Being Politically Active and Spiritually Serene – Part 2

Several people responded to my message last week by indicating that it wasn’t really very helpful. It contained some nice thoughts, was well-written, but was almost Pollyanna-ish. Not very helpful in the practical sense.

Here’s Part Two.

Last week I wrote:

“It’s been very difficult for me to be (a) politically active since the election and (b) spiritually centered at the same time. The more active I want to become the more frustrated/angry/disappointed I also become. Something’s not right – and the problem is in me.…

“I need to be in balance with both sets of these activities. In short, I need to be as politically active as I can, but not out of anger, fear, frustration, or anxiety. I need to be politically active out of love and acceptance.

“But how can I do that?”

I tried to answer that question by providing some simple analogies. I closed with:

“I need to understand that my perception of things, people or events is not really real. I have to acknowledge that these things certainly appear to be very, very real. But they’re not. I need to ask for a different way of looking at the situation. I need to “see” not with physical sight, but with spiritual vision – to “see” the same way the Holy Spirit “sees:” Everything is either an act of Love or a call for Love. That ability to “see” like the Holy Spirit is given to me as a gift from God.

“So, I can protest, write my congressional representatives, send emails, sign petitions, or contribute money sensing that this movement of our new government is simply a call for Love. It is an attempt to assuage fear by accumulating and exercising power to provide them with security. I can try to accept (which is to be aware without fear or judgment) their insecurity and attempt to correct their “not knowing” rather than screaming out of my self-righteous anger and fear.”

Being a grateful member of Alcoholics Anonymous has helped me beyond what can be discussed here. I cannot speak for AA (no one can) but I can relate things taught me by old-timers in the Program. These ideas and practical suggestions lie behind all of what I wrote last week. [As an aside – I believe the principles of A Course in Miracles (ACIM) and the practical suggestions of AA are so much in sync that they become almost indivisible in my mind]

Basically, I want to suggest that you simply do the next right thing when faced with “political” issues that are coming out of Washington, DC. Pray, meditate, discuss, or whatever it is you normally do, and then do what you think is right/correct/possible for you to do. But, as I was taught, do these things without expectations.

It is similar to making a 9^th Step amend to someone I have harmed while still drinking. I am making the amend for myself – to help me clean the messes I have made. This is necessary for me to open up myself to positive change. If the other person cannot accept my amend, I cannot worry about that. I may be saddened, of course. But how someone responds to me is beyond my act of contrition and the amend I was offering them. I was cautioned to “do the work honestly and let the God of my understanding handle the outcome.” 

When I find myself frustrated, worried, fearful, and – especially – angry at not getting the outcome I was hoping for (translation: expected), then I can be relatively assured that I was not focused on my part only. I was concerned with the outcome I preferred to occur, not on the solid genuineness of making an honest, heart-felt amend.

When I am focused on outcomes, then I fully understand that I am not trying to simply do God’s work as best I understand it. I am really trying to do God’s job. When I put it to myself that that’s exactly what I was up to, and that’s exactly why I’m feeling so frustrated and angry – I am always stunned at the error I made – again. And again. And again. I am still a work in progress.

So, continue writing, calling, emailing, attending Town Hall meetings, working in concert with other groups, marching, making signs, or whatever. But do so following your heart and allowing the God of your understanding to control the outcome. I can try to accept (which is to be aware without fear or judgment) the politicians’ insecurity and attempt to correct their “not knowing” rather than screaming out of my self-righteous anger and fear because I want my outcome to occur.

You are not expected to do God’s job. So, quit trying to.

As I’ve stated before, “I have to understand, on a visceral level, who the “Me” or “I” really is when I am speaking or thinking. The “I” that says to myself, “I really need a newer, more reliable car” is a different “I” than the one that says to Spirit, “I can’t do this anymore; help me perceive things the way You see them.”

Although these messages are mostly for me, thanks for listening to me and getting to know me – warts and all. As always, feel free to forward this message to your friends, family, and those accompanying you on your spiritual journey.

Don

#3 Feb 2017

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