What
Goes Around Comes Around
Greetings
to you! This is an exciting time! I have recently been introduced to
a book titled, don't think of an elephant! KNOW YOUR VALUES AND
FRAME THE DEBATE by George Lakoff. I consider this book a must
read for all who are trying so valiantly to live from a responsive,
compassionate worldview. This book brilliantly, and simply, details
the cognitive differences between living from the authoritarian Father
God image of society and the nurturant view of society. Very simply
put the authoritarian Father God image values war and dominance and
all that goes with it. The nurturant caretaker view values peace, taking
care of the Earth, equality, education, health and equal protection
under the law for all, women having domain over their own bodies. This
book also details the cognitive science of framing and how the conservative
Republicans have used this process to persuade people to vote against
their own best interests. For example, Republicans frame taxes as a
burden. By framing a law or policy as tax relief people are persuaded
to vote for it without even realizing that the only ones who get relief
are the top 1% of the super rich. By framing a bill as The Clear
Skies initiative we think, of course, we all want clear skies,
clean water, and yet what the bill actually does is give big business
free rein to pollute and destroy the environment with impunity. Language
is powerful. How words and ideas are framed powerfully influences how
we think. Policy makers are using this process to make public policy!
Conservative Republicans feel a huge national debt is a good thing
because it leaves no money left over in the budget for social programs!
This mindset is fueled by the belief that people should pull themselves
up by their bootstraps and be prosperous. If theyre prosperous
theyre good citizens. If theyre poor theyre shiftless,
lazy and dont deserve to be taken care of because that would
encourage dependency, and dependency is a bad thing! I would ask what
about our dependence on foreign oil when we have oil fields here in
our own country? Somehow that bit of incoherent policy doesnt
register. This authoritarian Father God viewpoint also fails to take
into account the racist, sexist, glass ceiling attitudes that exist
in our society. This mindset doesnt take into account our social,
spiritual responsibility to take care of the: children, elderly, disabled.
It doesnt address the issue that China, Japan, and Saudi Arabia
are funding our national debt and were barely paying the interest
on our debt as it escalates to its highest level ever!
These details
outline my thought for this month. I truly do believe what goes
around comes around! As compassionate, intelligent, responsive
citizens we have one year before the elections of November 2006 to mobilize
our efforts, understand the art of cognitive framing, vote for our best
interests, unite under one banner, clearly articulate a comprehensive,
compassionate, nurturant agenda to take back our nation, protect our
future, reduce our national debt, take care of all of the people! The
time is now! It has never been more important! In light of these details
it has never been clearer to me how important it is to celebrate and
to share the meaning and image of God as Love and God as immanent! The
responsibility for our lives does not rest out there somewhere. The
responsibility is within us! God is within us. We are the heart, hands
and feet of God in expression. We are powerful. We are here to transform
this world. In this month where we give thanks for many things in our
lives I couldnt be more grateful for my understanding of God as
Love, God as immanent, and God as Immanence! It couldnt be more
obvious to me that God shows up in the world in me, as me, through me;
therefore, I am mindful of how I show up as God! I do not believe in
the theology of God as the bearded white man in the sky capriciously
blessing some and withholding His blessings from others! This
patriarchal, fear-based image of God is outmoded, harmful and degrading
to us all! God is Spirit. God is Principle. God is a name given to the
spiritual laws of Love, Peace, Wisdom, Joy; all of the spiritual gifts
that it is our human responsibility and response-ability
to demonstrate in this lifetime. It means a great deal to me to live
this capacity into expression in my life! Reclaiming this reality of
Loving Immanence will heal us all! One part of this reclaiming, framing
process is to realize that our words, our thoughts are powerful. By
the words we say and think we are creating our world. By realizing the
world is an impartial, inherently ordered Universe we reclaim our power.
By realizing that we do not pray to God but rather we align with the
Inherent Presence of the Universe we accept the responsibility of the
creative power of our words and actions. I do not believe in a God out
there that I beg and beseech to do something for me. Rather I align
my heart and mind with the Presence of Love that is the vitalizing energy
of all of life. I affirm my oneness with this Life and Love and I call
it forth in my life. This approach is a radically different theology
than what I learned as a child and it is far more meaningful to me than
what I learned as a child because it makes more sense to me. I see it
as a far more beneficent view than a God who is fearsome, judgmental,
and capricious. That kind of God image makes no sense to me at all as
a sentient, thinking being. I am the quintessential optimist. I believe
the world is a good place. We have the power to make good decisions.
We have the power to make bad decisions. I can focus on Love or I can
focus on fear. If I want to consistently outpicture joy in my life I
must pray without ceasing as Jesus said 2000 years ago.
Each moment, each thought is a prayer! If I spend one moment a day celebrating
joy and 50,000 moments a day outpicturing self-degradation what do I
think my life will outpicture? Surely not joy! I understand that it
isnt the circumstances of my life that determine my life. It is
what I do, what I think, about the circumstances of my life! When challenging
things happen I simply recognize my opportunity to grow! I do not think
that Im being punished or that Im bad. I think What
am I going to do to make the best of this? What am I going to learn?
Then I set my course of action. I align myself again with the Presence
and Power of God in me, as me! I remember that God is Love. I am Love
in expression. I connect with that Source. I live and love my life to
the fullest. My life and your life is worth that effort!
As we move
farther into this contemplative time of shorter days I give thanks for
the life I have. I honor the memory of all who died in the tsunami a
year ago and all who are still trying to put their lives back together
all over the world. I join my heart, head and hands with you to reclaim
our precious world and work together to bring love, freedom, and peace
back into the frame of a conscious connectedness. As Gandhi so wonderfully
said, Be the change we want to see in the world. I am about
the business of doing that precious, gracious work. Namaste to you as
we all celebrate and give thanks for our lives together on this precious
planet, Earth! Truly what goes around comes around! Blessings to you,
sweet Spirit of Love and Peace!!!!!!
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