Metro Jacksonville

What is the heartbreak of the Connecticut school shooting telling us about ourselves, our nation and the world in which we live?  Why the slaughter of innocent children and the adults that were caring for them?  Has the world has gone hopelessly mad or is it that we have yet to fully understand or admit our own dualistic nature?  There is a battle that rages within us all every day. The higher part of our being struggles against the more base manifestations of ego and will.   Instead of seeing the entirety of ourselves as a human society we helplessly look at the results of our own actions, beliefs and behaviors, then mentally separate ourselves from what we don't like and make excuses for the negatives we cannot explain away.  All of this ego driven.  We search for the weapons that destroy us when we in truth are the weapon.

We are one human family.  We share a single earth and the degree of goodness or evil we make manifest in our world is dependent upon our own collective thinking and the actions resulting from that thinking.  Right now humanity is struggling to rise above the most base part of it's own nature and embrace something higher, that brings with it the hope of a more peaceful experience on earth with each other.

We can begin by acknowledging our imperfections and that those imperfections are physical, emotional and spiritual.  Each of us must battle the duality within every moment of our existence.  We struggle with our own internal weaknesses and look outside ourselves for answers that can only be found within.   We continue to be surprised by tragedies that innately we know could have been avoided.  The ongoing horrific pain that humanity inflicts upon itself, becomes the awful reminder that we have yet to evolve in spirit and intellect to the degree that will bring us true rationality and peace.  It is telling us that we need to be honest with ourselves as a species that is wholly imperfect and perfect at the same time.

This particular tragic incident has spawned many of the same reasoning and arguments discussed that we hope will solve our violence problem.  We dissect each idea and incident looking for a commonality in the hopes that we can stop the madness.  Is it the weapons that are the problem?  Is it bad parenting, mental illness, personality flaws, stress, bullying, the schools?  Is it men or women? Is it video games, movies, violent cartoons?  Is it religion or lack of religion, education or lack of education or the most foolish and hideous explanation that a supreme being is punishing us?  As the discussions and arguments again flare and folks position themselves to argue for or against a particular cause, it becomes apparent that people are still not fully listening to each other but rather preparing for their next comment in support of their personal view.  Discussion then becomes just another battleground and that takes us nowhere except to a stalemate or further conflict.  How do we get around our own combative nature?  It begins with acknowledging each other fully and respecting each others views, fears and concerns.  Listening for the common ground in discussion as opposed to focusing on that which separates views. The answer is in recognizing our inner fears of separation and powerlessness which comes from the lost realization that we are all innately connected and powerful because we are all connected to the single source of creation, love and goodness that is now struggling to find a louder voice in the din of human confusion, fear and hatred.

We live in a violent world of our own creation, but there is also much goodness and beauty on this earth and at times like this we can lose focus of that. We have reached a very important juncture in our human evolution.  Will we lift ourselves up and find higher ground or fall further into the darker side of our nature?  I believe we are in the process of lifting ourselves up but to do so we must acknowledge that it is our fears, ego and want of control and power that holds us hostage and no religion, law, politician or act of violence can make the change.  It is up to us to do so and we must do so collectively or fail collectively.  Is a more peaceful earth possible?  You better believe it is.  How fast we realize that peace will be a result of our own determination to do so.  The way forward will come with the smallest of actions, a kind word, a hug, a smile, basic civility and respect.

While humanity tries to reason through our own actions the most important thing we can do is to step outside our own views long enough to hear the views of those different from ourselves and think about the others feelings which are as real and valid as our own.  The measure of whether we get it right or wrong will be shown to us through rising aggression or a growing peace.  Like many things in life, this will likely get worse before it gets better, but it can and will get better if we want it to.

Thank you Diane. 

Truly comforting wisdom.

Thanks Diane.  This is just a horrific, unthinkable event.  What causes someone to do such a thing?  How can we comfort those that lost their loved ones?   Just a punch in the gut.

I think it is appropriate to be angry.  It is just fine to question gun laws, security in schools, the state of mental health.  I think it makes sense to ask if this signifies a turn in humanity.

Bottom line is that we are impotent to protect those we love, those who need our protection,  and that is frightening beyond comprehension.  We are small, life is fragile.

So, whatever gets us through this darkness, is appropriate.

For me... it is my faith in a loving God who weeps with us as we suffer evil days.

O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.  Ransom us.

You know the old ones often say that God views our actions through the eyes of children. What those eyes saw this week was a sad reflection of what is impacting our society and world.   Looking at those beautiful faces and thinking about all those children and brave adults lost is very painful.  This was a kind gesture to be sure.  Poignant and painful.  I know they are all at peace and I hope and pray those they left behind can and will find some comfort in time. 

December 14, 2012 this country and the world was stunned, shocked and saddened by the mindless slaughter of 20 small children and six adults when a broken person with a broken mind walked into a random elementary school and caused the unthinkable carnage of so many innocents. Through the shock and grief our troubled minds ask us why, as if any finite explanation to this query would bring caring people relief. How do we even begin to understand such a horrible tragedy? While most lament, many turn to God for answers as to the why of this event. Those who don't believe in a supreme being work to intellectually put the pieces of destructive chaos into some sort of order to explain the devastating action of one human being upon so many others. What good at any level could come from such tragedy and why did the cost have to be taken in the loss of innocent children and those who cared for and educated them? What are we telling ourselves? For believers, what is the Creator within us all working to awaken us to? For non believers, how can we as humans work together to teach humanity to be more rational and caring?

To fathom out any sort of meaning, be one a believer in God or not, you have to consider the entirety of the human species and the crisis of conscience this event has created. It was not the first horror of this sort and it will not be the last unless human beings change their understanding of what it means to be alive on an earth that we collectively share. We dwell in a physical place of dualities, extremes of thoughts and actions combating in our psyche in an effort to find comfort and balance. We human beings have been struggling with ourselves since we lost connection with who and what we really are which is spirit and conscience expressing through physical form, in this case a form inextricably connected to the earth and each other. What the tragedy of Sandy Hook has done is strike at the very core of human beliefs in a way that has shattered the illusions we have created about ourselves and our place in the world. We are not yet civilized, but we as humans are struggling to tame ourselves. The Sandy Hook tragedy has made crystal clear that we as a species have not yet evolved into the beings we need to be. The Sandy Hook tragedy was so profoundly horrible because the changes in us must also be profound. Sandy Hook's victims were women and children. That is where the destruction was wrought and that is where the healing and changes in this world need to be focused at this time in history.

Look at the global struggle of humanity and the ongoing fight for human dignity. The male side of our nature has yet to come to balance with the female side. The base part of our male energy is struggling to remain a more dominate force in a world that has changed and is becoming one where intellectual and spiritual growth is strengthening. We are trying to move from a place of animal aggression where strength of body was critical to our survival as a species to a place where the spirit within us is more strongly recognized in spite of the power of human ego. We have reached the place where our aggressive physical nature must be balanced again by the compassionate and protective side of our nature. Where the innate fears of personal obliteration can be understood to be just that, fears. We are energy and energy cannot be obliterated, it only changes form. For those of us who recognize ourselves to be the children of creation, there is the understanding that we are the very spirit and soul of what many recognize as God by whatever name the creator is called. We know there is no lack of connection and no end, ever.

Some understand ourselves to be a physical manifestation of a conscious spiritual energy that is based in balance and love trying to express that balance and love in a most difficult and dualistic reality. We are a spiritual energy expressing through independent ego and the independent ego in this world has allowed for destructive as well as creative expression. Our world itself is both destructive and creative by it's very nature. That does not make the destructive force of the earth itself good or bad, it just is. There is no bad or evil "intent" in the forces of the earth and no supreme being wielding the forces of the earth as weapons against us. It is solely through the "intent" behind human action the that we manifest good and evil if you will. The physical reality around us is born of opposing forces that at once are gentle and violent, explosive and peaceful and the answers to the way forward in this physical life and beyond it is to understand the reality in which we dwell and evolve past the challenges this reality presents us. We are spirit and consciousness (the creation and creator) expressing through physical form. For those who see us as simply an organic life form, you may find a parallel in seeing spirit and consciousness in the most simple form of energy. We are all energy and even our current restrictive scientific models have proven that fact over and over again.

For those who are "believers" regardless of the church, temple or mosque to which they ascribe or through which their belief system is founded, none of the truth of our human existence and spiritual foundation needs be challenged by another' religious or spiritual view, nor do we need to force others to conform to our own view in order to prove to ourselves it's validity. One faith does not have to triumph another. No one is required to be right or wrong and even non believers are not required to believe if we understand that we are evolving as a species and as spirit. Wherever we find ourselves now will not be the end, just another step in our evolution. We are spirit and energy and neither one can be destroyed, it only changes form.

So what does this mean to us as human beings and how does any of this relate to the tragedy spurning this dialog? It means that perception is reality and currently we are expressing our humanity in a way that is flawed in ego and is being felt globally in a painful way. If we see ourselves simply as a carbon based life form, that will not change the truth beneath existence. If we see ourselves as a soul or spirit, that will not change the truth beneath existence. If we think we experience a single lifetime on this earth or many, that will not change the truth beneath existence. If we believe there is a single dimension or untold numbers of dimensions to experience, that will not change the truth beneath existence. What is, simply is. Our beliefs determine how we interpret what is.

Belief systems that rely on one person or persons relaying "the truth" to others are by their nature imperfect because it places the understanding of one person above the other. We have no right to "impose" our own beliefs or views on others. What we can do is share those beliefs and they will resonate with whom they have meaning and may resonate as good, bad or someplace in between. This one understanding can help to take the contest out of religion. There is no contest, there is no chosen people, we are all chosen and our actions alone determine our course and future. There is no wrathful God waiting to punish us, but rather endless love and understanding that will allow us to find our way when we are ready. For those who stay fixed in the destructive, hateful, negative part of their energy, that focus will keep them from their source and that is the greatest of suffering. There is nothing between us and God but our will and ego and only the individual can overcome that within themselves. The truth is lying within us and is part of us all. Everyone of us can connect to it when we realize that we are responsible for our own spiritual expression, whether it be kindness or hatred, peace or war, dominance or submissiveness or even belief or non belief. No one can live our lives for us and no one can tell us how to live them either, we can simply try to help each other on this journey. The experience is completely our own and creation will let us grow or destroy ourselves. Those who think that praying for things to get better or that Jesus once having shared and sacrificed for his truth is now going to do all the work for them is mistaking the message. Yes we can pray and those prayers can be very powerful, we can send light, we can believe good things, but we also must act and take responsibility for our own actions whatever they are to make the needed changes in our world. Right now the reality we have created is one that has room for a heaven, a hell, oblivion or eternity, religious beliefs and agnostic or atheist understandings. We are all standing in one type of perceived reality and the real truth of our essence is beyond our current understanding. I can share with you one known recollection forgotten by many which is we are meant to "LOVE", anything less that that is contrary to our very essence. So the closer we come to respecting, understanding and honoring the sacredness in human life we move, the closer to manifesting peace on earth we take humanity. The further we allow the intellect/ego's need for power and control to move us away from respect, understanding and honoring the sacredness of all creation the farther we move from manifesting peace on earth for humanity. Right now, at this moment, the majority of humanity wants peace and that is proved by the fact that we still exist. What we realize now about ourselves and what we then do with that realization will determine how quickly pain becomes joy and humanity is at peace with itself.

There is no challenge meant in these words, so I pray no one receives them as such. The aim is a peaceful one in hopes of creating some understanding through chaos. I made a promise long ago to share this reminder with others who were want to hear it when the time came. Now is that time. I urge everyone who believes in a God or not, to believe this much and that is that we as humanity are meant to do good things. It is inborn in us and if we fail to do that individually, eventually we fail collectively. The more of us who hold love and goodness in our minds, hearts and souls, the brighter our existence and journey will be.

I heard a commentary made today that placed the irony of so much attention on the death of a few kids in a school, when thousands of kids die every day in the womb.

The argument went on to say how there is so much attention on the regulation on guns and to stop their use to kill yet they are legal to own. Yet, it is considered weird or unusual to stop the death of an in womb child even though it is to legal. Both claim an infringement of their rights.

Sandy Hook is just one of many historical events in humanity where we try to comprehend our allowance for violence, yet permit it as well.

If there is free choice of the womb, why can't there be free choice of guns? Both can kill, both can change lives, both can save lives when good choices are made, both have consequences, both are legal.

Just one of many ironies that define our existence.