Hi All,
A quiet morning on the dock. This time I am on the shore of a small lake in southern Michigan. Very still. Water reflecting like an old mirror. A few mallards, having not yet joined the migration, are swimming the lake, making v-stream patterns on the otherwise quiet waters. A nice time of day… and good place for reflection.
“A chain is no stronger than its weakest link.” That guiding wisdom – a wisdom of experience – was swimming in my head when I awoke this morning. And it led to reflecting on an aspect of the essential aim of now, that of moving towards wholeness, away from that which divides. Divisiveness – the war of for and against – certainly seems to be the weakest link in our country today… perhaps that which has led some people in Atlanta to put signs in their yards: “America, prayer is our only hope.” This is not a new idea. Prayer, prayer which acknowledges there is a Source, and that we are not the source, has always been our only hope. But the divisiveness of today is in many ways very cunning. Some of it is standing on a platform of “God wants what we want; God does not want what you want.” A very dangerous place to be, for this may be a hidden way of making self the source, perhaps even hidden from self, while we know in our heart of hearts, that the best we can be and become, that for which we were and are intended, is instruments, instruments of the love of the Source… a very dangerous place to be, for fueling our divisiveness can be found fear and anger, leading to hate and intolerance, none of which will ever lead to wholeness. Reflection tells us if love is not present in our process, love will not be present in the outcomes.
We intuitively know that this is a time for America to shift, to change for the better, for America – the whole of we who call ourselves Americans – to move away from divisiveness, away from anger, from that which evokes anger, anger which leads to ever deeper divisiveness. The energies of divisiveness are entering our hearts, tearing us apart… making visible our need for changing our ways of living and working, for changing our philosophy of life and living. It is time for each of us to change our ways, to decide to make our work our prayer, to decide to work in ways sourced in love, moving towards wholeness and away from that which divides. Being a country of the people, by the people, and for the people, this is not work we can abdicate to our institutions and organizations; not work that calls for super-heroes to rescue us; this is work of we the people. Not to be surprised since our first “order of business” is to shift where we start our thinking from – the perspective we come from – calling for choice, conscious choice, intentional choice, calling for choosing love; a choice which takes place in mind and changes heart. All of which brings us back to another wisdom, this one a wisdom of intent: “A house divided against itself will not stand.” A house divided will eventually go out of existence, even if it continues to call itself by the same old name.
Until next time, Sandra
Sandra Maslow Smith, Philosopher of Potential
