A Politics of Love

Earlier this week, my friend and videographer Ken Rinehart sent me a link to a recent episode of Colorado Matters, a daily interview program on Colorado Public Radio (CPR) hosted by Ryan Warner. This episode, entitled Holy Chaos! A House Divided! Religious Leaders Take on the Political Divide, is an interview with Pastor Mark Feldmeir, Senior Pastor of Saint Andrew United Methodist Church in Highlands Ranch, Reverend Amanda Henderson former Executive Director of Interfaith Alliance of Colorado who is joining The Iliff School of Theology, and Pastor Tracey Perry who does ministry and social justice work across the state.

Each of the ministers spoke authentically and courageously about the need for faith communities to engage in discourse about social justice issues, especially at this time in our country. They asserted quite boldly that it is the role of the church and people of faith to address these issues and stand for love and compassion in the arena of public policy. I highly recommend that you listen to this interview.

Trish Morris, our Associate Minister, spoke openly about this in her lesson on Sunday, October 25, entitled Finding the Balance. If you have not had the opportunity to listen to or watch this service, I encourage you do to so. You may watch or listen on the Unity Spiritual Center Denver YouTube channel.

After listening to the CPR episode, I ordered Rev. Feldmeir’s book, A House Divided – Engaging the Issues through the Politics of Compassion. The book is based on a series of sermons that Rev. Feldmeir gave at his church. Yes, a United Methodist minister in largely conservative Douglas County, Colorado dared to speak to his congregation of over one thousand about social justice issues on a Sunday morning! I have only begun perusing it, but from what I have read thus far, I believe that many of us could gain a new perspective from reading the book and engaging in the exercises he offers.

In the introduction to the book, Rev. Feldmeir references a 2015 online essay by Max Harris and Philip McKibbin entitled The Politics of Love in which the authors explore a values-based politics that encourages love, rather than fear and division, as a foundation for public policy. He quotes them,

“If love involves a concern for people, then a politics of love will move this world to a better place for everyone…In such a politics, love would be woven through all our policy. Embracing a politics of love would change how we justify policy, as well as how we talk about it.”

I wish I had been aware of this essay and Rev. Feldmeir’s book prior to presenting my lesson, Living Love, this past Sunday. While my message was very much aligned with everything presented here, I would have enjoyed having these as references.

In Unity, we say that Jesus is our way shower, our example of one who realized his oneness with God and lived it. However, Unity as a movement and many Unity churches and spiritual centers have traditionally avoided discussing or getting directly involved in issues of social justice. In my way of thinking, there is a serious disconnect here.

If we truly look to Jesus as our example, it seems to me that we would not only be involved in these issues, but that we would be on the front lines taking the lead in speaking about, speaking to, and speaking up about the issues that affect our daily lives and the lives of our brothers and sisters, not only in America, but around the world.

As Rev. Feldmeir points out, Jesus was deeply committed to compassion and to the common good. He excluded no one, openly embracing the disenfranchised, discounted and disinherited. He included all people in the family of God.

Jesus also exampled and called his disciples directly and each of us indirectly through his teaching, which we in Unity profess to believe in and follow, to empty ourselves of our own attachments to privilege, power, position and prestige in all its many forms and to love and serve God through loving and serving others.

In addition, Jesus’s life is an example of one who saw God in everyone and everything. This, my friends, is one of Unity’s primary principles. If we truly believe this and strive to practice it, I do not see how we can choose not to actively address and participate in issues that directly affect the lives of so many.

Are we ready to stop saying that Jesus is our way shower and do what it takes to follow him?

As I have said, I know it is not my position to tell anyone how to vote. I would not be so presumptuous. However, I believe it is within my purview as a fellow human being to encourage us all to consider the idea of a politics of love and compassion as we cast our votes that will determine our governmental leaders and affect public policy.

It is popular opinion that the next few weeks will be challenging in the political arena as votes are tabulated and winners determined and we deal with the reactions and responses from the elected officials and the public. I encourage us all to stay grounded in love and compassion for ourselves and for each other. To refrain from critical or judgmental words. To avoid being an “echo chamber” for fear. To keep our minds stayed on Love. To speak Love. To speak up for Love. To stand up for Love.

Love is the only power that can transform and heal the world. This is the time! We are the ones!

 

 

The Song of Love

The following is a paraphrase of a story included in one of my favorite books, How Then Shall We Live, by Wayne Muller. I have not confirmed that it is factual; regardless, as with many great stories, it speaks of deep truths.

 

There is a tribe in Africa in which the birthdate of a child is not observed by the day he or she is born, but from the date the child is thought of in its mother’s heart and mind. When the mother knows that a child is to come through her, she sits under a tree in solitude in order to hear the song of the child that is to be born. She then returns to the village and teaches the song to her husband. As they come together physically to conceive the child, they sing the song as a way of inviting it. During her pregnancy, the mother teaches the song to the midwives who sing it during delivery. Throughout the child’s life, the villagers sing the child’s song to remind him/her of it. If the child falls and hurts himself, the villagers gather to comfort him by singing his song. If she does something that may be contrary to the truth of her song, they do not condemn or punish her. Rather, they surround her with love and sing her song to remind her of her truth. Finally, at the time of death, the song is sung one last time.

 

I resonate with the image of God as a great matrix of energy vibrating as the frequency of Love. I love music and enjoy singing, so I especially appreciate the imagery of each of us being God resonating as beautiful music that we can perceive and express. I enjoy thinking that, metaphorically of course, each of us is the song of Love that God sings.

God’s song is a vibrational frequency, the Source of all, which has no end and no beginning. It is before and beyond our opinions, political or religious beliefs or affiliations, nationalities, races, ethnicities, genders, sexual orientations, gender identities, or any other of the many and various ways we identify ourselves. God’s song is the song of creation, the song of Oneness, the song of Love.

Although we are God’s song, unlike in this African tribe, most of us are not supported and encouraged to learn and sing it. We are taught to sing the songs of our families, cultures and religions. We learn the songs that they sing for themselves and sing to us, expecting us to learn them as our own, hoping to be accepted and belong. We superimpose them upon God’s song which gets drowned out by the cacophony of the world around us. We forget the song of God that is singing us.

We often grow so accustomed to singing another’s song that we begin to believe it is ours. We identify with the roles we play, the categories society assigns us, and the beliefs we are taught. When we sing the songs of our assumed identities, we experience discord, because we are not singing God’s song. God’s song is a song of unity, love, joy and peace.

God’s song often gets transposed into a song of fear, control, power and greed. That is not our song. We are not singing God’s song if we are singing a song of separation. When so many of us have been taught to sing songs other than God’s song, we often experience dissonance when we come together. God’s song is always harmonious, never dissonant.

Unfortunately, we live in a world where most hold the mistaken belief that violence is a solution to disharmony. We engage in violence against ourselves and each other in an attempt to resolve our dissonance. While some would argue that they are not violent, I believe that we all engage in violence, albeit sometimes unconsciously.

Violence is any thought we think, belief we hold, word we speak or action we take that denies the vibrant life of God – as ourselves or another. Violence, whether mental, verbal, physical, economic, or emotional only serves to further silence God’s song that is each of us in our highest form. It is never the resolution to dissonance within ourselves or in relationship to another.

All of our “isms” are violence, including racism, sexism, nationalism, ageism, to name a few. When we engage in any of those, we are singing learned songs of our history and presumed heritage, and discord results. We have forgotten our song. In the pain of dissonance, we lash out at each other.

Because we are not taught God’s song and encouraged to sing it, we lose touch with the love, compassion and oneness it embodies. When we are not singing God’s song to each other and for each other, we get lost in the discordant energy of fear. We continue to bear witness to the results.

I was dismayed to read that in a recent YouGov survey 55% of registered voters in America expect there to be violence after the upcoming election. Another 33% were unsure.

We must intervene. Just as dissonant sounds in music create tension that must be resolved by bringing the chords into harmony, we must find resolution within ourselves. We must commit ourselves to remembering God’s song as our song. We must take time to sit and listen so that we can sense the frequency; become conscious of when we are singing out of key; and make the necessary tunings so that we are in resonance with it. We must help each other remember the song. And we must help each other learn to sing it.

Resolving the dissonance between God’s song singing as us and the song we have been singing, brings resolution to the internal conflict and helps us to connect with solutions beyond our learned and commonly adopted violent responses, both within ourselves and in our relationships with others.

In order for us to co-create our vision of a world in which God’s song is freely and openly sung by all, we must remember it, learn it and sing it. And, we must encourage each other to do the same. This requires our willingness to engage in conscious self-connection. It also requires our willingness to have meaningful, conscious and loving connection with others.

Listening for, remembering and singing God’s song begins with our decision to do it. I suggest we begin with the affirmations: 

I hear God’s song of Love.

I learn God’s song of Love.

I sing God’s song of Love. 

These affirmations state a clear intention to align our vibrational frequency with the frequency of Love and Oneness.

Devoting time in the silence is necessary for us to hear God’s song. I recommend at least 15 minutes a day in meditation with the specific intention to listen. Begin with deep breathing, and focus your awareness at the center of your torso, the solar plexus area. Breathe into that area and consciously invite the awareness of God’s song. Release any attachment to “hearing” a melody, we are speaking metaphorically, and simply be open to the experience.

Honest self-connection is essential. It is important for us to be aware of the dissonance between the song we were taught to sing and God’s song that is singing as us. We must be willing to question every belief and release those that are not in harmony.

While it requires commitment and conscious attention, it is not difficult. Just as dissonant musical chords create tension, so do conflicting thoughts and beliefs. At the first sign of tension, which can manifest as mild anxiety or agitation, stop and become aware of the song you are singing. Invite God’s song to sing through you instead, and notice the tension ease. Moment by moment, we can consciously choose to align ourselves in the frequency of God’s song of Love.

As we begin to sing God’s song out loud, we encourage others to do the same. We remind them of their song, and invite them to sign along with us. It is my hope that we can learn from the story of the African tribe. Let us gather together to sing the song of Love.

Let us renounce violence as a means of restoring harmony. Let us cease engaging in the strategy of punishment, and instead remind each other of God’s song. Let us, together, manifest the Kingdom of God on the Earth joining together in a chorus of love, kindness, compassion and understanding.

The world is waiting for someone to lead the way. Will it be you?

 

Be The Change

“Be the change you wish to see in the world.”

While there is some debate about whether he said those exact words, the quote above is most often attributed to Mohandas Gandhi, the leader of the nonviolent resistance movement that helped India gain independence from Britain. Regardless of the origin of the quote, it is a powerful axiom for us to take to heart and live.

What is the change you wish to see in the world? I know that most of us have a veritable laundry list of changes we would like to see. While that is true for me, I realize that many of the changes I wish to see in the world are rooted in one foundational change in human consciousness which will affect a positive change in how we relate with each other. This change begins with our commitment to practice empathy and compassion for ourselves and for each other.

Regrettably, our culture has not modeled either. As children, we are not taught empathy. Our parents were not taught empathy. Our teachers were not taught empathy. Our spiritual leaders were not taught empathy. It is no wonder that we did not learn how to practice empathy for others or ourselves. On the contrary, we were told to “suck it up,” “get over it,” “don’t cry or I’ll give you something to cry about,” and we were educated about the impropriety of expressing anger, pain, or even sadness in “polite company.” We learned to not only suppress our feelings, but also to deny them.

As we learned to not have empathy and compassion for ourselves, we learned to not have it for others. We often have sympathy for others, especially when they are hurting or sad. We feel for them; we may even join them in their pain because it can often stimulate our suppressed pain, but that is not empathy. Empathy invites us into a deeper connection with ourselves and others.

Empathy for self begins with an intention to acknowledge, name our feelings, and feel them. Yes, even the ones that we would most like to avoid, such as anger, pain, and shame. Further, empathy asks us to go beneath the feeling to connect with the deeply held value or longing that is related to the feeling.

For example, in this moment I am feeling concerned when I think about the divisiveness surrounding the upcoming election. I can breathe into the feeling, feel where it resides in my body, and inquire about what I am longing for but not witnessing. As I connect with myself, I know that I value harmony, unity, and kindness. From my perspective, the outer does not reflect those deeply held values. I take time to honor those values and make a commitment to myself to embody them more fully in my thoughts, words, and actions.

Empathy for others works in much the same way. I cannot know what another is feeling or what they value unless they are willing and available to share with me; however, I can, when I am centered and connected in empathy and compassion for myself, open my heart and become curious.

For example, when one has a flushed face, is speaking at a volume louder than would normally be spoken, and interrupting another in a conversation, I might guess that he or she is feeling afraid. In the face of fear, fighting is one of the normal human reactions. As I connect with fear, I realize that it often arises when we believe that our need for safety and security are being threatened. I know that I have felt that at times as well. In that connection with our shared humanity, I can give myself empathy and compassion for the feelings that the fearful behavior has stimulated for me and I can extend compassion to the other.

This is in no way meant to imply that we need to agree with another, condone their behavior, or support their agenda. As Oren Jay Sofer, author of Say What You Mean, said during a webinar that Unity Spiritual Center Denver co-sponsored in June,

“I can use all of my life energy to try to prevent you from doing the things I do not agree with, but that does not mean that I have to close my heart to you.”

Empathy and compassion are expressions of an open heart.

When our hearts are open to each other, we connect beyond any labels that we assign to ourselves or to others. In the heart of empathy and compassion there is no race, no gender, no political party, no sexual orientation, no religion, no gender identity, no nationality, no socio-economic status. There is nothing but oneness. When we can recognize the value and worth of each human being and connect with our shared humanity, we will begin to manifest a world in which we do our best to meet basic needs of all people, celebrate our differences, and show respect and care for the Earth and our environment. We will truly know and express the meaning of the word Unity.

I know that it is up to me to “Be the change I wish to see in the world.” If I want to see a world that embodies empathy and compassion, I must embody empathy and compassion - even, and maybe especially when I do not feel like it. I must set a clear intention and make a sincere commitment to practice empathy and compassion for myself and for all others, especially for those with whom I disagree the strongest.

I invite us all to take time to consider what change we wish to see in the world and to make the commitment to ourselves and to the world. BE IT!

Enjoy the Journey!

On Sunday afternoon, I set out on a road trip from Denver, CO to San Diego, CA. That may not sound like a big deal, but for someone like me who has not especially enjoyed long road trips in the past, it is. I decided to drive rather than fly because I am not yet ready to be on a plane with a couple hundred other people for several hours during a pandemic - masks, or no masks.

I was not thrilled at the prospect of being in my vehicle for approximately 7 hours each day for 3 days – ALONE! J chose not to make the trip with me since he felt it best to stay close to home and available for his business.

My chosen route was south to Albuquerque, NM to visit with a friend; west through Flagstaff, AZ and on to Sedona where I had planned to see a friend, but things changed; then, south toward the U.S. and Mexico border and west to San Diego. It was not the shortest or fastest route, but it afforded me the opportunity to connect with someone dear to me and to see parts of the country I had never seen.

I arrived in San Diego on Wednesday afternoon. I am now sitting here looking out at the beauty of the smoke-screened hills, the evergreen trees, the lush succulents, and the glorious flowers that bloom year-round here. As I reflect on my journey, I am aware that it is in many ways a metaphor for my life, indeed, I would guess for many of us.

As I said, I have never been one to enjoy long road trips. I must admit that there were times each day during those long 7 hours when I wondered if I would ever arrive. I found myself being focused on getting to my destination. At times, I felt like a little kid asking his parents, “Are we there yet?” I certainly was not focused on enjoying the journey.

Just as I found myself focused on getting here, I recognize that I am often focused on outcome. It does not matter on which outcome I am focused. It may be writing a blog post, or preparing and presenting a Sunday message and service, or something as simple as cooking a meal. When I get lost in paying attention solely to the outcome, I am not present for the experience. I miss out on the deliciousness of every moment.

At times, I drove through landscapes of such awe-inspiring magnificence that it quite literally took my breath away. The drive between Flagstaff and Sedona through Oak Creek Canyon is absolutely stunning. The rock formations in and around Sedona are other-worldly and majestic. The tree-covered mountains around Prescott, AZ where I spent Tuesday night are spectacular. The Imperial Sand Dunes in southern California were a shocking and delightful surprise. I was not aware that they existed. Strikingly different than anything I had ever seen; I was mesmerized by them. And the Laguna Mountains just east of San Diego were fascinating. They are unlike any mountains I have seen. They look as if some species of giants intentionally stacked piles of boulders to form the mountains. There were other amazing sites along the way, but these are the ones that captured my attention most.

Oak Creek Canyon, AZ

Sedona, AZ

Imperial Sand Dunes, CA

In-Ko-Pah Mountains, CA

There were also stretches of road along the journey where the landscape was mostly barren, even desolate. The land was parched and dry. There were outcroppings of scrub brush and rocks, but not much to look at. I judged those areas harshly and wished I had been able to avoid them on my trip.

For the vast majority of the trip, I drove along the route following the instructions of Google Maps, not paying much attention to my surroundings, but focusing on the road ahead and the next turn, exit, or rest area. It was just another mundane part of the journey.

The journey of life is much the same. We have glorious experiences of beauty, joy, and delight. We also experience times that seem devoid of all those things when life appears to be dry and barren. Most of the time we live life day-to-day doing the things that may have become routine, or at times boring. Sometimes, just completing one task to get to another.

It is human nature for us to seek out and long for the beauty of life. Those experiences greatly enrich our lives. It is also our nature to judge and do our best to avoid the more challenging and sometimes desolate life experiences. Additionally, we may move through the routine of our days just doing our best to make it through the day.

This trip has reminded me that it is up to me to be present for it all and to look for and choose to behold the beauty in it all, even the things that I judge and would prefer to avoid, as well as the things that I view as mundane.

Life is happening in every moment. I am here to experience life. If I am only focused on the destination, longing for the next wonderful experience, judging the present or moving through my days in a trance, then no one is there in those moments to live this life I have been given.

I get to remind myself to slow down, take a breath, awaken all of my senses and pay attention to everything around me – the sights, sounds, and smells, as well as the subtle energies of the Earth, sky, plants, animals and the other humans with whom I share this life journey. There are so many amazing things to experience.

As Ralph Waldo Emerson famously said, “Life is a journey, not a destination.”

Enjoy the journey!