Monday, March 8, 2010

In Love

I put it to you that we are at an interesting crossroads in our history. Human conflict was first more with battling nature, and then we began to tame the elements and started fighting with each other. Today we face a global form of self destruction so evident by current events. Our individual self is interconnected and interdependent on our larger ecological self--the planet Earth. If we take care of the smaller self, we also must preserve the larger self.

However, this is just my experience; so I ask you to reflect if this is true for you as well. What have you seen in your own lifetime as to how humans relate to themselves, others and the earth? While individually we are kind, aware and wise, there appears to be a form of collective dysfunction when it comes to foreseeing and forestalling future man-made disasters that have their origins in an evidently ego-centered outlook.

When reflecting about all the things that I love, how can I divorce myself from feeling the same love for myself? The simple four letter word “love“does not separate, it connects. In love suffering and anomie is lessened, and well-being is enhanced. It transforms insight into idea into action in the grace of deep compassion.

My first insight when I was four was that I was so lucky to have food while other children were starving and dying. So quite early both gratitude and guilt became emotions I had to encompass at the same time, this “buzzing”—which we all experience—is our life force and is both nervously destructive and curiously creative.

I write out of my appreciation for the many wonders and gifts I have experienced. By constantly remembering and cultivating a grateful spirit, I foster an intention of the sacred and attention to this illuminates my world even more. This is the door of light I welcome you to open!

Like many, I have struggled to find meaning in a civilization that is so focused at times on the material. It appears at times that we are a culture denying a deeper spirit. All I have to do is deeply listen to my own heart beat. This great mystery we live is so interconnected, if only we dare to explore how we all care for all things in this world. Life’s greatest challenge is to see how I can expand this love that is myself to all things. When I am aware of how I love all creation, then I add just another drop in the pool of universal compassion.

I believe we all are trying to find the eye of this hurricane we call life—that still place in the midst of a storm. To find harmony requires inquiry into what is grace. Grace is a radical gift: by realizing greater awareness of my own concerns, I can liberate a collective unconsciousness and bring greater happiness to others. My suffering is lessened when I realize this is “our” suffering—the world beating with one heart. We can provide no greater gift in our own lifetime than contributing to reduction of anxiety, whether on an individual basis or a global basis.
Our greatest challenge today is for each person on this planet to find peace within themselves. If we wish to lessen terror, improve our environment, help others, resolve whatever plagues our human condition, we must go within and examine what is true.

What we do for future generations is a treasure we pass on to them and also give to our own soul. The challenge is to develop a positive feedback loop to celebrate our natural passion to be kind, gentle and sensitive. We will not evolve our spirit if we do not venture forth and risk vulnerability.

The simple act of lessening my own anxiety influences and creates momentum to calm others. When I pay attention to my love, I find the energy to cultivate wise action. As I become gentler with myself, I add to making this a more beloved place. In love changes our world when we free ourselves to explore the compassionate space of our higher self.