Tag: what we need is light

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Taking an intensity break

There’s at least one more “Racial healing” blog post percolating in my mind, but I need a break. So here’s something I felt to share on Facebook a few days ago, starting with what I wrote to introduce it (the lyrics are included after the video):

Yesterday I felt the strong impulse to share this “funny” song of Swami Kriyananda’s. It’s based on a story that Yogananda used to tell. Right now, it’s the TRUTH of the song that is resonating with me, not so much the humor. “What we need is light!”

Yes, It’s Devil Worship
by Swami Kriyananda

Brother, I’ve a faint suspicion
You and I’ve been led astray:
Taught to drive the devil from us,
We’ve invited him to stay!

What we need is light!
For we can’t drive out the darkness
With a stick, with a stick,
No, we can’t drive out the devil with a stick.

Some proclaim all men are sinners,
Can’t escape the devil’s might.
How their interest must intrigue him,
They won’t let him out of sight!

What we need is light!
For we can’t drive out the darkness
Talking sin, talking sin,
No, we can’t drive out the devil talking sin.

Some of us were taught the slogan:
“Social evils must be slain!”
But can anger drive out sorrow?
How can passion conquer pain?

What we need is light!
For we can’t drive out the darkness
While we hate, while we hate,
No, we can’t drive out the devil while we hate.

Brother, have you ever wondered
Why the darkness lingers on?
If we want to see the sunrise
Let us turn and face the dawn!

What we need is light!
For we’ll only best the darkness
When we love, when we love,
Yes, we’ll only best the devil when we love!

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Racial healing (part 1)

So, here’s the subject heading that caught my eye when I checked email Saturday morning:

“It’s Time for Us White Gals to Talk About Racism”

WHOA! Say what?!?

The email was from Marcella Friel, mindful eating mentor and Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) practitioner. Somewhere along the way I checked out her stuff and got on her mailing list, but this did not strike me as her usual style.

I can’t include the whole email, but I will share the entire first section below, because it is just SO INCREDIBLE!

Here’s what Marcella wrote…

“We interrupt our usual programming …”
Hi Love,
It’s Marcella here. I don’t know about you, but I haven’t stopped crying since the news of the most recent racially motivated atrocity in the U.S. on Wednesday. 
You probably know the one I’m talking about.
When I saw the image of George Floyd lying on the ground, in a pool of his own blood, with a police officer’s knee on his neck, I felt like I had been hit in the chest with a cannonball.
I spent the day in bed. I couldn’t work. 
I kept thinking: Something. Must. Be. Done.
And then I heard a voice say, “Ok then! Why don’t you do it?”
So instead of offering the virtual retreat on self-care that I had planned for June 13, I’m taking a radical turn and convening a gathering space where we who identify as Caucasian women can begin healing the ugly plague of racial injustice in our society. 
I feel like I’m jumping off a cliff. I have no idea (yet) what this has to do with binge eating and yo-yo dieting and chronic body shaming. (If you do, I’d love to hear). 
But I’m choosing to trust my guidance and move forward. 
I hope you’ll jump into this conversation with me. Let’s help each other heal this deep and devastating collective wound. 

Saying I was deeply moved by this doesn’t begin to convey my response. I could hardly breathe. By the third paragraph I was in tears.

As Swami’s song says, “What we need is light!” and this is an example of that light starting to shine brighter and brighter in our world, regardless of the seeming darkness all around us. This is an example of an empowered individual stepping forward and making a difference. This gives me hope.

A Gathering for White Women to
Compassionately Explore Racial Injustice