Every generation, as it moves out of prime into maturity, swears that the world has deeply degenerated. So, I suppose it should come as no surprise that I have deep concerns about where our society has evolved to. I look around and see a world that seems to be directed by hate, fear, anger, and greed. Islamic extremists top the list of our boogeymen. However, I see clearly Christian extremists, political extremists, ideological extremists, & a greed directed financial system, all of which have shied far away from their origins and seem to match in destructive power, their Islamic extremist counterparts. It seems that fear and anger are today's answer to life. If someone holds a different opinion, hate rules and those of similar opinion band together to hate others out of their livelihood and possibly existence. And lies have become the new facts simply because they blend better with our emotional opinions.
One member of our congregation swears the answer is to never watch the news. But the media is the symptom, not the cause of the problem. Even if I withdraw from the flagrant unfairness that dominates the airwaves, another member tells me her personal story of a beloved, large corporation that has dealt with her with unconscionable deceit and may never be held accountable. The problem does not seem restricted to the macro level of society. We bump into the unfairness of life and the unfairness of the way people relate to each other in the small relationships too.
The part of me that sees this world as a very small part of the universal possibilities wants to give up - take joy in the idea that this world is transitional and passing away as we speak - and assure myself that if God is exploring all possible futures through us, this one certainly isn't going to make the grade. In other words, I am tempted to detach and curse the world around me, retreating into something beyond what we are facing here in the earth. But I realize that if I return hate or even rejection for the fear, anger, hate, greed, and unfairness around me I am adding to the problem and probably trapping my identity in this particular expression of reality.
Jesus said, "Forgive them for they know not what they do." And to Pilot, "You would have no power over me but my Father in heaven gave it to you." And of course, "Do not resist evil." We fight injustice with harmony, not anger. If I declare my indignation over the state of the world or even personal life around me, I am adding to the very energy that I detest. Instead what is needed is harmony which annihilates the negatives the way Light swallows up the darkness.
If you are faced with unfairness, ask what God is wanting you to learn, how you can wrestle a blessing from what you face. Declare to the circumstances and people that you are squared off against, "You would have no power over me, but my Father in heaven gave it to you." Our lives are totally between God & ourselves - all of them! So fight off the desire to "resist"; and declare harmony with Islamic extremists, liars & hate mongers on the media, unfair situations, destructive financial values, and all those whose opinions seems to us to flow from ignorance. It's time to resist the natural impulse to reject and withdraw. It's time for compassion and HARMONY!
A practice that can change your life is to simply, throughout your day, declare "I am in Harmony!" We start by declaring harmony whenever negative emotions arise. But it will evolve to declaring harmony WITH all that we would naturally turn away from. This is not a capitulation to evil. It is refusing to participate in evil even by hating it. It is "living in harmony" no matter what the world throws in our way. The messenger of God in this world does not "kick ass" in the right places. The messenger of God channels harmony into every expression, especially those that seem to need it most. And the messenger of God rises above what faces him or her by realizing that the "harmony" that is is me is greater than what is in the world.
If all this sounds like babble, then just consider this spiritual practice. If you will declare "I am in Harmony!" throughout your day, and let it evolve into "I am in harmony with....." targeting all the areas you encounter where harmony isn't natural to you, you will shortly see a marked improvement in your life. This whole blog boils down to that one sentence. The pursuance of Harmony at all costs will dynamically transform your life - for the kingdom of heaven or harmony is where all wonderful miracles are initiated.
Good luck! If it were easy or if it were natural to our human self, everyone would already be demonstrating these miracles. But though it is alien to our human inclination to meet evil with harmony, Jesus demonstrated it, you can do it, and the results are astounding.
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