YOU- Body, Mind, Spirit #9 We’re All in This Together

It does seem like we are very divided in our communities, in our country and in the world. We humans, we’re a feisty bunch. When disaster strikes, what do we do? We take sides, right? We find a bad guy. We look to blame somebody for whatever is going on. And all this division causes us immense stress.

We see this over and over. We’ve seen this with Covid—get vaccinated, don’t get vaccinated; masks on, masks off; go to school, don’t go to school.

Then the supply chain issue. Everybody’s having problems finding stuff. Who’s to blame? It’s the government, it’s the truckers, etc.

And now we have a disruption going on in Ukraine. The western nations call it an act of aggression by Russia, but Putin says they’re protecting their boundaries.

These things affect everybody, every single one of these issues affects all of us. None of us is exempt from experiencing the effects of Covid, of the worldwide supply chain disturbance, or of the dissension between Ukraine and Russia.

Ukraine is a bread basket of the world. They export so much grain and a lot of other resources so they are very important to the world economy.

So here I am thinking all these things about the insanity in this world and then, as I usually do when I feel a mental “Ouch!”, I stopped. And what came to mind then was what my metaphysical discipline has taught me.

I’ve been studying A Course in Miracles for over 40 years. One of its key principles is that the sonship, meaning all of us, every living being, is one. Oneness cannot be divided. “If you perceive otherwise, (I’m reading this from the book) your mind is split.” And that means it’s out of control. And when the mind is out of control, stress runs rampant, like a bull let out of the pen.

So how do we control our mind? The answer is, of course, to meditate. It’s worked for me. I used to be a very contentious person, always looking to find fault, very fearful and defensive. Yet, over my years of study and practice, what a different person I’ve become.

And that’s why I teach my program, which you’ll be hearing more about soon. So as I was saying, I was meditating one morning in November of 2020, when Covid was going crazy.

I was hit by a powerful thought. We are all one In having this experience of Covid. It went from country to country to country, and I daresay not a person in any country has remained unaffected by this illness. Somebody you know has died from this disease. I’ll bet. So, we’re one in this experience. We are all one. Wow, that was a powerful idea.

Isn’t that something to think about then? The supply chain issue–same thing. We’re a world economy at this point. So when things go wrong, they don’t go wrong here and everything is fine there. No, it doesn’t work that way. No, everything goes out the window and just becomes totally messed up. So we’re all feeling the effects of supply chain disruption. Someone who works with me is in Manila and she said finding things is getting very hard. They’re running out of stuff.

 

 

I told her there’s no cat food on the shelves here. No cat food! Come on. What am I going to do with Clawdia? Let her starve? Of course not. Now I’m cooking for her!

So we’re all affected by the supply chain problems and now this conflict in Ukraine. The financial systems are gyrating, oil prices are going through the roof.

Then where does all this chaos come from? It comes from the fact that we humans have the ability to choose. We say, I like this, but I don’t like that. Or I’m angry or I’m happy. We are literally making choices every minute of the day.

However, I’m not talking about should I have eggs or cereal for breakfast. No, stress comes from the decisions we make about separating ourselves from each other. “These people are my people and those people are not my people.” Those kinds of choices cause great pain and suffering for everybody. I mean, I’m not saying, “If I don’t choose you, you’re gonna suffer and I’m not. No. Everybody suffers, because of that choice. It’s a psychological fact that when you reject another person, you will suffer.

The metaphysical reason that people are choosing against each other is because. that’s the nature of our ego. Our ego comes from fear. It’s always fear that motivates us unless we are enlightened. For the most part, we are motivated by the fear that we won’t have enough money or food or keep the roof over our heads. “She’s not gonna like me.” Whatever it is that’s causing us stress, it’s motivated by fear.

Therefore, because we are choosing from a fear place. it will always cause distrust and alienation. Do we really want to make choices based on fear?

Real choice, the kind that brings stability and calm, comes from your inner wisdom, from the place within you that has the answer that brings peace in your world. Ah, that’s the choice you want to make! But you have to cultivate the part of your mind that is not the ego! and thus not motivated by fear.

This is why I beg you to learn to calm your mind so you can access your inner wisdom. With a calm mind, fear takes a back seat. That’s what happens. Suddenly, the concerns you had are not so terrifying. I’m not saying all stress disappears forever and you don’t see people fighting and you don’t have difficulties. As long as you’re living in a body, stressors will appear on the horizon and you will have to deal with them.

The key is to feel when the fear wells up in your mind, and make a new choice because when you come from fear, the need to separate takes over. Pain and suffering will follow.