GroundCrew2013

Dear Stephanie,
 
Lately I have counseled several people who were quite discouraged (removed from their courage) by the greed, violence, and destruction going down on the planet these days. Depression currently exists in epidemic proportions and many of us have lost our hope and vision for humanity.
I have not.

I have discovered something that gets me bouncing me out of bed in the morning without a need for caffeine and fills me with joy and enthusiasm all day long. It's a safe and natural alternative to Prozac. It gets me up, inspired and ready for action, 24/7. Its potency is off the charts, and now so is mine.

It's not a pill, however. It's a point of view.

My point of perception is that I am an honorable member of God's Reconstruction Team, here on a lifelong mission to penetrate the world with love. That's my viewpoint, and I'm sticking to it. I used to worry that it was arrogant, and that I was suffering from delusions of grandeur. Then I immersed myself in the study of Science of Mind, which points out, ". . . the greatest treasures are paid out when we let go and trust in the law of good."

Now I understand that I am actually recovering from delusions of impotence!

In my younger days I lived in a section of town by a well-traveled road. One winter day we experienced an unexpected and unusual snow storm; the cars right outside my home were gridlocked for many hours, not moving an inch. This was before the days of cell phones and laptops, and the drivers had plenty of time on their hands. I left the shelter of my house to observe the variety of responses to their situation. Some spent the entire time grumbling their grievances, stressing the stress of their missed appointments, clutching their powerless steering wheels, never accepting, and always at war with their predicament. Others surrendered, getting out of their cars to meet their new neighbors, making the best of things, laughing together at their shared helplessness. Children got out and played in the snow - a treasured playground.

A few people went from car to car to take orders for coffee and snacks. They braved the elements to walk an eighth of a mile up the road to the 7/11, and then graciously delivered the goods to their fellow stranded motorists. I noticed the ones choosing to serve were enthusiastic and happy. The external temperature didn't bring down their internal thermometer. They got it up for life, radiating the warmth of their love, and dispelling the frigidity around them.

The day the Twin Towers went down I was glued to the television, like so many of us, trembling and weeping for our world. Later in the afternoon I wrenched myself away from the small screen and tried to tune into the bigger picture.

After some moments in the silence I heard my inner guidance say, "This event is an evolutionary quickening, bringing about an increase of both the dark and the light. Be of good courage. You came here for these times. Despite the tumult, the choice before everyone remains abundantly simple and abundantly clear: love or fear. The media will mostly report and distort the reasons to fear, supplying the drugs for those with an adrenaline habit.

Don't go there, and don't curse those who still believe that attack will make them safe. Light your candle and find others who are illuminating the earth with love. Focus on the building of a new consciousness and a new world, even as the old one stumbles and falls. Be a stand for personal and planetary healing and you will live in the warmth of your loving, no matter how frigid the climate around you."

This is not summer vacation time on classroom earth. The curriculum is demanding, the lessons intense. The most fearful and aggressive people seem to have the most power. Certainly they have the most volume, being given a large megaphone by the media.

Is cheerfulness synonymous with denial these days? Are hope and optimism opiates for those with a lack of intelligence and an abundance of naiveté? Will the meek really inherit the earth, and if so, where are they hiding? Johnny Mathis once recorded a ballad called "Choose Love" - was he delivering a bigger message?

Humanity is at a fork in the road. What will we choose as a species? We've got some pretty big toys that can blow each other up in an afternoon. If we don't raise our emotional maturity to match our advances in technology we might not be around much longer. Everybody on earth is aware of that on some level. We know the stakes are high.

It's easy to lose heart, or to close the heart to protect it from the rawness of grief and pain. But as Yoda said to Anakin in the last Star Wars movie, "The fear of loss is a sure path to the dark side." Anakin's refusal to experience loss and face his grief led to the construction of Darth Vader: a black mask and armoring around his true self.

Take heart, fellow Jedi's. It's an honor to serve, and even our tears are a part of our contribution, so long as they do not come from believing we are powerless. Let's revel in what we can do. We can do small things with great love each day, letting go of any attachment to an outcome. Was Martin Luther King discouraged because he might not see his dream manifest in his lifetime? I don't think so. Planting the seeds and growing a dream is fulfilling in and of itself.

It is a joy to serve God, but it is very stressful to play God.

I'm sure you've all heard the story of a man who encounters a lady on the beach. She is picking up starfish one by one and throwing them back into the ocean after a storm had dumped hundreds of them onto the shore. Her behavior is disturbing to him, as it holds up a mirror to his feelings of impotency. "Look around you. How can you feel what you're doing matters, saving just a few, in the face of such overwhelming tragedy?" "It mattered to that one," she replies as she happily tosses another starfish into the sea.

To curse the darkness when you could be lighting a candle (or saving a starfish) is quite a waste of vital life energy. To put it bluntly, it's time for all of us to get it up - for God, each other, and our planet. It may be our darkest hour, but some of us can see dawn coming, and there's definitely something beautiful on the horizon - a new world waiting to be conceived and birthed. Your heat, your potency, your hands and heart are needed. And it is quite a pleasure to serve.

 

BLESSING:
 
I know that there is One Infinite Power, One Spirit, and One Life. That life
is right within me now; I am intimately connected to spirit's power, and I
can use it by setting my intentions with care and consciousness.

This universe responds to me in kind, so I am always mindful of how I'm
thinking about myself, about other people, about everything! I choose to
think in ways that support the kind of world I desire. I think in ways that
nurture and support me while establishing a new compassion and Light in the
world. My actions welcome more love, rather than shutting it out. All exchanges
and relationships with others expands universal consciousness, rather than snuffing
out the light. All my exchanges create a greater embodiment of Oneness for all mankind.
 I know that what I pay attention to, I become. So I make sure that I am attending
to whatever it is I want to increase in my life.

Whenever I notice myself thinking and choosing in ways that support  littleness,
that support restriction, I stop and think again. I can choose how to think, and I do
this right now by setting a clear and powerful intention, powered by the spiritual laws
of this universe, that I am always at the helm of my life, always choosing nurturing
and supportive ways of thought, word, and deed. And the natural result is a life that
is supportive, supplied, and absolutely wonderful. I give thanks for this inherent power that is in me and in all beings. And I let it unfold with grace and gratitude.
And so it is.
Reverend Angela Peregoff