primarily alone or people who create new "families" through friendship and extended family relations.
It may very well be these extended groups of close knit people that will be able to work together in survival mode as the economic collapse continues. This is great, and if these tribes could then work with other tribes in a system of reciprocity, we might just make it (if the earth doesn't heat up enough to kill all life).
But what happens when you don't find your tribe? What happens if your clan is more about hate than love? There is a lot of isolation and separatism happening in the modern world. Why?
Our country is dividing along racial lines over the Ferguson issue. (Maybe this line has always been there.) Or perhaps the dividing line is cops versus the rest of the public. There is no doubt (except to those who identify with the police) that the militarization of the police and the incidents of police brutality, which are on the rise, is creating a chasm of division in our culture that is resulting in violent outbursts of fear and righteousness.
This fear is causing people to arm themselves against each other, against opposite ideas. Everyone seems to need a gun to protect themselves from the "others."
There is also a division of the have and have nots. And that division is getting larger. There is certainly a small portion of our world that has most of the money, and in fact, they influence and "control" most everything else, including the militarized police.
But, that attitude, trickles down into the rest of the world, where people still believe that if they acquire more, they will somehow be able to reach the levels of power and respect they see those with the money have. It is subtle. And most people would deny that they participate in this mindset. Some people in fact have stepped out of this system to live with independent ideas (Buddhist monks for example), but this is not the norm or the thinking of the mainstream. So, you have something I don't, and perhaps I want that thing too (let's use the common example of food), but you are only going to share a little, or none, because you have to protect your own. You begin to defend your food with violent means (guns) if necessary, and hoard more and more to make sure you and your "clan" survive as the world gets crazier and crazier. After all, why should you share?
Those who have a little bit more than those who don't start judging those without as being lazy and worthless and.... Meanwhile, those who don't have start judging those who do as being selfish and greedy and....
The division grows. The anger grows. The violence grows.
This is what our country, the United States of America is coming to. We have a lot of corrupt systems who are mostly for profit. Violence is a means to an end. The government we trust to help those without is also so corrupt that, in fact, they have turned into for profit entities funded by the higher ups (the 1%) who control them. There are quotas with dollar values placed on certain people, although these organizations would be quick to deny such. Think prison or human services child protective agencies. And some of those people get killed as a result of being forced, perhaps violently, into these systems designed to make our society a better place.
The division grows.
Some people have accused me of being angry, of my energy changing, and I agree that this has indeed occurred as the holidays set in. It happens every year as I see people step outside of themselves in the name of consumerist holidays to shop and shop, regardless of their own personal impact on the planet, or humanity as a whole. Because it comes back to the "clan" or taking care of our own. And violence seems to be the norm as people defend their right to defend. I feel a lot of frustration as I watch these divisions grow.
Unfortunately, we have to look at the bigger picture here, which most people are too blinded by the pretty lights and chasing of things to even notice.
All lives do matter, regardless of age, race, gender, economic worth, or whatever other divisions we have come up with to keep humanity separated. The isolation must end. We must unite as One.
The dark times are upon us now. Not only as we suffer through short, cold days, but as we look around us and see what humanity has come to. There are many divisions among the people, and they are growing.
There is fear, which most people are living in, and there is love, which most people aspire to but can't quite shed the fear enough to get there. I am no different. I struggle on a daily basis to remember that all people are a part to the Whole, that all people are a reflection of me. This mundane life I live does not lead itself to being spiritually aware all of the time. Ego exists and ego thrives on separation and fear.
As I try to protect my children from the insanity around me, at the same time I know it is futile. As I try to find my tribe of like minded people, I realize without global cooperation it is a lost cause. We will never be able to overcome the fear of the masses. This is the dark shadow that is settling around our Mother Earth like a second skin. It is this fear that will destroy us and the planet we live on. Fear.
So, as we struggle through another year of consumerist driven holidays, let us try to remember that we are more than the ego, more than our stuff, more than a human. We are spiritual beings, and when we release our ego driven fear, we just might recognize the spirit within that other person, even that misguided human who stands before us with a gun, so possessed by their own fear, that they are willing to kill us. Inside somewhere is the spirit that is a part of us. We are all One. Some of us just can't see it yet.
I renounce the fear. Every single day, I begin again, because it is a spiritual journey, and as I step away from fear and ego, my heart opens a little bit more and is able to express love out into the world. It is love that heals individual souls and will ultimately heal the planet. Love. We have to let go of the fear, in spite of the cruelty of individuals and the cruelty of groups. We have to learn to love. As a HUMAN RACE we have to make love our source of energy and our exchange. Love is the answer.
Love to all.
~Rev. Kerry
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