Archive for the ‘Change’ Category

Looking recently at Madison Wisconsin and today London, it seems that violence… the preferred method of change in the Arab world… has finally infected the West as well.

Not to our credit, I might add.

One of the great tragedies of human history is that we have always confused e-volution with revolution.  Re-volution, especially violent re-volution, has always been just that: a return trip around a failed and worn out path strewn with the casualties of war.

Is it conceivable we will allow ourselves to be led like lambs to slaughter down that road yet again?  To watch the youth in England today destroying everything in their path, its an easy leap to conclude the answer is “Yes.”

I don’t blame them.  I blame us.

They’re young.  They learned from us.  As too many of us in positions of responsibility remained silent, those with an agenda crept into our schools, universities and, more insidiously, into our children’s minds.  The young want what they want and they want it now… and if they can’t have it… well… they’re being encouraged by those with a hidden agenda to believe that violence is an acceptable expression of their discontent.

Our children grew up in a world where media violence, instant gratification, material acquisition, power for its own sake, and government subsidies were and remain the norm.   By example, we have taught them poorly.  And while we were neglecting our responsibility to the future, others were all too ready and willing to embrace it.

Now, if we allowed it to reach this point, it must be we who puts an end to it.

How?

By rapidly and visibly changing the way we do things.

By assuming responsibility for our every thought, word and deed.

By reprioritizing our time and our expression of what we value.

By acting like competent, capable adults able to make hard choices so the young have something, and someone, to emulate.

We’re running out of time.  Let’s not waste a moment.  Decide what you value.  Speak of it often.  Live it with certainty.

Before the momentum of violence becomes irreversible, join in the e-volution.  It’s a higher road that leads to a grander view.

Oh, and did I mention?… peace.

 

Moments ago President Obama spoke to the nation, and presumably the world, on his decision to join with the international community in a coordinated response to the violence perpetrated by Libyan dictator Muammar Qadaffi upon the Libyan people.

Early in the speech, the President said that from the outset, the United States had been swift and certain in its condemnation of Qadaffi’s actions.  While this sounded good, it was a lie.  If fact, a week of atrocities occurred during which the President remained curiously silent.  His press secretary, in responding to why this was so, cited “scheduling problems.” Yet, during that same week, the President was able to suddenly find the time to schedule coaching his daughter’s basketball team because the coach “had a scheduling problem.”  The President’s daughter was not even present for the game he coached.

I am less concerned here with the President’s motives, or lack thereof, in responding selectively to Middle East revolutionaries.  I leave that to others.

What does concern me is the current, palpable lack of leadership with which we are faced.  This President is unlike any other I can recall in my lifetime. His disengagement from the American people is disturbing but timely.

(Did she just write, “timely?”)

Yes, I did.

It’s timely because we’ve arrived at a point in the evolution of human Consciousness where we must all be leaders.  We must all take charge every minute of every day of our thoughts, words and deeds.  We must each source within and find what is true and meaningful for us as individuals… while fully knowing that we are all connected.

We have awakened to the truth of Oneness.  Whether it is the heroic and admirable people of Japan facing multiple tragedies, the tortured and oppressed peoples of Libya, or the 12-year-old daughter of a slain Israeli family who is now orphaned along with her two brothers… we are all One and responsible for One And Other… one another.

For Our Self and The Other because we are all connected.

So, I am less concerned with one man’s action and timing than I am with yours and mine.  Hope and Change are just words.  No single individual will turn the tide as quickly as each and every individual awaking to rise and meet the challenges of personal responsibility and connectedness.

The owner of an Israeli supermarket has been providing food for the three remaining children of the slain Fogel family during the shiva (seven day mourning period).  He informed the 12-year-old daughter who found her slain parents and brothers that “she better get used to” seeing him around because he is going to provide weekly food for she and her two surviving brothers until the last orphan is 18 years old.

Now that’s hope and change and that’s how we do it.

Let’s leave the posturing and politics to the United Nations and world governments.

 

It’s never easy to look for and find a “higher purpose” in tragic events.  Sometimes, in fact, doing so appears almost heartless.  So I am well aware of the dangers in what I am about to say.

The events in Japan are akin to a global 911 of natural origin.  I think they hold the potential for rebirth, healing and unity for much of the world.  However, before I go there, let me say that I’ve been broken hearted over the loss of life and suffering being experienced by the Japanese people.  I have been praying for them daily since the earthquake and tsunami struck.

Now, to what I mean by a “global 911.”  On September 11^th, tragedy struck on an unprecedented scale, lives were lost, and commerce interrupted.  The reaction, although admittedly brief, was Oneness.  Not only did all of this nation’s citizens pull together to help respond to every conceivable need, but so did many individuals and nations from around the world. There was a temporary understanding by humanity’s Consciousness that we are all in deed connected and, therefore, united we stand.

There’s no terrorist behind what is occurring in Japan.  It’s Earth and Nature in service to restoring balance to a world that has veered far off course and that is very out of balance.  Again, I am sensitive to how callous this may sound but in order for caterpillar to be transformed into a butterfly, the caterpillar must relinquish its physical form.

Something similar is happening in Japan.  Believe that I value all life forms and see not one human Being as expendable.  But as painful and tragic as this catastrophe and loss of life is, its form that’s being altered.  There is no corresponding destruction of Spirit.

We are all connected. We have been disrespectful of one another and the Earth.  We have been insensitive, greedy and lacking in compassion.  We have ignored our Oneness.  We have  created the imbalance.

Nature is infinitely more powerful and resourceful than we.  No amount of manmade protection or planning will outstay It’s staying power.  This is what we are witnessing in Japan.

We can awaken NOW and do what we did not do after 911.  We can lay down our differences  and our indifference to honor how connected we are to each other and the Earth that sustains us.  We can know and act in accordance with that knowing that this is the moment of “united we stand or divided we fall.”

In compassion… we can weep for those suffering and those lost.

In wisdom… we can know that every thought, word and deed matters.

In Our knowing, we can act as One.

 

Pattern realignment is what is commonly called “change.” Chaos is a natural and necessary byproduct of change.  What we are witnessing in the Middle East is an effort at political realignment.  I use the word effort because only time will tell the outcome.  And not much time at that.

Egypt, Tunisia,& Libya have all experienced major revolts while  Algeria, Bahrain, Djibouti, Iran, Iraq, Jordon, Oman and Yemen have had significant protests.   There is nothing uncertain or meek about how determined these populations are in expressing their exhaustion with the status quo or their impatience in demanding an end to it.

Revolution can be a good thing… or not.  The most common and oft referenced examples are the American vs. the French.  One ended in a Republic and the other in beheadings and a return to Monarchy.

So what will likely be the outcome this latest and widespread populist upheaval?

While I think history can be instructive, I don’t think it will be determinative or conclusive at this particular moment in the evolution of human Consciousness.

Why?  Because we’ve never been here before.

Here is a transcendent moment.  By this I mean that if we can view events in the Middle East and around the world, generally, from a higher vantage point (“higher ground” as I like to say) we have the opportunity to co-create an unprecedented global future wherein individuality is honored within a framework of worldwide connectivity.

It’s a BIG if.

Why?  Because people and systems entrenched in power don’t go down without a fight.   And because we humans tend to be an impatient lot.

No matter how well intentioned and fueled the emergent tidal wave of freedom currently is throughout the Middle East, unless there is a will to endure with our humanity in tact through the uncertainty and birth pangs of co-creating a new paradigm for governance that honors the individual, the culture, and its role in an interdependent world… those antiquated forces fighting for survival will prevail.

I recently read a great line in Spontaneous Evolution by Bruce Lipton and Brruce Bhaerman.  It was “Love a cancer cell to death.”  The message is based upon scientifically verifiable experiments at the quantum level that 1) the observer has a direct influence upon the observed and 2) Love heals, literally.

Perhaps this understanding can be applied elsewhere… even the Middle East.  Love the old regimes to death and, in their place, envision one giant leap for human Consciousness.

It’s our best hope.

It is sometimes the case that certain words or phrases quickly find their way into our lexicon due to their poignancy and precision. For example, following the O.J. Simpson trial, the phrase “rush to judgment” became the watch-phrase for drawing precipitous conclusions.   The phrase remains over-used  to this day (in my opinion) but presents no particular harm.

Such is not the case with “Day of Rage.” In the past thirty days, usage of the phrase has spread from Cairo, Egypt to Iran, Bahrain, Tunisia and most recently Madison Wisconsin.  Unlike “Rush to Judgment” these words bear significant harm.

Words matter.

In my just released inspirational book, The Lightworker’s Handbook:  A Spiritual Guide To Eliminating Fear, (also available at Amazon and Barnes and Noble) there is a supplemental “English To Spirit Dictionary” where I define words and phrases for the new paradigm.  Because language is one of the ways we share information, we need to communicate with words that honor what we believe in and support how we intend to live our lives.

If change is what the world seeks at this moment in time, is it really through rage that we choose to achieve it?  Is rage what we want to call our approach to transcending the limitations of the past?  Is rage what we really want the message to be?

Perhaps.

Throughout human history, there have always been individuals and groups skilled at manipulating others through fear and violence.  In Egypt this past week, it was two hundred “pro-democracy” demonstrators who violently and repeatedly assaulted and raped a female CBS reporter. Those individuals were easily moved to commit brutal acts of aggression because they were already engaged in a movement based upon and identified by rage.

If change is what we seek, and I believe it is, then let us move in that direction with the accumulated knowledge and wisdom of several thousand years.  Violence, which includes violent language, is a brutal means to what will be a brutal end.  Because whether you power over something, such as a nation, through physical force … or over someone, such as a spouse, with verbal abuse … all that you accomplish is the sowing of seeds of resentment and hatred that inevitably lead to violence in return.

If citizens of the world seek to designate days to express their concerns, may I suggest global “Days of Voice” as a viable alternative.  Where humanity winds up will be a direct result of not only where we choose to go but, most definitely, how we choose to get there.  Personally I want to wind up having a voice in my country’s future and in my own life as well.

Not raging about them.

The Egyptian Revolution has been spellbinding. Watching the “power of the People” is an uplifting and inspiring global experience. Now that the preliminary goal, Mubarak’s removal, has been achieved the real work and challenges begin.

History provides us instruction.

In ancient Egypt, the Hebrew slaves agonized for freedom from the tyranny of Pharaoh as have modern day Egyptians from Mubarak’s rule. Once achieved, the Hebrews made initial efforts to organize and proceed with solidarity toward a common goal of personal freedom.  However, when their interim leader, Moses, was delayed in his return from Sinai, the impatient Hebrews were quick to revert to what was comfortingly familiar… idol worship.  Only Moses’ personal commitment and charisma were able to set the Israelites back on the road to freedom. And ultimately, the desired outcome became a reality in Divine timing, not theirs.

The lesson? Patience.

Its 48 hours since Mubarak’s fall and already there is renewed confrontation and remaining unrest on the streets of Cairo and elsewhere as demonstrators, so effective at bringing down the regime, are impatient with the inevitably slow process that must follow in successfully moving a People from bondage to freedom.

Technology made their success possible.  If the People do not exercise restraint and patience, that same technology may be the reason they too find themselves quickly returning to the familiar… dictatorial rule in calf’s clothing.

Technology, by its inherent speed, makes our human nature’s inclination toward instant gratification all that more immediate. We want everything NOW and if we can’t get it, we immediately go elsewhere… and not always to our advantage.

The generation that affected the Revolution in Egypt has been raised with technology.  They expect things to happen quickly.  My concern is that youth, in the absence of real leadership, will follow the modern day version of what seduced the Israelites.  And further, absent a Moses, will fall prey to those dressed as the Golden Calf.

All growth takes time. It is only human hubris that thinks it occurs in anything other than Divine Time.

Recently, I had surgery and my recovery prevented me, for about two weeks, from posting a blog.  I lost readership in that time and fielded emails complaining of the absence of new material. When we are used to getting what we want, and expect, our impatience leaves no room for the natural unfolding of events.

Let us pray that those in Egypt, who have so wisely used the tools of modernity, will translate that wisdom into knowing that the hard work begins now and impatience leads only to arriving in the wrong place at the wrong time.

“Alone Together” written by MIT professor Sherry Turkle is big news because in it she lays out the case that the various means of social networking, via technological advances, have actually diminished our ability to communicate not enhanced it.

Well, forgive me for I told you so, but I came to that conclusion years ago… writing and speaking about it ever since. While I had no scientific data to back up my conclusion, I had eyes, ears and common sense. Admittedly, pre-technological apparatus… but quite useful none-the-less.

My observation was that when social-spiritual development is outpaced by technological development the result is alienation, dependency and in extreme cases addiction to the technology.

Why? Well, for two reasons.

First, because we are going to be slaves to something in our lives.  Now before you get all huffy about that statement, allow me to explain.  When I say “slave” I mean that we humans will spend our lives in service to something.  We will each select goals, or ends, and means by which to achieve them.  Without core ethical and moral underpinnings that support us in discerning positive means and ends from negative ones, we are easily seduced by the most expeditious route to where we want to go… however, not necessarily the most life-affirming route.  Core ethical and moral values are best developed over time, observing people who exemplify them by their behavior.

Technology applied to social networking lacks these necessary characteristics. In fact, it stands in direct opposition to them:  1) Its rapid, not allowing for a natural unfolding or development.  2) The human element is sublimated to the technology.  3) The physical distance combined with anonymity negates the behavioral aspect completely.

Simply put, social networking is a misnomer.  Its social alienating.

But back to slavery.

In Egypt, Pharaoh knew what he was doing.  In mystical Judaism it is taught that the Jews were slaves not because they were physically imprisoned, but because they were socially and spiritually dependent and thereby imprisoned.  It wasn’t their bodies Pharaoh took claim to it was their consciousness and their laziness (a/k/a wanting to get things the easy way). The Jews traded freedom of thought for comfort and ease. It is further taught that it’s a “story” in which Pharaoh represents the reliance upon materiality and physical enslavement represents unconsciousness (a/k/a) relinquishment of human consciousness.

I remember many years ago, pre-WORD, when I was working in DOS.  As my computer was booting up the hard drive, I saw the words “master drive ” and “slave drive” flash across the screen.  It gave me pause.  I actually thought it was a joke, albeit a dangerous one, originating in some programmer’s mind who then saw the potential inherent in the medium.

I am many things, but first and foremost I am the mother of a seventeen year-old daughter.  Anyone with a teenager knows the distance, detachment and danger inherent in the unbridled access and use of social networking.  The big worry isn’t carpal tunnel syndrome or arthritic thumbs.  It’s inhumanity.

So, many thanks to Professor Turkle for providing data for all those who need it.  As for me, I just looked around at the kids and saw the future.  It’s a time-tested method for discerning where we’re headed.

As for possible solutions:  Reprioritize your life.  Slow it down.  Be able to look into the eyes of the people from whom you are learning life’s lessons.  Be willing to do things the hard way.  Breathe.  Laugh.  Love.

If you’re going to be slave, choose a Master with a heart.

I seem to hear a repeated theme lately that’s troubling lots of people. It revolves around feeling that events seem somewhat out of our control.  Now, while I can’t say that things have ever really been in our control… it is true that life in the first decade of the new millennium has been chaotic, requiring lots of energy just to stay “afloat” through it all.

Embarking upon the second decade, I see no signs that things will vastly improve in the “In Control Department.”

So, what’s a person to do?

Well, might I suggest surrender?  No, not as in a feeling of hopelessness.  To the contrary… with a joyful feeling of hope-full-ness.

Why? Because it’s in surrendering to the flow of Life that one is able to catch the wave… so to speak.  We are definitely dealing with a wave Here and Now.  So, you have two options.  Resist it or catch it.  To think you can control it is a waste of time and energy.

I know.  I used to think I could control waves.  I was always trying to manage the situation… direct the players… determine the outcome. It’s exhausting continuously bailing that water!  Not to mention futile.

Trial and error have taught me that when things around me are either temporarily inexplicable or seeming out of my control… let them be that way.  It’s best to go within… quiet my mind… and release events to their own unfolding.  What happens next is that when I “reemerge” from my inward focus, voila!  The sun is shining.  Things have taken a turn for the better.  Everyone’s better, actually.

So whether it’s personal, professional or global, give it a rest.  Float on your back for awhile.  Enjoy the ride and the scenery.

You’ll be surprised how refreshed you… and all of it… will seem upon your return.

Today, still unfolding as I write this entry, was the tragic shooting in Tucson, Arizona of 12 people at a peaceful political assembly.  While details yet remain sketchy and incomplete, it is confirmed that at least 5 people have died, including a 40-year veteran of public service, Federal Judge John Roll, an unnamed staffer of Representative Gabrielle Gifford (D-Arizona) and an unnamed 9-year old girl.  In addition, Congresswoman Gifford herself, shot in the head at point blank range, has survived but is fighting for her life as are several others currently in surgery.

Moments ago, President Obama spoke to the Nation.  After my expression of prayers and comfort to all involved, the President’s speech is the focus of this writing.

It is no surprise to any American that we, both nationally and personally, are transiting extraordinary times.  Divisions are deep, tension high, finances troubling and fuses short.  In such times, it is our intention that those we look to for leadership, calm, focus and vision provide us the guidance and confidence necessary to move beyond the difficulties involved.

Today in his words following the Arizona tragedy, President Obama missed the mark… if he was ever aiming for it.

The President expressed his condolences to the victims. In so doing, he erroneously referred to Congressman Gifford in the past tense, although she is alive and fighting for her life.  He had absolutely nothing to say about violence being an ineffective tool for achieving ends or even words of a calming or encouraging nature.  His failure to do so is at a time when individuals such as Frances Piven, professor and political activist with access to U.S. Presidents, openly advocate for revolution, and when bullying and violence in our schools have become an epidemic.

Why?

Why would our President pass up such an obvious opportunity to reassure the nation and set the standard, at least verbally, for where we as a nation stand on violence as solution for political and social differences?

The answer I see disturbs me.  Because he doesn’t want to.

The most frequent visitor to this White House in the first two years of this Presidency was Andy Stern, President of the Service Workers International Employees Union (SEIU).  Stern has said “If we can’t use the power of persuasion we will use the persuasion of power” as a legitimate tool of social change.  Richard Trumka, President of the AFL-CIO has done the same.  William Ayers, founder of the Weather Underground, a self-described Communist revolutionary group and long-time friend of the President’s is also an advocate of violence as a legitimate means to achieve an end.  The list goes on.

I don’t think our President wants to seize this or any event to quell the possibility of violence as a means to the “change” part of Hope and Change he promised. For if violence escalates, the People with turn to government which, through its military and regulatory powers, will be all too quick and happy to intervene.  In so doing, the door is then open to abridge our basic rights and coalesce power in the hands of a few at the expense of the many.

We are a nation in need of leadership and the man we chose to lead is at a loss to do so.  I suggest he has revealed his irrelevancy and that we now look beyond him and broaden our search in two directions.

First, that we go within ourselves, the only search worth taking, and look for ways to exemplify the stability, focus, priorities and courage needed in times of change.  Secondly, that we go in search of quality leadership and this time we not allow ourselves to be distracted and placated by smoke and mirrors, because we lack the personal responsibility and patience to do the hard, investigative work necessary to make such an important decision.

I HOPE the President’s woeful, AND almost negligent, response today to the tragedy in Arizona is the impetus for CHANGE to the Office of President of the United States in 2012.

Everywhere you turn you’re hearing about insufficient funds.  At the federal, state and local levels the word is that we’re out of money.  Just this weekend “60 Minutes” did a segment titled “Day of Reckoning” spotlighting the current insolvency of many States with more to come.  No matter how rosy this Administration or any politician tries to paint it, there is little doubt in most people’s minds that something has gone terribly awry.

But it’s not the economy.

Money is a form of energy and, as such, flows unobstructed, or not, depending on its context.  Further, money is representative of an underlying condition.  That condition is the spiritual health of humanity.  Generalized prosperity is symptomatic of alignment with spiritual principles.  The absence or apparent lack of money is, likewise, indicative of misalignment with those same principles.

The Universe is eternal, infinite and therefore abundant.  There can be no lack.

However, there can be an interrupted flow of energy due to conditions that block or impede the flow of energy.  This is precisely where we find ourselves at this moment in time.

We have strayed from ethics, good moral character and our spiritual Selves for so long that we have impeded the Universal flow of abundance.  We have been greedy, wasteful and self-absorbed. We have been neither appreciative nor grateful.  We have demanded and received more… then acted as if more was never enough.  We have been insensitive and lacking in compassion.  And just to clarify any misunderstanding, the consequence for such spiritual blindness is not beheadings. Those who claim the moral high ground and choose violence to right a wrong only exacerbate the problem.

Now, the good news. Phew!

It’s not the end of the world, figuratively or literally.  It’s a course correction.  The money will flow again when we no longer tolerate in ourselves or others any form of deceit or greed. When we live the moral high ground, show compassion for one another, and value that which cannot be bought or sold.  Then, we will have regained our essence and materiality will once again flow.

Because we drifted far from the Light for so long we became adjusted to the darkness and it seemed the norm.  But in darkness nothing can grow and grow we must.

Because we’re all connected though one Consciousness, it matters what each of us values.  Give little thought to any apparent lack… for you are staring into the darkness.  Refocus your sights on love, integrity and hope.  They are located in the Light where there is permanent clarity and nothing in the way of the unobstructed flow of energy.