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If we were writing the Genesis
story today and tackling the
problem of evil, the verses in
Gen. 2:9 and 17 would not
appear.
Now we know that God did not
create evil only to tell us not
to believe in it. Evil and
everything else concerning the
human condition would be
explained - in our enlightened
2004 version - in terms of the
process of unfoldment and
evolution. We would point out
that God did not create us with a
flimsy state of perfection from
which we could fall, dooming us
to everlasting punishment and bad
experience. Rather, our point of
view would be that human
consciousness begins from scratch
and that we learn the Truth by
experience. We may have believed
that we (or some people!) are
evil, but we are definitely in
the process of seeing that evil
is not a definition of "bad"
people, but a present condition
of consciousness that is
explainable without blaming God
for creating evil in the first
place.
What I have written above is
not usually the belief structure
of world politicians and
religious leaders. Ronald Reagan
called the Soviet Union "the evil
empire," but lived to become a
close friend and admirer of
Gorbachev! George W. Bush
pronounced a group of nations
"the axis of evil."
The problems and circumstances
that provoke such pronouncements
are admittedly hard to deal with.
Radical extremists/terrorists
pose threats that represent a
real challenge to my kind of
idealism: that we can remove such
problems through love and being
peaceful instead of warlike.
So in this piece I am
beginning at the beginning! I
believe humanity has already
begun to transcend the mistake of
calling the people we have
difficulty with "evil." This is
hopeful and even some
justification for optimism. But
large groups of idealists - the
people who are ready to dispense
with the moniker "evil" entirely
- are needed to come forward in
implementing all kinds of
intersections of the people of
all countries and all faiths and
political and economic systems.
As individuals it will help
(although no time frame can be
predicted) when we express love
and brotherhood/sisterhood and
honest friendliness with all
these people. How fast the ball
will get rolling, only time will
tell, but that doesn't mean it is
safer and smarter to wait for the
politicians and the religionists
to solve the problems. So far,
they have been more of the
problem than of the answer. But
the good and the fair question
is, Have you and I really done
much better?
There are persons and groups
and organizations in many places
of the world that are already
doing the things I am advocating.
I'm ready to take my stand, to do
more - really to get started -
and I feel certain that there are
enough others who are eager to
respond to the challenge that
could make a real change in the
world scene.
One of the most hopeful facts
about our human condition is that
the radical extremists/terrorists
are in the minority and do not
really represent what their
religion truly embraces. So our
"silent majority" needs to get
cracking and outweigh the radical
minority!
I said above that in this
piece I am beginning at the
beginning. The beginning is our
states of consciousness. Before
we will actually take the plunge
and do something outwardly along
the lines of my suggestions, the
beginning is to take the steps to
insure that the vibes emanating
from our individual state of
consciousness - each of us - are
assuring others that we see them
- all of them! - as created
absolutely equally with us, that
our essence is capable of
unconditional love and goodness
that we don't hold individuals
(ourselves included) as evil or
bad or not to be trusted because
of various behaviors. The
beginning is to emerge out of
guilt-ridden trauma ourselves and
to help others to experience the
redeeming freedom of love and
understanding.
The beginning is in our own
homes, our own workplaces, our
own clubs and organizations and
churches. And the beginning is
not to hold the world politicians
and religous leaders as the ones
to blame. We have to love
EVERYBODY. That's the beginning.
Is it easy? Who said life is
easy? But to do all this is a
whole lot easier and better than
what is going on in the world
today (which you and I really are
part of!)
I have been working in the
area of consciousness for a long
time and am now doing the best
work of my life in doing so. You
who read this are likely able to
say the same. So our beginning is
a hopeful one. Let us - you and I
- make our beginning a continuum
of ever-increasing quality and
power. A prayer I have given you
before - in my website writing -
I have revised in order to make
it still more powerful:
ALL THE FORCES OF
HEAVEN AND EARTH ARE WORKING
TOGETHER TO BRING ABOUT OUR
HIGHEST GOOD, AND I (WE)
AM/ARE ACTIVATING ALL THE
QUALITIES OF MY (OUR)
GOD-NATURE IN CO-OPERATION
WITH THEM!
Not just saying these words,
but in thinking and acting from
this strong base of consciousness
could well be the beginning of
something big!
Here is what Dr. Charlotte
Shelton, a Unity-type thinker!,
says in her book Quantum
Leaps:
"I see no indication
that society as a whole is
ready to sponsor an
inner-space initiative. But I
do see individuals the world
over coming together to
dialogue about the shifting
world view, challenging their
own beliefs and exploring
their own inner space. Perhaps
this is enough. Herman and
Rheingold remind us that 'the
really fundamental changes in
the history of societies . . .
have come about not through
the arbitrary decisions of a
few leaders, but because vast
numbers of people changed
their minds a little bit'
(1984,213). In fact, many of
our most significant societal
changes have started as small
grass-roots movements. When
enough individuals change
their minds about what is
possible, quantum leaps in the
collective consciousness are
sure to follow."
People who have been following
my website pieces recognize this
as one of my most-often-repeated
themes.
So let's get on with it!
Don
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