I am still receiving questions
or comments that reflect the perplexity about all the issues raised by the actions
of ISIS/ISIL in Iraq and Syria. These
comments come from subscribers as well as those national and international
readers who are picking me up from FaceBook or other social media.
I have discussed how we have a
horizontal and vertical way of looking at events in this world. [Msg-5-Aug-2014; The Role Of My Higher Mind]
The horizontal view has a past, present and future. It is the outer world. The
vertical lives only in the eternal Now. It is the inner world. The horizontal
reflects a perspective of my egoic thinking – either from my lower or from my
higher mind. But both are still of my ego. The vertical reflects a perspective
of Now that emanates from a conscious, palpable interaction with the divine.
Nonetheless, we have to live in
this physical world of ours. We have to pay our bills and taxes, prepare and
eat food, take care of our property, and take care of our young, the elderly
and others who are infirmed. Doesn’t that also mean we have to “believe” in the
reality of this horizontal outer perspective?
No. It means we have to be in
this world but not of it.
But how do we do that? How do we
live in the joy, peace, acceptance, and love that we already are – the inner
world – and deal (or not!) with the brutal fanaticism that I believe ISIS/ISIL
represents in my outer world?
These are tough questions –
really tough questions.
The only idea that springs to my
mind is to consider my motive. I’m unsure if God, as I understand God, really
is consciously aware of the world as I perceive it. A Course in Miracles (ACIM) states He
doesn’t. What he sees is a lovely sleeping child having a nightmare. He doesn’t
know what the nightmare is about. Before He can cuddle and comfort me I have to
wake up. My perception (or nightmare of a dog-eat-dog world) generally reflects
my egoic thinking, which is an illusion and has nothing whatsoever to do with
the True Reality of the Now – of Eternal Love and Acceptance. I intellectually
agree with this.
So what?
That being the case, the only
true response I can make is to examine the inner world between my ears and ensure
my motives are genuine. There are many wonderful actions people take that are
admirable and acclaimed. However, if they are performed out of a sense of
guilt, or fear, or pride, they count for nothing. Paul really nailed it in his
first letter to the budding congregation in Corinth (Chapter 13): “I may speak in tongues of men or angels, … I
may have the gift of prophecy and know every hidden truth; I may have faith strong
enough to move mountains… I may dole out all I possess or even give my body to
be burnt, but if I have no love, [I am nothing].”
That’s what the God of my
understanding “sees.” My motive. My energy. My desire. My inner world.
I may react to ISIS/ISIL the way
many seem to be doing – bomb the hell out of them; butcher them; we should have
stayed in Iraq beating them do death or converting them to be good,
middle-class Americans and teaching them to love our version of democracy. I also
hear people stating that we should do nothing – what is going on is a
continuation of a millennium-long struggle for dominance between the Shia and
Sunni factions of Islam. They need to figure this out or kill each other in the
process.
Regardless of how I personally
come down on this issue, I need to examine my motive(s). Do I deal with
ISIS/ISIL based on fear, anger, or hate? Don’t I remember that fear is the
opposite of faith? Do I deal with ISIS/ISIL based on my higher mind’s desire
for altruism and fairness? After all it makes me feel good and safe to think of
“higher” things. Isn’t this a little prideful? Do I fear for my stock in oil
companies that are engaged in the Middle East? Isn’t this greed? For everyone
who hurts us don’t I want us to beat them into submission because America is –
well, just the greatest? Isn’t that arrogance or, even worse, grade-school
playground bullying?
Yes, there are things to do in
the outer world – and the President and others are talking about them – the
political inequity between Shia and Sunni factions of Islam, working for the
stability of Middle East governments, creating trust in the political
processes, building respect and justice for all citizens – men, women, and all religious beliefs. Surely ISIS/ISIL
has to be stopped or contained, but in a manner that will not simply give rise
to another ISIS-type insurgency. However, before we Americans get too high on
our moral horse, we must remember the “civilized” western nations had horrible
wars, terrorism, inequity, injustice and brutality between Roman Catholic and
Protestant expressions of Christianity – as late as 35 years ago in Ireland. We
Americans perpetrated the most effective genocidal campaign in history against
the resident Native Americans who were here for 10,000 years and had left our
country much as they had found it. We executed legal, congressional treaties
with them and then immediately broke them – over and over and over. We held
onto the concept of slavery for many decades after European countries had
abandoned it as a brutish, unchristian, immoral act of their societies and governments.
By hating ISIS/ISIL are we
simply keeping the focus off our own shameful past? By treating Middle East Arab
Muslims as second-class humankind, are we keeping the focus off our own
treatment of those we believe remain second-class citizens here in the USA –
Hispanics, urban Blacks, Asian Immigrants, the LBGT community?
I must examine my motives. You
must examine yours. We, as a country, must examine ours.
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
#2 September 2014
Copyright, 2014
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