The Work of Love
My soul is rising through the anger and fear, up to the love that holds everyone so dear…… Snatam Kaur Whenever I drop inside for guidance about how to be and what to do about the state of the world, I get the same messages. Over and over again I hear, Stay close to God, and, Do your work. I’m jolted each time. It’s like being yanked back to center. It’s both embarrassing and comforting, and, it feels completely right. But why jolted and yanked? Because, as much as I might understand and comply with the pulse of my life, I continue to stray from my soul’s assignment sometimes. I continue to be seduced by conditioned ways of thinking and traditional ideas about relationships and forms for social change. Why embarrassing? Because, you’d think by now I would have fully embraced my soul’s mission here. I’m still reticent to share from the depths of my being that which is true beyond measure. Simply stated, that would be how much I love the world and all the beings in it. Part of me still wants to fit in to the over-personalized, competitive, soul-denying culture in which each of us struggles to survive. It’s a lot better than it used to be, but there’s still a ways to go. And yes, comforting and completely right. I’ve been following the rungs of the ladder of love and devotion all my life. It’s just that in the early years I didn’t know it, and now I occasionally lose my way. The comfort of the reminders from Deep Intuition strengthen my resolve. My perspective has grown and deepened as Spirit cleverly and often breathtakingly reveals itself to me. I’m now facing into an acceleration of intent and mission, the upping of the ante if you will . My sense is that God, the All, the Oneness, wants more of me. It wants me to trust in a deeper way. It’s taking me into new territory. I strongly sense this, and it’s compelling. The push comes from within. Luckily, Love is in charge, not me. My task is to fine tune my ability to follow inner guidance. Learn to take exceptional care of myself so that I’m always available when called upon to do the work of Love. Listen carefully and notice opportunities to contribute to the sweetening of the atmosphere for the beings I encounter. Resist cultural seductions and set aside conditioned concerns, knowing they are false and unnecessary. Know that true change comes with being with the way things are. Explore what comes without capitulating to anger and fear. Let myself be held by Love. As synchronicity would have it, last night, after an afternoon of writing all of the above, I clicked on a conversation on batgap.com between host, Rick Archer, and Terry Patten. Terry spoke eloquently about how to bring heart to the center of social activism. He’s put out a call with his new book, for “spiritual people” and anyone else to fully grasp the us-ness of the global crisis, and to recognize the immediacy of the moment and engage with others in heart based conversation and action in the political arena. In other words, set aside anger and fear, and lead with love. Have a strong spiritual practice and register people to vote! Then, as if that wasn’t enough, this morning, I came upon an audio of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. preaching to his people about the power of love and how to love your enemies. It’s the sermon he gave on November 15, 1957 from which has been extrapolated the famous phrase, Darkness...
Read MoreThe Love That Binds
If We Die You shall know, my sons, shall know why we leave the song unsung, the book unread, the work undone to rest beneath the sod. Mourn no more, my sons, no more why the lies and smears were framed, the tears we shed, the hurt we bore to all shall be proclaimed. Earth shall smile, my sons, shall smile and green above our resting place, the killing end, the world rejoice in brotherhood and peace. Work and build, my sons, and build a monument to love and joy, to humor, worth, to faith we kept for you, my sons, for you. —Ethel Rosenberg Ossining, N.Y January 24, 1953 I was eight and a half years old when Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were executed by the U.S. government on June 19, 1953. I remember being at a hootenanny fundraiser sometime around that time. The visual memory is shrouded, but my emotional memory is clear, almost too clear. It was the moment my child consciousness took in that Michael and Robert, the two young Rosenberg sons had become orphans (adopted later by the Meeropol family), and that everyone in the room that day was living through a terrifying time. I felt shockingly sadder in my young self than I’d ever felt before or knew was possible. I got an email the other day from Jennifer Meeropol, granddaughter of Ethel Rosenberg, for the Rosenberg Fund for Children. She asked for support for her father and uncle who are petitioning President Obama to exonerate their mother. I froze, couldn’t move, and couldn’t sign the petition. The sadness and horror, now over sixty years old rose up to block me. I felt incapacitated and unsafe, and too scared to put my name on their appeal to Obama. I did sign a couple of days later, the delay no doubt caused by the nauseating undercurrent of threat that we’re living with now that triggered my traumatic reaction. More and more, the current times seem to parallel the anti-communist hysteria of the nineteen fifties, albeit with different personnel, formats and prejudices. The thugs and bullies coming into power seem a lot like the ones from prior days, as does the mean-spiritedness. It’s discouraging to say the least, but it’s also a wake up call. How am I going to be in these new times? What can I do that will help to turn the tide in the direction of peace? I don’t have money to give, so my actions, which include signing all kinds of petitions, have to be more creative. I want to make myself available more than ever to help build “a monument to love and joy,” as Ethel Rosenberg so exquisitely and poignantly put it. I will do everything I can to strengthen and fortify my heart so that I can withstand whatever is in store for us. I pledge now to spend the rest of my life in this service, and to do it with the love that binds me to this...
Read MoreSadness Has Its Place
There can be no deep disappointment where there is not deep love.” — Martin Luther King, Jr. I read Leonard Pitts Jr. this morning, which I do whenever the Daily Camera reprints his column. I’m usually inspired by his beautifully crafted essays, and this one was no exception. But… it is incredibly and powerfully sad. Synchronistically, what he wrote matched my mood, particularly the feeling of overwhelm about how much not good stuff is happening in this country. How really is it that the white cop who shot the black man in the back eight times was not convicted? I find daunting the prospect of having to be more activist than I’m prepared to be. Are we really going to have Trump for president? People are writing to the electors who are set to meet in a week to decide our fate as a nation. Can I do it? Do I have the stamina to write all those letters? Is signing all the petitions I’m signing doing any good? Can I find the strength to be active and effective while burdened by a pervasive fog of sadness about the world situation? I don’t know. I really don’t. Part of me wants to escape and stay hidden in the hillsides of my beautiful Boulder. However, the old but still young activist in me wants to get going and do the right thing, start moving mountains like we did in the sixties. Get loud and proud and relentless. Channel righteousness into social change. Stand for good. Etc. etc. and like that. I have to honor the sadness first. That’s the only way I’ll be able to do anything. I’ve learned over this longish lifetime that emotions rule. I ignore them at my peril. They are the electrical signals that eventually show me the correct action to take, and the correct timing. If I’m deeply sad, which I am, I need to inquire within, ask myself what is going on and listen carefully to the answers I’m getting from inside. If I’m tired like Pitts, and I definitely am, I need to face into that and look for ways to contribute that don’t endanger my own wellbeing. I need to remind myself that it’s okay to be tired. It’s okay to be sad. I do have every confidence that we will get through this dark period. Why? Because I have lived through numerous dark periods before, and because no matter what’s happening, life keeps going. I’m learning to accept what I have been taught, namely that whatever happens happens. Understanding this deceptively simple phrase includes knowing that I can’t know most of what’s going on most of the time, and that being too attached to what I think is going on is always unhelpful. I need to cultivate discernment. I’m not going to find my way in these strange times by being judgmental. Love is the basis for the deep disappointment and sadness I feel, just like the quotation from MLK says. I thank Leonard Pitts for putting it at the top of his column. When I sit with my sad feelings, breathe and wait, maybe sing and write, what always shows up is the deep love I feel for the world and for people, the earth and all living beings. I look to that love to show me the...
Read MoreAbortion Isn’t Really About Abortion-Part 2
Abortion is a collection of some of the most difficult issues related to human growth and development. —Life Choices How do you thread your way through the political and emotional minefield that is the current abortion conversation? Threats to women’s health and safety are uppermost in the minds of feminists and others worldwide, as the patriarchy in the form of male controlled governments and fundamentalist churches grinds on in its effort to limit and control women’s lives and turn back the clock of emerging feminine empowerment. It’s understandable that when the subject of abortion comes up one would want to go right to personal experience or right to the political fights. My experience as the author of a book about abortion is just that. Most people engage me in conversation about their unresolved feelings about their own abortion(s), or about their fear that abortion will become illegal again. It’s easy to be pulled into the conversation on those levels, and while they are important, there is more, much more, to be understood about abortion. The impact of the issue is deep and global and deserving of attention for its role in forging a new consciousness about humanity’s relationship with the Earth. Conscious caring is a phrase I use in Life Choices. It refers to the awareness of self and of life that comes when a woman comes to terms with her intrinsic power to decide whether a particular pregnancy will produce a new human or whether she needs to turn that pregnancy back to the Earth. It is her place in nature to decide this, and her spiritual responsibility to engage in this way. Most women know this. They know it in their bones, and proceed with their pregnancy choices in spite of whatever barriers they may encounter in their personal predicaments or societal environments. The suffering they experience comes mostly from the opposition and disrespect they encounter along the way. The stigmatizing of the choice of abortion produces shame that although unnecessary given the truth of the matter, manages to wound many women during their lives. The normal grief some women feel about choosing to turn back a pregnancy is distorted by the need to hide from the shaming. The same is true when a woman feels no grief at all, or some combination of grief and relief. Some professionals who think they are helping women with abortion frame the woman’s experience as one of victimization. This is incorrect. We are not victims of our own experience. Any experience. Even one where we might have actually been victimized! All experiences, including abortion, are with us to show us about life and about how to live freely and well. As our lives progress, we come upon exactly the right combination of circumstances and experiences to open us to what is true. Sometimes we learn the lessons right away. Sometimes it takes an entire lifetime to see clearly. Sometimes we are left baffled by the way our lives have unfolded, but that doesn’t change the basic dynamics. Conscious Caring is also descriptive of the emerging consciousness moving to the center of understanding the relationship of humans to our mother, the Earth. This growing awareness, often seen in relationship to “climate change” and environmental degradation, is a spiritually organic part of the Truth (Greater Consciousness) of Being. The role of women is often overlooked because after all, we still live in a male controlled and male dominated world. Nothing against the male of the species mind you. Men suffer terribly in the patriarchy, but that is not the subject of this essay. My goal is...
Read MoreAbortion Isn’t Really About Abortion – Part 1
Abortion is a collection of some of the most difficult issues related to human growth and development. —Life Choices Abortion isn’t really or only about abortion. It’s about women’s power in life, and learning to take conscious responsibility for life on earth. For most women, there’s nothing wrong and everything right about having an abortion. So, what’s the source of the idea that abortion is terrible and a problem? For complete answers, you’ll have to read my book! But meanwhile, consider doing the following: 1. Speak freely about abortion. Cut through the shame and stigma in any way you can. 2. Support your friends, neighbors, and colleagues to speak out and include abortion in the normal course of daily conversations. 3. Be a good listener if there is someone in your life who is upset about abortion. It’s natural and normal to have feelings. 4. Don’t play into the false division between “pro-choice” and “pro-life.” No one is against life. The slogans serve to perpetuate nasty power conflicts that have their root in narrow, unthought-through attitudes about sex and life. 5. Rise above the hysteria that blankets the news about abortion. Don’t play into the over-sensationalizing that goes on in the U.S. Large numbers of women have had or will have abortions in their lifetime. There’s nothing wrong with it. It’s normal. 6. Support local health organizations that provide abortions. Let them know you support them by writing or calling them. Volunteer with them if you can. Send them flowers. Let them know you’re grateful they’re there, especially if you live in an area where clinics and doctors are being harassed. They are: the FAN clinics (Feminist Abortion Network). the members of ACN (Abortion Care Network). the members of NAF (National Abortion Federation). Stay tuned for Part 2 in my next blog post. Happy Spring, everyone!...
Read MoreRoom to Breathe – Winter Solstice 2012 – Conscious Caring
There is a new consciousness birthing itself on the planet—an awareness that supports conscious living, which means conscious choice-making. — Life Choices home page I feel like I have more room to breathe now that President Obama has been re-elected. While not the perfect progressive by any means, Obama is a fascinating figure. It’s not an accident that he has appeared at this time of history. He supports women’s health and empowerment, workers’ rights, and the health of the earth as a whole. Those issues are key to the advancement of world peace and the well-being of all. Obama’s presence on the world stage is a bridge to better possibilities, even though his actions don’t reflect that a hundred percent of the time. Historical consciousness has a way of twisting and turning through mazes of paradox and contradiction before showing itself on a clear path. It’s an evolutionary thing, good overall but often tough in the short run. Conditions will likely get worse before they get better, but we as a world are moving in the direction of a growing awareness that supports conscious living. We don’t have much choice in the matter. The Earth is moving us towards investing in our own humanity. There is a lot going on. You can feel it on both a personal and planetary level. I’m aware of a deluge of developments in people’s lives in both my close circle of friends, family, and acquaintances, and in the larger world around the globe. Lots of serious stuff. People are having to step up. I’m grateful the election period is over. The immediacy of electoral power politics consumes my attention in a way that pushes deeper, more long term issues aside. It sucks the air out of the room. It taints my perspective, feeds on fear, and makes it hard to remember the higher purpose that motivates my work. I have now settled back into my primary focus, which is to nurture people to open to the unity of being, the truth of existence—the Oneness, and to address their personal issues in a universal context. The trick is to stay connected to universal truths while at the same time applying ourselves to improving the quality of daily life, finding the balance between staying true to existence and meeting the incessant spontaneity of events. ~~~~~~~ The Winter Solstice is almost upon us. There is excitement in some quarters about this year’s solstice. They say December 21, 2012 is significant in the Mayan calendar. I don’t know a lot about this, but I do find it interesting. The doomsday prophecies making the rounds make no sense at all to me, but the idea that the world is moving in a profoundly transformative direction does. In an online article last year, a Mayan elder named Carlos Barrios is quoted as follows: Anthropologists visit the temple sites and read the inscriptions and make up stories about the Maya, but they do not read the signs correctly. It’s just their imagination. Other people write about prophecy in the name of the Maya. They say that the world will end in December 2012. The Mayan elders are angry with this. The world will not end. It will be transformed. We are no longer in the World of the Fourth Sun, but we are not yet in the World of the Fifth Sun. This is the time in-between, the time of transition. As we pass through transition there is a colossal, global convergence of environmental destruction, social chaos, war, and ongoing Earth Changes. Humanity will continue, but in a different way. Material structures will change. From this we will have...
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