It's Time To Rise Above

I’ve been out in the world this week, feeling a bit of celebration in my soul. Looking around the world, though, there appears little to celebrate - wars, raging storms, uncounted numbers of missing people taken by Hurricane Ike and of course, crashing financial statements across the world. And yet, knowing all that, I felt a joy inside that made little sense.

My week consisted of home cooked meals, playing music, interacting with people and I even threw in a little dancing on top of it all. There are things to celebrate in our life, like the release of our newest CD, but my joy seemed greater than that, disconnected from that accomplishment.

Of course, for me, celebrations always bring about a moment of sadness, of loss, as I remember my son and feel the emptiness left by his passing. Luckily, a good friend was there to remind me that both my joy and my pain are a testament to the power of my son’s life.

Although, I had interactions with very positive and loving people, I also, because the world is dual, saw darkness and a strange emptiness I don’t think I have ever before witnessed. There appears to be a weight on the world, on the shoulders of mankind, holding each one down and instilling hopelessness, recklessness and confusion. It seems we can no longer perceive the depths of light, our flame is being extinguished.

The fear running through society is overshadowed by an odd numbness of forced smiles, abrupt hatred and idle chitchat, a strange combination that leads us to exhaustion. The media and our elected officials are pushing the fear as though their very lives depended on it… and perhaps they do. And the campaigning for our next president is presented as though we actually have a choice and the different factions are indeed, different.

We have been inundated for years by media talking points, approved opinions and selected leaders and at some point we either surrender to the game, or we rise above it. I use the term rise above quite often and I wish I could define it more clearly for those sharing their time with me, but all I know is that it is instinctual and it is possible, despite how we are led to disbelieve it. We are more powerful than we know and while we are being driven to panic, fear and desperation, we grow further away from our power.

Darkness is falling, but we have a choice to step above it, we do not have to wear it on our shoulders and we do not have to become encapsulated in its gelatinous mass. And because the world is dual, even as the darkness descends the light is right behind it, waiting to be felt. If we reach down inside and find that joy, find the reason to smile, laugh and celebrate, perhaps, we will help usher in the light sooner.

The sad truth of the matter is that not everyone shares the spark and the flame that will lift him or her to higher realms, so in our journey and in our celebration, we must remember not to shine too much light into a bottomless pit. We can’t save this world that is rapidly crumbling, but we can save ourselves and others like us, if we remain diligent, unclouded by the electronic haze and focused on the light.

Over the last few years, I have seemingly run a little crazy, exploring the murk and the depths with no apparent rhythm or reason, but now it is time to trust that the knowledge I have sought is safely stored away. The harvest is complete, so we must not allow the television, radio, news, message boards or even the emptiness we perceive in our fellow man fill us with fear, we seekers must rise above, fully trusting that when we need it, the salvation of truth will be there.

Peace