Here’s to A Decade (and Beyond) of Peace and Repairing Our World
Here is my prayer and vision for 2020, the next decade and beyond. Brace yourself people, we have a lot of work to do! But what else do we really need to do anyway? Marianne Williamson so eloquently states, “We are not tired from doing too much but tired from doing too little that matters.”
My prayer and vision for peace starts with us as a people to be willing to do the work, what work you may ask? The work of allowing and creating peace within ourselves, our relationships, our communities, and the world in which live.
We start with ourselves, by taking care of ourselves. We have all heard the airplane oxygen mask analogy but it bears repeating. If we don’t put on our mask first we are functionally useless to do anything else. Taking care of ourselves, isn’t selfish, it nurtures our connection to ourselves and strengthens our connection to spirit (or if that word doesn't resonate with you than insert something greater than ourselves). When we do the work to connect to the deep peace within ourselves that starts to also create peace in relationships with those around us. Then that peace radiates outward further.
How do we take care of ourselves and where do we start? One word, meditation. The old catch 22 of sitting still and yet being at work. When you sit still and meditate you connect to that deep inner peace within. Sometimes it takes a few minutes or perhaps several years. Be patient and before long and if you do the work I promise it will be quicker than you think. Then as you continue to sit still and connect to that deep peace within identify the feeling with an image. Personally, I envision the sacred relic of the tooth of the Buddah that I saw in Sri Lanka at the Temple of the Tooth in Kandy. This relic is housed and encased in gold and has layers and layers of protection then placed in a room guarded by red velvet ropes and security personnel. It has all those layers of protection because it is that sacred. That is what I envision deep within myself and it is present in everyone, somewhere.
When you connect to that peace by feeling and visualizing it, next envision it radiating outward. Like a sun situated in your gut and the circular rays powerfully shining out to exponential distances. This outward radiation of your inner peace brings peace to your immediate circle and your relationships become more peaceful because of your peaceful presence which spreads to them. As you continue to meditate you connect with your calling of how to create more peace around you. It starts small and gains momentum. When you open your eyes the space you are in looks different and perhaps you notice the place to begin your work. It may begin as trivial as seeing an area that has clutter and deciding to clear it. In doing so you clear items no longer needed or find creative ways to reuse them. You recycle items instead of trashing them or bringing items to a thrift shop and see people in the community volunteering and thanking them for their efforts, even if only in the form of a smile. Then it radiates further how can I serve this community I live in? You probably spend a lot of time listing your skills on a resume or marketing them on LinkedIn. As you are creating endless profiles about yourself, think how can I use some of these skills for service.
Then as you continue meditating and feel gratitude for the improvements you see in your relationships around you and your community, you bring that gratitude and vision of peace beyond your community and country and to fellow citizens of this world. You wish those in despair the peace you have connected to and pray for their attainment of it. Then when you check the mail or your email and see an organization to donate to that works on those initivates you donate to them. You donate not out of guilt but out of gratitude for the peace you have cultivated and the peace you wish to spread beyond yourself and your circle.
All of us have our unique gifts, perspectives, talents, insight, interests and light to share. If we all cultivated peace within ourselves and allow it to radiate it outward to the world well then I’m not sure I need to go into any more specifics because the vision will be so grand and magnificent it will go beyond what I can envision at this moment. Yet, I can feel it now and it trumps (no pun intended) any fear or darkness that I see on my news feed.
As John Lenin states ‘you may say I’m a dreamer but I’m not the only one’. As we approach MLK Day we know the visionary Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. certainly had a dream as well and as he stated ‘Faith is taking the first steps, even when you don’t see the whole staircase.’
And so it is, Namaste, Om Shanti, wishing you a decade and beyond of so much love and light! Now get to work and start by sitting still, which will lay the foundation of manifesting all your dreams and desires for you (and humanity). Xoxoxoxo xoxoxoxo
