I was in second grade when JFK was assassinated. I remember the teacher calling us in from recess to tell us the news. I remember seeing my father cry.
I remember pulling into a parking spot in front of my SF apartment as Dianne Feinstein came on the radio to announce that Mayor Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk had been assassinated at City Hall. It was barely ten days after the mass suicide at Jonestown in Guyana took over 900 lives of People’s Temple members, many of them from the Bay Area.
I remember the shock of Sept 11.
During each of these traumatic events I struggled to make sense of a world that seemed to have turned upside down before my eyes.
Worst of all was the day I learned that my baby had died in my womb at the very end of a perfectly normal pregnancy. That was the hardest thing I’ve ever experienced and I don’t know how I would have made it through if I hadn’t been consciously on the spiritual path for some time before it happened.
I was a member of Unity then and I had a strong connection with my church family, as well as a deep commitment to studying the teachings.
One of the prayers I had learned went like this: There is only one presence and one power active in all the Universe and in my life – God, the Good Omnipotent.
I knew it and prayed it and believed it. But when my baby died I was forced to put it to the test. Was I going to throw out my belief because I was so angry with God? Or was I going to lean in and grab on to it as my anchor in a sea of anguish?
You can probably guess “which way I broke,” as they say. And maybe you can also guess why I’m thinking about that prayer today.
Yes, I have been profoundly disturbed by the events in our nation’s capital today. My mind reels and I’m struggling to make sense of it all. But I know from experience that I have a choice. I always do.
So I choose to believe in and to focus on that one presence and power. I choose to remember that it is active in all the universe and in my life, in all lives. I choose to know that it is God.
We’re being put to the test. What do you choose to believe and to focus on right now? 🙏
Thanks, Bhagavati, so well & touchingly said. 🙏 On a similar theme, I enjoyed this note that Karen Gamow sent out last night:
Today’s news in the Capitol impacted me. Even my Dad was shaken today. He has always been the calm in the storm, and I’d never seen him like this. I spent hours today talking with my family about it.
Once a week, East West sends out an email to its mailing list about about 7,500 with a newsy note from David at the start. Today, he wrote something about this situation that was a comfort to me. I felt to share it within our Ananda family, too, in case it’s a help to anyone.
Love – Karen
—
Dear friends,
Well, can we say that 2021 has not started yet? Let’s start it on January 15th. Riots in our nation’s capital to start the New Year is not what we were hoping for. That said, while I am not normally a Pollyanna, I’d like to share some positives that have come to me out of this current situation.
I have spoken with people who have felt that our democracy has been threatened by the allegations of election fraud and the various baseless claims that have been lobbed. But to me, what has happened is actually an affirmation of our democracy. The courts have stood up as they were intended. The States have stood up as they were intended. The Election Boards have stood up as they were intended. One bad actor has hurled himself against the system, aided and abetted by those craving power, and the courts simply asked “Where’s the beef?” When no beef was found, the judges, appointed from both sides of the aisle, said, “Then please move along. There’s nothing to see here.”
The world moves in cycles. We are in a period of cynicism and polarization. But as bad as it has been, everything has stood up against the gale force winds. Yogananda said, “We do not become strong by wrestling with babies; we become strong by wrestling with strong people.” May the resiliency we have shown in the face of threat remind everyone that while cycles come and go, the roots of democracy run deep enough to withstand our recent tests.
Blessings,
David G., manager
for the Gang at East West
[And I’ll just add that that last few months have resulted in extra-deep prayers to Babaji & Master, and that’s gotta be a good thing! —Dambara]