Divisions and Fear

Someone once asked me what I value most in this world. My response was, "Seeing other people cross dividing lines and work together.

There are many in this world who would divide. We are divided by geography, income, politics, religions, genders, lifestyle, cultures, and languages. Some thrill at diving people and putting each in our place.

But are we not all one - humanity? Do we not all have the same color blood running in our veins? Do we not all live under the same sky, where the moon and sun touch our lives?

I've even seen fellow Christians bicker among themselves over who has what right.

People quote the bible as an excuse to draw lines. "If you're not with me; you're against me!" or "Christ came to divide sheep and goats, so I am called to do likewise!"


Say WHAT?!?

Do you really believe that is what Jesus / Yeshua wants? Did He not tend to the Roman centurion and the Samaritans as well as the Jews? Did He not reach out to everyone who crossed his path, and tell a beautiful story of blessing for the one that stepped across a dividing line to help a fellow human being?

Christ asks that we love each other and work together - not divide ourselves, fight, and hate each other. That is the teachings of the adversary.

Once, I attended a healing Mass with my husband and in-laws. My mother-in-law is Protestant, and thus cannot receive communion in the Catholic church. When the priest saw that she did not come up, he approached her after finishing the line. She refused demurely. When asked why, she explained that she was Protestant and not allowed. To emphasize, she put her hands before her mouth.

The priest pulled down her hands, put the Eucharist in her palms and said firmly, "That doesn't matter." There were whispers all around us; many had plans to report this priest to the church. But I Bless this priest for what he had done. He crossed that line to extend Love.

Fear divides us from our fellow human beings. We fear them, whether we see that as despising them, hating them, or cutting ourselves from them. We are running as fast as we can in the opposite direction, even when we don't admit it to ourselves.

Fear can also be used by others to keep us quiet, obedient to their greed and desires, and have us fight each other. Fear is used to divide us. Fear is used to keep us from saying or doing something to change things - especially when things should be changed!

Why?

Because, division is the antithesis of what humanity is actually growing towards and what we can be. There is a statement that practically screams from my being when I see how much fear has crippled what we can be.

We can achieve far more together than the sum of our individual efforts.

Together - as one.

When we are divided and running in so many different directions, we fail in that.

How much can we do working together? Even as recent as one generation ago, we walked on the surface of the moon.

But we can do much more. When people work together, they erase the dividing lines. They unite in heart and mind and create something strong and lasting.

We create a better world, a brighter world.

We come up with solutions to life's problems, with no loss to any, no answering to corporate greed that sees the poor masses beneath its notice.

We bring Peace into our lives and our world. 

We bring Love to live in our lives and the lives of every one of our sisters and brothers.

We are all one, though fear tries to tell us differently.  Let Light shine to dissolve the fear - and bring us a better world.

~ ESA

Simply Good

This blog post is primarily in response to some conversations I've had with people over the past week. For some reason, it's hard for some to accept the simple fact that there are good hearts in this world. That when a person is nice or does some kind act, it can simply be from the love in their heart for a fellow human being and not for any ulterior motive.

I grant that in this world there are people who are nice, using flattery and helping in many ways, to either get attention/recognition or influence another in some way. Some help others in this world because they believe it will lead to some great prize, including power. But I sincerely believe these are the minority.

Then there are many, many others who help people out of the love/kindness of their hearts. They roll up their sleeves and/or open their hearts just because it's another person in need, and their hearts go out to another human being who is suffering at the time.

The reason we more often see the minority is a combination of humility of the vast number of good hearts (and anonymity that goes with that), and that the media covers the darker side of human nature - the greed, the corruption, the lies. We are taught that this darker nature is what rules all hearts; that there will always be an underlying motive other than a good heart. But this is not true.

I believe the majority of people in this world would help another if they see the opportunity within their hands and believe they can help. A bit of faith in each other can go quite a long way.

Ulterior motive we don't need
To help another indeed.
Simply be Good.

- ESA

One of Them

In addition to the previous post, I'd like to mention another response to Avatar.

In the movie, there are bio-technological hybrid bodies, called avatars that a human can remotely control to interact with Pandora's indigenous humanoid race. While the concept of remote-mind-controlled devices isn't new (especially in science-fiction), I recall wishing I had one too to go in and help the locals.

As I sat in the theater, caught up in the movie, I found myself longing to be part of that world. Not just a visitor, but like Jake Sully, able to be ONE with the people, learn their ways, interact with them on their level in a body just like theirs...

Then something blossomed in my mind. What about this world?

Am I not a part of this world? Have I not learned the ways of this world and interact with the indigenous humanoids of this world? Do I not already possess a body just like theirs?

What, then, is the difference between going several light-years away and helping another race of humanoids and staying right here and helping the ones in this world? There exists here the same corruption, corporate greed and overuse of military power here as what was shown in the movie.

What is stopping me from trying? Why do I long to help another far away, but run and hide from the same here?

- ESA

Connectedness

In seeing the movie Avatar yesterday, I left the theater with several things rolling through my head. Among them was how everything on Pandora was connected, not only spiritually but also through a "vast bio-botanical neural network."

I found it fascinating that the native humanoids, the Na'vi, could connect to life around them not only in a spiritual way alone, or by the touch of a hand, but by interconnecting a part of themselves with a similar part found in both plant and animals of their world. This ability to physically and psychically connect with other life likely developed a culture that holds a great respect for all life. They believe there is a life-energy that flows through themselves and every other life form, interconnecting them.

My husband noted that those who work closely with nature may better understand how a life can be connected to the non-human life around you: the chickens laying eggs, the plants growing in the fields, the bees needed to pollinate those plants, and all other insect, plant and animal life that may help or hinder your efforts to procure food or goods from the land. He speaks of a thankfulness one feels for all that contributed when it’s harvested and ready for consumption or use.

As a child, my food came from the supermarket, not the fields. Many times I've said a prayer before the meal, but never associated what was on the plate with "life." While I learned differently since childhood, scenes where the Na'vi did not let another life suffer needlessly and thanked their kills for the food, brought it home again inside me.

There is another aspect of connectedness I took from the movie as well. I believe we're connected to all other human beings in this world. Much as we separate ourselves from nature behind shuttered windows, walls and doors, we also strive to separate ourselves from each other in this world. We draw lines on a map, categorize what "race" or ethnic-background with which we identify ourselves, amplify gender-gaps, box ourselves in organization charts, divide ourselves by religious beliefs, etc.

But we are all human beings. A smile is a smile, readily exchanged with another. We are all one race on one small planet. And we are not the only life in this world.

When was the last time I walked outside my door to connect with another life in this world? Another human being? The fact that I have to think to answer that question is sad. And is something I should remedy...

One human race.
One small world.
Connected.

-ESA

Reminders

A question a friend posed pricked me when I re-read it this morning. "How long do you think you will be able to hold onto the message? The enemy will back down whilst you have understanding, but after a bit of time will lure you back to old ideas."

Like many my age, I need to give myself reminders - post-it notes, memos on calendars, voice-mails, emails, repetition and bookmarks. That is just the daily routine stuff.

When there is something that strikes me as important, I copy it into a Word document or write it in a my small journal in my laptop bag. This way, after some time passes and I start to forget the lesson, I can go back and re-read it.

For the question above, it's a good indicator that I've already fallen back to my old habits; I got a similar response to the words as I did when I initially read them. Even though a message struck home at first, the lesson faded with time. I still live in a corrupt and corruptible world. This is still the playground of the enemy, and I am still susceptible.

If I want to continue to grow, I really need to keep valuable lessons at hand and do what I can not to forget them.

They are my stepping stones.
I can still trip.
And start again!

-ESA

Asking "Why?"

Often I try to see things from different perspectives, as far as the limits of my mind, my experiences and my perceptions can take me.

One of the things that has occurred to me is this:

God is like a Parent.

When a child is young, the parent will rebuke, intervene, discipline and rescue the child from the trouble the child has gotten into.

When the child grows, more responsibility is given to the child with the understanding that the child has learned what is right and what is wrong and how to self-discipline and continue to grow.

In most cases, a parent will only dress a child for so many years, then guide the child in what to wear, eventually letting the child not only dress him/herself but make the decisions on what to wear and letting him/her handle the repercussions on his/her own.

I believe that to God, Humanity is like that child.

Over the centuries, we've grown and have now reached a point where we know what is right and wrong and can assume some responsibilities for ourselves and our lives.

But we keep turning to God and asking, "Why don't you do something about all the evils in this world."

I think many fail to realize... God may well be asking Humanity the same question.

-ESA

Bright Lights

Between the news the media covers and how bad news seems to travel further and faster than good news, it is difficult to see the good in our fellow human beings. Instead we look upon each other with fear and suspicion.

Recently, a friend had some people reach out to him and his wife in their need. I admit that my first and primary response was that fear when I heard they not only had his phone number but also his address, saying they will bring over some goods. I warned my friend to be very careful as these people could rob them or worse...

His response snapped me into a better perspective. He told me flatly, there was nothing in his home worth stealing. He was not going to let the fear that we have of strangers stop him from opening the door to those who really do intend to help.

He judged correctly, those people brought smiles, food and things he and his wife could use, a very rare thing in his life and a blessing he received with a gratitude and joy that touched my heart.

Someone really cared for their fellow human beings.

Someone fought that fear and opened their door.

Together that moment has something to teach us all.

We should be alert and open the ways for any of our fellow human beings who truly wish to help others. And while we should maintain vigilance against those who deceive, manipulate and abuse the ways we open, we should never use it as an excuse or reason to let our fears lock us away from each other.

We all share this world. True, there is darkness and evil here. But there are many bright points of Light and Love here too. If we open our eyes to see the difference, we will see not only the bright points, but the ways they illuminate where we can help one another.

We also shouldn't propagate the bad news; just alert others of precautions to take. Instead, we should spread good news, and fight against the fear that has made us mistrustful of one another.

Hand-in-Hand can humanity stand
Against the fear
Trust in Love

- ESA

Erasing Lines

The world as we have come to know it is a large, vast place full of wondrous variety and diversity. But sometimes the nature in human beings to classify, to list -- to pigeonhole comes out in us all. With this we draw lines - circles, boxes, squares. We separate ourselves and create a we/them dichotomy that creates alienation, segregation, separation, war, feelings of loftiness and even hatred.

There is a poem, I often quote:
They drew a circle to shut us out.
Heretic, rebel, a thing to flout!

But Love and us had the wit to win,
We drew a circle that took them in.
- Original by Edward Markham

In the late 1960's, humanity saw something that it never saw before, pictures of our world as seen from a vast distance: one blue-green world with white lacing; no borders marking countries, no name tags on cities. This is an image that stuck in the minds of many who had the fortune of being around in those days -- we're one world.

Then we went back to our borders, our religions, our races, our cultures, our political beliefs, our myriad ways of separating ourselves from our fellow human beings. "We are not like them," we told ourselves. "They are so different and strange." And wars continued; prejudices still thrived. And we kept telling ourselves that our little circle was the ONE TRUE circle and all others are wrong.

The "if you're not with us, you are against us" mentality still exists today as it has for thousands of years. We never really changed, even when we saw with our own eyes that we are of ONE WORLD.

Now over four decades later, people are seeing the world through different eyes once again. The internet has allowed us to step outside of our little circles and explore what exists in others. In doing so, many have come to see "Hey, we're not so different." In fact, many have reached out and befriended others around the world, regardless of country, religion or politics. They find they share common interests and some common beliefs even if they are expressed differently within the circles they were brought up in.

Language barriers that often were an overwhelming hurdle are now simply overcome as more and more online translators make communicating with others easier. People are able to hold conversations with people anywhere in this world - in real time (if they are awake at the same time) or within mere hours - with someone who doesn't speak the same language.

We still find the old adage is true: a smile is still a smile; a laugh is still a laugh; and a tear is still a tear, regardless of where we are and what language we speak.

My hope is that this is the time when many will come forth with not pencils and mark "This is ours; that is yours," but will turn that instrument of destruction around and erase those lines!

We are all human beings. We are of one world surrounded by the vastness of space. When we continue to squabble like spoiled siblings in a household, we will fail to reach our true potential. It's only when we reach out and take each others hands, erasing the lines between us, can we discover how much common ground we really have. And it's on this common ground, we can build the foundation to a better world.

Can one person do this? No. But one person can make a start, reaching out to anyone to whom (s)he contacts. In turn, those people can do the same. Little steps lead to bigger ones.

I was born in the year man first set foot on the moon and looked back upon the Earth. Before my time is done on this world, I'd like to see it reach the point when one person looks at another, all they see is a fellow human being. One who shares the common ground of living in the same world, and may have many other things in common as well.

All one needs to do is reach out and discover them.

Stop drawing lines.
Start erasing.

- ESA