The
Death of Innocence
Quotes from Oct.
4th:
"Teenage Jabaliya resident Asma Dwidar was reported
killed by stray gunfire as she baked bread in her garden with her
mother."
"First reports from Sderot spoke of a baby and
another child being killed when makeshift Qassam rockets hit a
residential block in the town. But Israeli media later said the two
victims were children aged three and five from the same
family."
"In a third attack, a car bomb exploded outside
a primary school in Mosul, killing five people, including two
children, police said. Earlier police had said seven were killed,
but later revised the toll. Eleven people were wounded, including
five children."
"The military said it presumed that a
large number of enemy fighters had been killed in the attack. But in
Falluja, hospital officials said five civilians had been
killed."
* * * *
*
A great lament is rising
from the earth. It is the voice of mothers and fathers, of children
in tiny coffins, of other children with amputated limbs or with
cruel burns covering their entire bodies. It is the wail of horror
when a bus explodes in a crowded marketplace in Tel Aviv, or when an
hundred Israeli tanks march into Gaza, threatening the lives of all
in their path - all - despite the plan to seek out only the
militants who have robbed them of their own
children.
This great cry from
the earth gets louder. There is crying everywhere as the force of
uncontrolled violence gets stronger, as the justification for the
assertion of power gets deeper - anywhere, everywhere. The cries of
those who stood in their front yards watching the movements in the
street, afraid to leave their front yards. They were not safe even
there, for the bullet came to them, the bullet that killed them.
They didn't have to go
anywhere.
The earth cries out
in pain at this violence unleashed within its body, within its soul.
It is the cry of a mother mourning her children. It is the cry of a
helpless child, wounded, without knowing why. It is the cry of a
shepherd, whose sheep have run away. It is the cry of the dirt
itself, covering the bodies of the little ones who have
died.
The earth cries out and
says: "Where is your brother? What have you done to him?" And hears
in response: "Am I my brother's keeper?" The old tale, the old
betrayal of one brother by another. The very stones and sand of the
dusty, sun-drenched streets are asking this question, but no-one
listens. They say over and over again: "Where is your brother? What
have you done to him?" The voice of the stones echoes in the
deserted streets and from the rooftops: "What have you done...
done... done?" There is no
answer.
The pain of the earth
is the pain of betrayal, a betrayal of that which was given out of
love, of that which was hoped for in the beginning. It is the
betrayal of the gift-offering of the rivers and mountains, the
oceans and the pure air that used to be. It is the betrayal of the
hope for harmony among living things that nature craves and is
moving toward. It is a betrayal of the living body of the earth that
is not only stones, and dirt, and water, but also blood, and breath,
and consciousness - the consciousness of
hope.
We have betrayed the
earth through our greed and violence, our need for power and
greatness. Not each one of us, individually, in our hearts and
minds. But 'we' as the arms and legs, the fingers and toes of a
larger body - the body of mankind. We have betrayed our brothers as
it was written in the beginning, and the blood of the earth is upon
our hands - upon some hands more than others, for some are betrayers
and some are innocents. Some are all too ready to use whatever
opportunity arises to seek their own ends, and some will relinquish
power in favor of peace.
Oh,
precious earth, I hear you crying. You are the voice of Abel, crying
in the wind, crying from beneath the dirt which buries you. You,
whom God loved, are fatally wounded, and the measure of your
devotion is the reason for your death. For had you been less favored
by God, there would not have been the jealousy that killed you. Had
you been more ordinary, more ignorant of love, you could not have
aroused the hatred that sprung from cynicism and
despair.
There is but a minute
left before the earth itself will open its heart and pour out its
pain for all to see - a minute, before the river of tears becomes a
river of human sorrow. In this minute of holy silence, let the
newspaper articles cease to record the presence of impersonal death
everywhere. Let the serial killings become a thing of the past. Let
the premise of nobility of those who take their own lives, become
recognized for what it is - an illusion based on a last hope of the
hopeless and helpless. And let the ones who seek power become like
little children with small open hands, waiting to be
led.
It is
not visible now. It is not visible yet, but it is here. It is
present within space and time - the light of hope that can create
hope for the world - that can insure that the destructive potential
of forces governing human behavior will not be
victorious. Certainly, it is
easy enough to be overwhelmed or despairing concerning world events
if the human level of perception is all that we see. But such is not
the way of a spiritual life. A spiritual life demands of us a larger
perception, one that allows a translation of impulses, intentions,
and energies from the realm of the invisible to the realm of the
visible. Can we make this translation? Can we believe in it in the
presence of the suffering and death we see and hear about - in the
presence of falseness among leaders, falseness that passes as truth?
The answer must be "yes," for
it is, indeed, possible. The alternative to despair lies not just in
leaving the world to its own ends, or in resigning ourselves. The
alternative lies deeply within each heart that knows the world stage
to be governed by invisible forces as well as visible ones. These
forces interact with each other and give rise to the drama of
present conflict in the Middle East and elsewhere. They also give
rise to the rage that cries "death to America". These forces and
those that are less visible are the manifestation of a process of
purification that the Hopi Indians have talked about for some
time - a process that is taking place now on the global level as
well as on the individual - a process that many are able to
experience, as spiritual energy moves from the upper planes to the
lower. The process involves
the expansion of consciousness, of self-awareness and planetary
awareness to the level of the soul. Despite appearances, it is
already taking place. Greater spiritual light on the earth is
exposing what has lain hidden, both of the soul's own light and of
the darkness that seeks to obscure it. This is the
purification process - one which requires the separation of
light and darkness in order to complete itself.
We can think of purification
on the global level as similar to that on the individual. We are
familiar with the self-confrontation that is part of our own healing
process. In order to heal, we must see what we carry within
ourselves before we can choose something else, before healing can
take place. Such self-confrontation happens naturally as we grow,
emotionally and spiritually. It also happens on the global level,
revealing to the hearts of mankind what it has carried within
itself. These energies and hatreds, these fears and needs for power,
this capacity for inhumanity and disrespect for the sacredness of
life, causes the earth itself to cry out, pleading with us to
awaken. And in this moment, awakening becomes more possible. For
just as increased spiritual light shines upon our awareness,
exposing motivations that have lived secretly within in order to
release them from where they have lain hidden, it also frees a
deeper truth, the truth of light.This light is not calling us to act
out the hidden motivations. It is calling us to become aware. Yet
often, because increased darkness is also present on the earth,
these tendencies and motivations are acted out. Then, they become
part of a current that seeks to disrupt growth, to banish love, and
to prevent the expansion of greater
light. This is a new context
for most of us to think in, yet it is important that we do so. It is
important from the standpoint of truth, and it is important from the
standpoint of hope - to live and breathe the spiritual reality that
can hold the multiplicity of events that manifest as increased
violence and terrorism. It is important because within this frame,
we can know that the counter-force to this energy also exists within
us and on a planetary level as well. Holding this perspective does
not mean ignoring the more practical, political, economic, and
cultural observations we make about the reasons for human behavior.
But it places these in the broadest possible context of energy and
consciousness. It reveals to us, what is happening behind the
scenes. Consciousness - the
broad sweep of our sense of identity and of our perception of
reality - is the medium which holds everything else. Consciousness,
that is always growing as we mature spiritually. If we can hold this
to be true, it will allow us to think differently about the patterns
we see in the Middle East and about the patterns we observe
developing within our own country as well. For whatever power these
trends, energies, motivations seem to hold over groups or nations,
such forces cannot win, no matter how powerful they appear to be.
They cannot win because they are only part of a living Whole that is
the Unity of God, not the Whole itself. They are only part of
Creation, not Creation itself. And it is this Creation, this ongoing
expansion of spiritual awareness and light that shall, in the end,
subdue such forces, no matter how virulent they may be. For the
spiritual destiny of man comes due now, as it was written in the
beginning: that the advent of light on earth would emerge out of a
time of great darkness, and that a way through would be offered.
May all that is holy within us
rise up in hope to greet this light that shines in the darkness -
inextinguishable, strong, and true. May we not forget the darkness
nor deny its power, but nevertheless remain true to our origins -
the light of the eternal flame within. * * * *
* For greater understanding of how purification works on
the individual level, see: "What Is Purification?" http://www.omegastar.org/Ind/Pure/What_is_Purification.htmland, "The
Goals of Purification." http://www.omegastar.org/Ind/Pure/Goals.htmlFor
a deeper understanding of the spiritual roots of the Arab-Israeli
conflict as it relates to the archetypal story of Cain and Abel,
see: http://www.omegastar.org/worldwatch/spiritual_roots.html*
* * * * To view back issues: http://www.lightomega.org/NL/archive.html
To
subscribe, click link below. |
The purpose of Light Omega is to
bring us all into greater planetary consciousness with awareness of
the suffering of others and with a willingness to remain awake to
the challenges, dangers, and possibilities we face
today.
Julie
Redstone
|
