Feb/Mar 2003
If
Only I Could Be Like My Cells
Deepak Chopra, MD
Why
Spirituality is Essential to Progressive Politics
Ana Villa-Lobos
The
Spiritual Art of Peacemaking
James Twyman
Finding
Answers in Community Meetings
John Darling
Reclaiming
Our Courage
Paul Rogat Loeb
The
Rhinoceros In Our Living Room is Slip Covered
Jeannie Azzopardi
Iraq
and the Economy
Dennis Kucinich
Letter
to a Warrior
Elias Amidon
Democracy
in Action
Letter to Members of MoveOn
Participatory
Democracy in Porto Alegre, Brazil
America Vera-Zavala
American
Revolt in Pennsylvania
Thom Hartmann
The
Omega Point
Finn Honoré
We
live in A World With Finite Resources
George Monbiot
Using
Homeopathic Remedies
Doug Falkner, MD, M.Hom
The
Healing Power of Touch
John Darling
A
Somatic Contradiction
Peter Moore, MFCC, CGP
Shamanism
and Psychology Join Forces
Jeanette M. Gagan, PhD
Natural
Building: A New Course of Action
Coenraad Rogmans
The
Movie Mystic
Stephen Simon
The
Yearly Round
Richard Moeschl
Cosmic
Calendar
Salina Rain
Deborah
Mokma, Editor
"The Path to a world of peace must travel through the hearts of every one of us.” -The Dalai Lama
When desiring change, focusing on that which we do not want is seldom as effective as envisioning tha which we do want. It is aptly said that “energy flows where attention goes.” My own experience has confirmed this—whatever my focus is on, even if it is something I am not happy with, that is what will be. Identifying what it is which requires change is certainly a first step, but successfully creating our preferred outcome requires a strong focus on the very thing we desire.
Alan Cohen, in the book Peaceful Earth by Lisa Hepner, shares a powerful story about a Native American tradition in which one person is assigned the role of “Faithkeeper.” This person’s job is to keep the “faith” for the entire village, no matter what is going on externally. During times of illness, drought, poverty, famine, and disease it is the Faithkeeper’s job to keep the “faith” that the crops are flourishing, that the rains are coming, that the village is healthy. The Faithkeeper prays and “knows” the good for the entire village. It is imperative at this time that we all be Faithkeepers in Peace. Regardless of what else is going on, we need to focus on, and keep the faith, in the goodness and peace of all people.
A peace movement which dehumanizes our opponents can never accomplish to the fullest extent possible the goals it professes. Ana Villa-Lobos puts it well when she says “A spiritual politics that recognizes the full humanity not only of the obviously oppressed, but also of the apparent oppressor, is hard to come by in our polarized world. Yet it is only through such a compassionate worldview that we can ever hope to heal the system as a whole, rather than just attending to the needs of our chosen beneficiaries. [Nelson] Mandela’s methods worked precisely because he chose everyone in the South African conflict. While he boldly and unapologetically criticized the wrongs done, he didn’t hate his enemy as a way to extinguish hate. He didn’t capitulate to ‘way of the world’ tactics of withholding love from those who withheld love from him.”
Many activists and progressives find it difficult to believe in these concepts. James Twyman explains: “We are here to be miracle-workers. The word miracle begins with the word mir, which is the Russian word for Peace. The last part of the word acle is a suffix found at the end of many words and usually means to call. The letters almost spell this. Put these together and you have to call peace, or the call to peace. Therefore, a miracle is always the experience of calling peace into your life, and into the world. A miracle corrects illusions and aligns one with truth. When we are aligned with truth we are at peace. As miracle-workers our role is to first of all Be Peace, then extend that to all beings. When we understand it in this way, our job takes on a profound purpose.”
There are still times when I forget. When my reaction to injustice includes the thought that those whose agendas fail to address the needs of the greater good are “bad.” But the realization that war will not end war, hate will not end hate, accepting an “us and them” reality will never bring all of us together, stops me in my tracks when those old thought patterns arise. It is then that I remind myself to be the love I want to see, to be the peace I want to be. This is easier when I am truly present, and I don’t allow myself to be drawn into fear—by the war drums being sounded by the mainstream media, or even by other activists who share my vision of another world which is possible.
This
keeping of the faith is only part of our moral assignment. We must also have
the courage to participate—in meetings within our own communities, in
public demon-strations (both local and larger), by speaking up with friends
and family, writing letters to the editor, phoning our representatives (800-839-5276)
and the White House (202-456-1111). Expressing our belief that lasting peace
will only come about through peaceful means.
