As I've been taking some vacation time, I've been doing a little musing. There's a lot going on lately. The day after the presidential inauguration, millions of women marched worldwide. There continues to be pushback and distress over the recent executive order on immigration. A protest against an invited alt-right speaker turned violent at the University of California, Berkeley. There looks to be a clash brewing over the latest nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court.
As the Chinese statement aptly reminds us, "May you live in interesting times."
As I reflect on these events and others, I'm reminded of my favorite message song of all time, "What's Going On?" by Marvin Gaye. That song opens with the background sound of a party because there is a homecoming for his brother, a Vietnam veteran. However, underneath the celebration, there's uneasiness.
At the time of that song's release in 1971, the civil rights movement was in full swing and the worldwide environmental consciousness was evolving. There was the rise of personal and professional feminism, anti-hate crime laws were being initiated and there was a heightened sensitivity to the varying forms of social oppression of subgroups in the country. During that time, evolutionary triggers helped catapult these issues to the forefront. We were moving from one stage of consciousness to a higher one.
Whenever we go through this process, it's not always fun and games. Dr. H. Emilie Cady, in her classic New Thought/Ancient Wisdom text Lessons in Truth, referred to it as "chemicalization." Briefly, chemicalization is when an old idea or way of being clashes with an emerging, higher idea. (And if you want to learn more about this and other insights from Lessons in Truth, our five-week book study class begins Monday, February 27.) Sometimes external events, such as the election of a controversial leader or the rising of a controversial group, serve as evolutionary triggers that stir things up and accelerate the manifestation of that higher state of consciousness. The evolutionary triggers wake us up from a sense of complacency so we are motivated to move the process of evolution along a little more quickly.
When that happens, we may feel fear or be discouraged. However, we need not be. When we look at such events from a spiritual perspective, we realize they are part of a process that will not last forever. Something higher and better will take place.
Our job is to continue to hold the high watch, raise our awareness and engage in outer actions that support the truth of our being as expressions of God. Our task is to become more mindful and trust that there is a divine plan behind the pictures we see on the news today. Even amidst discomfort and uncertainty, we take appropriate action and affirm: "Something truly wonderful is happening!"
If we've strayed from the divine plan, all we need to do is acknowledge where we are and get on with the business of letting God be God in us.
As we do, we can say, "Spirit is working!" And that is as good an answer as any to Marvin Gaye's question of "What's going on?"
Peace and Blessings,
James