What If You Were Persecuted?
I'm a metaphysician and as such I believe that there is one
universal source energy (call it what you will), that each of us
is made up of that source energy, and that my thoughts affect my
life experience. It is a philosophy that embraces the core of
all the world's great religions. It can sometimes be seen by
some as a little "wu wu" and is occasionally subject to
expressions of uncertainty by those who do not know what it
means. Which leads me to my point.
I mean this as a philosophical statement, not a political one,
but when the results of the last election came in, for the first
time in my 73 years, it occurred to me that I might be the
subject of religious persecution. And in this country of
freedom, that gave me deep pause. There seemed to be people
saying, "Our way is the only way." And they were in "power."
What if they came knocking on my door and said, "You can't
believe what you believe or we'll throw you in jail, or beat
you, or make you leave your home and country." What would I do?
I derive such great comfort from my spiritual philosophy. It is
a source of positive action through which I can change my life
experience. It is a source of inner wisdom when I have a
question. It is a philosophy that tells me every one of us is
made up of the same source energy so why would we ever be
thoughtless or mean to another? It asks me to be accepting of
everyone because it is "me" in that other person, that what I
see in them is a reflection of my inner consciousness. My
spiritual philosophy is core to my existence. I could never give
it up. My response to my initial apprehension of the possibility
of spiritual persecution was to think of leaving the country,
something I had never before considered. And I do know there
were lots of meetings in the area at the time explaining what it
would mean to migrate to Canada.
Fear is what lies behind persecution and intolerance. Fear of
something different, fear from not understanding, fear of lack
of control, fear of change.
A few years ago I learned Falun Gong (www.falundafa.org) It is a
lovely moving meditation in the genre of Tai Chi. Every morning,
after a few hours of work in my home office, I go to my front
porch, stand in the sunshine, and do Falun Gong. Within seconds
of beginning my mind starts to calm from its busy pattern, I can
feel my energy balance and my whole body align. It is incredibly
soothing. I have not read the books about its philosophy but I
do know it is said to have encouraged self-healing in others. I
simply like how balanced it makes me feel.
In China people are persecuted and killed for doing Falun Gong!
It's meditation! It's moving into a peaceful inner space--and it
is feared and persecuted by a government.
My oldest grandson has let us know that he is gay. That has
easily been accepted by our family, but he happens to live in a
part of the country where homosexuals have been beaten and
killed for simply being who they are. So here I am, aware that a
beloved member of my family, who is smart and creative, an eagle
scout, a college student who is already a contributing member of
our society, could be persecuted for what is probably a genetic
based expression.
We are afraid when others seem to make different choices than we
do. We don't even stop to think that we are all expressions of
the same source energy. And we may say and do things that do not
express our innate oneness with every living thing.
Have I touched on all the hot spots yet? For centuries
conquering nations have told the people they invaded that they
must give up their culture, their ways, their very religion and
embrace that of the conquer.
Take a moment to think of a core value you hold. What if a core
value were integrity and someone told you that you had to lie
and cheat and steal? Would you do it? Even when it went against
everything you have built your life on? A major core value for
me is freedom. What spiritual belief do you hold that is core to
your spiritual expression? How would you feel if someone
demanded that you give it up! What would you do?
If you took that moment to find a quality of value and to
understand how it would feel to be denied it, I have
accomplished my task. Knowing how it feels to be criticized or
mistreated for a belief that is an integral part of you, will
you now be more aware of your own thoughts of intolerance toward
others, your careless words that wound, your actions that
exclude those who are different?
All change starts within each one of us. If you move forward
into this day expressing love and compassion for all and I move
forward into this day expressing love and compassion and
inclusion of all, we have started a trend that by its very
energy will move out into the world and be felt and embraced by
others.
Will you join me?
Cara Lumen, 2006
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