Taking Sides

There is a shock, a horror, a sadness as I view many demonstrations for a "paid for by others life," which is only magnified by the students segregating themselves. To top it off, there are professors telling the press they have no right to be there!!! There are people strongly trying to shut down all discussion that includes all sides. The First Amendment is in jeopardy.

And, so much for a post-racial time. The great leaders of the 60's I am certain are cringing. Martin Luther King Jr.'s niece was on Varney & Co this morning voicing the same concerns I have. This racial division is nuts.

We are all children of the Divine. We all share the same air and water. We are one at every level. Skin color, eye color, hair color, heritage or whatever do not define who we are. It is the content of character that makes a difference. Of course, to develop character we are required to strive, to work, to succeed, to fail, to pick ourselves up and keep on keeping on. To earn our own self-respect requires our participation in our lives and our responsibility for our lives. To want others to do it for us does not develop character. To attack others rather than to learn from them is ridiculous and not an exercise in character development.

Thomas Aquinas said: "We must love them both: those whose opinions we share and those whose opinions we reject.  For both have labored in search for their truth and both have helped us in the finding of our own."

Thoughtful, civil dialogue has been the mark of our culture. It is being damaged by ideologues on many fronts. The scientists that point out the ice masses are growing are being accused of hate speech. Really? Fundamentalists of whatever stripe attack rational thinkers as haters. Really? What are we in Stalin's Soviet arena or Hitler's Fascist world? Lock-step thinking leads to doom. Look at history.

I think part of the problem is we have lost our spiritual center. So few people seek the depth of spirituality and personal relationship with the Divine Presence. Churches are emptying I think partially because there is the atmosphere of a sales meeting or at least not true spiritual understanding being presented. Learn the doctrine of whatever group and be included. Make other groups wrong. Keep them in business by giving them your money. (Remember Paul, he made tents to support his ministry). Get emotional and chant "Praise the Lord," but don't ever live a life that praises the Lord. Shun meditation and practices of the mystics that lead to deep and profound understanding and transformation.

Tribal consciousness seems to have taken over the planet. Us against them is a time honored folly.

It is puzzling. I must admit that I am a bit bewildered. It was not so long ago that it was different. I'm not sure, but it looks to me if it is not turned around very soon, we have a long, dark period of history coming. I can imagine people in the distant future saying "WHAT WERE THEY THINKING?" Maybe if we consider that, we can divert the mess piling up and readying itself for a long disaster time.

I know that there is a Divine Presence that is always with me, even when I turn away. Today I choose to turn toward the Divine Presence. I ask forgiveness for all I have said, done or thought that is not aligned with God and the Truth of Oneness. I release my tribal exclusionary ideas and embrace all the children of God as true brothers and sisters. I step up and take responsibility for who I am, what I do and what I say. Since I know that God is always with me, I am conscious of choosing only that which I would do or say in the Presence of the Divine. Today I choose to be a better version of me.