I was exchanging holiday wishes
with a good friend and subscriber earlier this week. We discussed the rancor of
2012 politics and our hopes for for 2013. I commented on her New Year’s greeting card
she had sent earlier. In it she had written “… I can’t quite remember my early programming, but is fear and greed
the result of our original sin?” During our conversation, she mentioned
how it seemed to her that human history seemed to operate in cycles. It seemed
to her that humankind would take 3 steps forward only to retreat 2 steps,
followed by another 2 steps forward and then 3 steps backward – ending up maybe
400 years later with much newer technology but back in the same place
culturally, politically, and spiritually.
I believe my friend is correct
in the observation of cycles. Here in America, we have gone through quite a few
cycles of 3 steps forward only to retreat 2 steps. For example, We have had
what historians call “The Three Great Awakenings.” The first was in the mid 18th
Century, the second in the early half of the 19th Century, and the
third in the last half of the same century (1850-1900). The Third Great
Awakening also spawned the era of the Social Gospel, which covered the period
from 1890 to the outbreak of World War II.
Each of these was precipitated
by economic/cultural upheavals and associated alterations to our perceived
cultural/social/moral values. Each “Awakening” was a step back to recapture
perceived “lost” values but each also contained the seeds of further growth.
For instance, during the 3rd Awakening there was an enormous
movement to recapture personal (almost Victorian) piety, which gave rise to
Holiness, Pentecostal and other similar congregations. These, in turn, were
very fundamentalist – interpreting the Bible very literally and being rather
judgmental in terms of all those that didn’t quite agree with their positions.
On the other hand, this emphasis on personal piety gave rise to a strong sense
of social activism within the organizational structure of religious
institutions – within congregations and denominations themselves. From this
came the Social Gospel Movement and its focus on suffrage movements,
unionization, the Salvation Army, progressive political positions, as well as
humanist philosophies such as the Theosophical Society, to promote care for the
health and housing of the poor, needy, and downtrodden.
I do believe there are cycles
that societies go through, where there are elements of progressive change as
well as elements of severe resistance to that change. In short, there are steps
forward and simultaneous pressures to try to step backward.
Since the late 1980s and into
the early 1990s, many with a spiritual (not religious) focus have noted that we
are moving into another significant social/moral/spiritual Era. Some have
attributed this to the Mayan Calendar Cycle. Regardless, we are currently witnessing
some pretty significant social and cultural upheavals: The progressive
political movement in the USA (with its focus on accepting the growing diversity of our citizens as well as wanting
to modify the growing disparity of wealth) and the Arab Spring movements. This
progressive movements is coupled closely with the resistance to these trends –
the TEA Party, the Religious Right, fear of immigrants, the perceived battle
between “socialism” and “capitalism,” the desire for more personal piety in
sexual behavior enforced by laws prohibiting contraception for unmarried women,
the stark distinction between voiced social criticism and perceived unpatriotic
behavior.
As I stated in my Christmas
greeting, I do believe we are moving into another Era – one encompassing the
beginnings of an Age of Cooperation rather than Competition, Inclusion rather
than Exclusion, Acceptance and Tolerance rather than Self-Righteous Arrogance,
the Power of Love rather than the Love of Power. If history holds true as a
guide, the old values of competition, power, accumulation of wealth, and very
strict adherence to rigid religious dogma will not simply “slip away quietly
into the night.”
My friend has asked a very good question for the beginning of the year.
“[Within the cycles of history] … Is fear and greed the result of our original
sin?”
My short answer: Yes and No. Let me explain.
If I define sin (original or otherwise) as something I have done
that violates one of God’s Law(s) and therefore I will be punished – then the answer is “No.” If I define sin as an error (as does A
Course in Miracles), in which I have mistakenly come to believe that the
reality of this physical world truly exists and I am truly a
separate-from-everyone-else biological human being, then the answer is “Yes.” If I perceive I am a physically separate
entity in human form, then all other errors of my perception follow from this:
Separation, Duality, Lack or Greed, a dog-eat-dog mentality
(protect-defend-attack-retaliate). When I think about it, all of these
perceptions can be boiled down to FEAR – the opposite of Faith.
I leave you with several
uplifting thoughts as this New Year begins. Hopefully, these might help each of
you maintain a perspective about the events that are currently occurring:
- · The powerful experience of inspiration that many of us feel at the beginning of a new year is the recognition that we really can do something that we hadn't believed possible before—that we are capable of breaking through to higher ground and reaching previously unimaginable levels of our own potential. Indeed, the uplifting experience of inspiration that we feel in those moments is the thrilling sense that anything is possible. That feeling of inspiration is a taste of spiritual freedom, because within it we experience liberation from any habitual sense of limitation. —Andrew Cohen. NOTE: You can read the full context for this quote in Andrew's new blog post, "When the New Year Doesn't End" <http://click.enlightennext-mail.org/?qs=8cd9bef9ba57d83c0c54f2a4101cd01d8f5206cf5988eaa831ff8b37a28cb395>
- · One of my favorite sayings. “Strive for control over your experience of the events and people of your life – not control over the events or people themselves.”
Although these messages are
mostly for me, thanks for listening. As always – feel free to forward this
message to your friends, family, and those accompanying you on your spiritual
journey.
Don
#1 January, 2013
Copyright, 2013
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