Is it just me or do you turn on the news and watch helplessly as the stories move from one disaster to the next? Where is the good news, the reason for hope in the healing of humanity? As far as I can see, it is missing from the conversation and only occasionally peppered in between the breaking stories of disease and mayhem. What is needed is a new perspective, a new way of seeing our world through fresh eyes that are trained to see through the soul and not every challenge as strictly a zero sum game of winners and losers.
What if we began to ask new questions, like how do we create an outcome where everybody involved benefits? Sounds challenging doesn’t it? Sure it is when you have been raised in an atmosphere of might makes right and winner takes all. Sadly, it is long overdue for us to take a long and hard look at where that kind of thinking has gotten us? When I say us, I mean the majority of people on our planet, not just the privileged few. Nothing wrong with success as long as it doesn’t cause someone else to have to live with less, that robs them of their means to a better life, in order to feed someone else’s success. (IMHO) in my humble opinion that kind of thinking is not only, no longer useful, but quite frankly, simply wrong.
I heard someone comment on the radio recently, that if you look at how our world handled the pandemic, it was basically, every nation state for itself. There was no large scale turning to the poorer nations and reaching out a hand to help. Vaccines were gobbled up by the wealthy countries and a precious sprinkling of vaccines were offered to the majority of the world’s poorer countries. It doesn’t take a genius to see this is a short sighted solution to a long term problem. People around the world are much more fluid in their movements then ever before. Borders are permeable and people can travel all around the world very quickly. A virus moves lightning fast under those conditions. Until most of the world is vaccinated, we are all at risk of new variant strains creating new and stronger infection possibilities. The days of hiding behind one’s border are gone. We must open our eyes to see we are all connected in this world community. What affects the few, can very quickly affect the most protected and affluent individuals as well as countries. A change must come.
Like any crisis which comes unexpectedly across our path, we must confront old patterns for how we have reacted to challenges in the past, which have confronted us. The pandemic is but one example. There are a whole host of challenges rearing their heads in hopes of getting our attention. My hope is we find the strength to meet these challenges with new perspectives to bring about creative, outside the box, thinking which can usher in a new quality of life and way of being for the majority of people on the planet. Climate change, gun ownership, policing, voting accessibility, healthcare, abortion, immigration, labor relations, transportation, energy, housing, water and air quality, long overdue reparations, education, infrastructure… all are in need of fresh new perspectives, which require a new way of thinking about how to creatively address these long standing challenges.
I believe, as we are on the threshold of entering a new era in the history of humanity. As old longstanding institutions crumble under the weight of new truths, we must have the courage to appreciate what they did to keep the social order in place, but see the opportunity to build something new and substantial on the foundation of what once stood there. Sometimes, we must be grateful for what has passed, because now we can clearly see without an obstructed view, what no longer serves our needs. What is needed is something brand new which must be re-imagined, needs to be rebuilt from the ground up, in order to serve the majority of the people. It is time to look for something not yet in focus, that can offer new insights and more powerful answers to the challenges we face. Something new which points the way for a more powerful promise to be kept, enshrined in the US Constitution, where it states, We the people, in order to form a more perfect union… for that which is yet to be imagined.
It is now time to bring fresh eyes, new solutions, and wider perspectives to old and long standing issues which have never been fairly or properly dealt with. Race is a major deep seated issue which has for far too long been swept under the rug, not just here in America, but all around the globe. We can no longer have the luxury of living separate lives , kept apart with thoughts of hate, greed and anger towards one another. We have to rethink our lack of civility towards one another, even in the simplest interactions. Basic respect for all human beings as being equal, regardless of class, race, religion, sexual preference, age, country of origin… have to be embraced as different perspectives from which to view our world, not any better of worse, then how I choose to live in the world. This must become the bottom line, first and foremost. We have to learn to live with kindness towards each other.
What if we were to simply add a new perspective to the nightly newscast? What if every news story, instead of hearing both sides of the argument, the pro or con choices confronting the viewer… we added a spiritual perspective to every news story. What if a new voice were to emerge, one that has been silent or simply been delegated to whispering in the shadows for far too long. What if we start to see, beyond a religious perspective and instead ask questions, important questions, and instead of arriving at quick solutions, invite the viewers to share their perspectives? Let’s begin to wade into issues with the goal of asking, how can we look at this challenge in a way that results in benefiting the majority of people that are about to be affected by whatever path we choose to build and we will all eventually walk upon. If we start to change our perspective from us versus them to the very common but important word, we, then real, earth shattering, change is possible.
This one tiny, but essential change, could bring about a momentous new shift in the way we view our world, each other, and our purpose for being on this planet. Imagine if every night when you turned on the news or checked your phone for the latest news, each story carried within it a spiritual perspective of hope, caring, kindness, gratitude for the possibility of a better way of living on our planet? How would this new perspective impact each and every one of us? If we were to start looking at our planet as a small community of diverse voices, each with the power to bring new and exciting perspectives to what humanity is capable of being? Imagine the inner city and rural areas of our country becoming the new innovation hubs for the latest in medical research, climate science solutions, alternative energy products, new forms of energy storage solutions, etc.
What if we were to take all the money we spend on prisons and instead put that money into education, exciting new STEM programs that encouraged the youth to dream new dreams towards overcoming the challenges which confront us today? The amount of raw energy that kind of change would unleash could make America a world leader in innovation, make our streets safer, our neighborhoods more livable, and release the energy of promise in our country that would reverberate around the world. We simply need to bring new ways of envisioning our future onto our interior mind screens and open our hearts to the possibility that what helps some of us, will eventually benefit all of us.
We are all stepping into the future with each breath that we take, so may I suggest we let out a collective sigh for all the challenges that we currently face and breathe in deeply the fresh new air of possibility? Possibility which is rich with promise because it is pregnant with the spirit of a much better world for all of us. We must let go of the small thinking of me and mine and begin to embrace the global we of humankind. If this pandemic has taught us anything, let it be that we saw the old ways are not working well for all of us and we must now make systemic changes in order to embrace the new and exciting future which belongs to all of us. We are always stronger united, then when we are at odds with one another.
Let us begin the search for our common bonds of humanity, where we can all agree we want to live in a world that is better for all of us. In the end, don’t we all want to live in peace, in safety, without fear of losing our freedom? Don’t we all want to live in harmony on our planet? Well then, take the first step along with me, by holding a vision of seeing our world from a spiritual perspective, where anything is possible. When each of us begins to see the future for our planet as better and more hopeful, when we keep everyone, close at hand, in our mind, as well as in our heart, then ideas can be transformed into building a new reality. Our work is to…. see it, believe it, be it, and now go out and take the small steps that bring it about, by doing it. When we do this on a consistent basis, a powerful world of positive change for everyone, is surely gonna come.
