Living in Interesting Times
“There is virtually no president, prime minister, dictator, ruler, or individual in a major leadership role in any country who is prepared for what is happening in the world today.” P.M.H. Atwater
“When I despair, I remember that all through history, the ways of truth and love have always won.” Mahatma Gandhi
We live in interesting times. Likely you know that a Chinese curse is “may you live in interesting times.” However, for us light workers (or now I prefer the word light activators) we know we came to be part of this – even if, for some of us, we are still not conscious of our pledge to volunteer at this time on Earth. Gandhi, it seems to me, arrived awake – as many of the new kids are arriving awake. I have something in common with Gandhi. I believe that the ways of truth and love always win – sometimes though – it is in the long run!
However, to have faith in love and truth does not mean to go into denial or to pretend that hate does not exist or that atrocities do not occur. I have dis-covered in my practice at Awakening Spirit that sometimes light activators feel that they cannot express any concerns about the world’s problems or darkness without being accused of “not being positive.” I can understand their frustration. Positivity, alone, does not always change things. If we did not have activists, social justice warriors, who are seen by some as being negative, we would not have many of the human rights we do enjoy today. They were hard won. By people willing to speak up. Brave enough to speak their truth.
Any of us watching the news can see the turmoil right now in the United States. Probably because we, as Canadians, live next door – maybe we are affected more than others by these chaotic energies? However, I think that the uncertainty regarding where the U.S. is headed is having an impact across the globe. After all, we do live in a global village whether we like it or not.
So, today, I thought it would be advisable for me to talk about what is going on with our neighbour, in case you are feeling anxious and don’t know where these anxieties are coming from – perhaps you have been on a news fast – which is always a good choice if you are feeling raw. Perhaps you are unaware of the assault on democracy that is going on next door. As an empath you may be feeling the fear and do not know where it is coming from.
President Trump is calling the media “our country’s biggest enemy.” The concern? Well, reporters say that “unfortunately unsophisticated people believe what he says.” We all know that not all reporting is accurate, however, highly respected journalists such as Carl Bernstein (of Watergate fame & with 57 years experience in the field) says what Trump “hates is truthful reporting about him.” Reporters now in the U.S. are mostly becoming defensive. Don Lemon of CNN said last night that “Trump is gas lighting the country. This is getting ridiculously tiring. We take the bait too often.”
Fear is really setting in, it seems to me, although I of course am not living in the States although I have been a frequent visitor. People are frightened, which Ana Navarro, Republican political commentator, confirmed last night. “Congress is quaking in their boots & afraid to speak up… a loyal base worships Trump and repeats his idioms like robots.” Ana says: “It is a sad time… we are attracting pedophiles and Nazis as candidates… and people are scared out of their minds about speaking up.”
Republican Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee has been sounding the alarm for some time. He is one of a handful of Republicans who are speaking up but most of them, like Corker, are not running for re-election. He says: “There is a cult-like situation with Trump.” So far, this has mostly fallen on ears that are not listening as tribalism has set in and political debate has descended into a “us versus them” (Republicans versus Democrats) mentality says Chris Cuomo of CNN.
Ana sees Trump as “Don Quixote fighting with windmills and throwing red meat to his base.” Some see Trump as playing third dimensional chess that will disrupt the status quo and create a new world order and others see him as an increasingly deranged authoritarian. Don Lemon says: “Trump always needs an enemy. A foil. We don’t always need to report on every tweet so maybe we need to re-evaluate that.” Bernstein though says: “This is a big story. I’ve been here 57 years. Trump is bashing traditional alliances.” In Canada – we are noticing this! April Ryan, previously a white house correspondent, says: “We are going into uncharted territory.”
Yes, we are going into uncharted territory. As light activators we understand uncharted territory if we have been doing our inner work. We have wrestled with our shadows, questioned our dreams, excavated our pasts for wisdom and had more than one ‘dark night of the soul.’ Could this be a dark night of the soul for our neighbour? What happens when a democratically elected ( although we don’t know yet if it was entirely democratic – the Russian investigation is on-going) erratic president and what one commentator calls ” a locker room full of frat boys” takes over the White House? It remains to be seen. Uncharted territory.
The United States is struggling to retain its democracy and as a country find a new moral compass. As of this morning, newspapers in the U.S. are reporting that a baby was literally taken from her/his mother’s breast (border security) and the mother arrested. Separating children from their parents is now a policy to deter folks fleeing persecution and violence from coming into the United States. Rachel Maddow (MSNBC) reports that children 18 months and up are separated from their parents and are now in cages – she showed the pictures of the kids caged in Texas. They say at least 1,000. We know these things go on in the world. Many of us have experienced abuse of all kinds – that is why we teach non-violence. We are light activators – but – we are not naïve. However, I think we are very surprised to see this happening next door. Having climbed to the top of the Statue of Liberty with my sister many decades ago – I revisited the words engraved at its base: “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses, yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me. I lift my lamp beside the golden door.” (Emma Lazarus, 1883)
There are people, thankfully, in the States who are lifting their lamps, shining a light on the darkness. Otherwise, we would not see these pictures. If we did not have a free press, we would not know this is happening close to our own doorstep. And, we cannot afford to be smug. None of us can. We all have a shadow side. We are human as well as divine. It is not enough to attain democracy – we must do our part, whatever it may be – to retain democracy. To speak up about human rights anywhere. We are ONE.
So what can we do? What do we do? We speak our own truth. Every day, wherever we are. We do what we can. It may be writing a letter, donating to a legal fund, a peaceful march, a speech. For many of us – our throat chakras have only recently opened – we have been stuck in the old earth matrix of fear. Prime Minister Trudeau has received a lot of support after the verbal abuse he received from the angry folks around President Trump. They took time to write him a letter. You can too, or, you could write to our American ambassador registering your concerns. Prayer is always good – I pray that President Trump wakes up and remembers his divinity. When we remember we are divine – we act divinely.
Many of us are obsessed with the United States right now and we forget there are other things going on in the world. Maybe this is because we are on the verge of a trade war with the U.S. And, it also might be because of what spiritual teacher T.J. Woodward calls our “destination addiction.” Individually and collectively we are entering a new world. We want to know our destination before we get there! We need to continue to do what T.J. calls “our deeper work.” Holding the energy of what we are stepping into.” New Earth. We can focus on holding the light. Not playing into fear. Questioning all of our old programming.
For some of us the word God is loaded with programming. That is why I often use the word Source. Our relief and comfort from the effects of fear resides within us and our connection to God/Source. Connecting with our internal spiritual wholeness and God – we have faith that love and truth will ultimately always conquer darkness. This knowledge helps us to help the new kids on the planet who do remember, and like Gandhi, arrive awake. They are awake – but they are also children – they need us.
One woman I listened to (a young mother) recently said she asked her two young children 2 questions because she was wondering if she should teach them or instruct them in a religion or spiritual practice. She asked them: “Do you know what God is? ” They both said, “No.” She then asked: “Do you know where you came from before you were born?” They replied: “Yes, the Light.”
A journalist recently lamented, “We live in a world with lots of information and very little wisdom.” However, we all have the wisdom within. How did you cope with fear in the past or a past life? What sustained you and lifted you above the clouds of despair and gave you hope? Some of us are mining our past lives for wisdom, some of us are meditating and praying, many of us are sending love and light to Trump & his administration and other places in the world where fear has a grip. Maintaining balance in an unbalanced world is something we light activators came to do. We hold the light. We keep the vision of New Earth. We speak our truth. We beam love. We let go of “destination addiction” and live in the present moment – the only place from which we can create change.
The old saying, “it is better to light one candle than to curse the darkness” was on my bedroom wall when I was 14. Fifty- three years later, I still believe this to be true. What’s your candle?
Love & Light, Monica (My new Angel classes begin June 26th & my new Faery classes begin July 3rd @ Metaphysics in Kingston – 127 Princess Street. Hope to see you there.)
Join the discussion 1 comment
Gillian June 14, 2018 at 9:30 pm
So glad you addressed the Trump/trade issue! I cope with periodic news fasts (longest was 100 days and am currently starting a 7 day one). However, like you, I don’t want to get completely out of touch in my bubble so I was “glad” to hear from you about the children snatched from their mothers. Prior to the election I heard an American on CBC Radio say, “Over the next 10 years China will emerge as the world’s strongest economy and how that transition is handled is important.” I don’t think Trump is the right one for the job. Interesting times indeed.