I don't know the outcome of the upcoming 2024 U.S. presidential election. I'm writing this post a week before in-person voting. Despite predictions by wanna-be Nostradamus pundits, no one knows the result of this referendum.
Historians, political pundits, and commentators say this is the most critical election in modern American history. It is not the first time that we've heard such a prognosis indicating how an election will alter life and society. We can only assess the accuracy of such claims in retrospect.
That being said, since I started voting in the 1970s, I have never before witnessed as much attention, emotional distress, or intensity about an election from folks interested in the outcome.
But here's the deal - one candidate will win, and the others won't. I prefer and believe that one of these presidential candidates is better for this country now. I've been wrong about my predictions in the past, so who knows what will happen?
Yet, when viewed from a higher point of view, while a president's power and influence are not inconsequential, they cannot change the culture needed to lessen the polarized divide we are experiencing in this country.
Moreover, a change in Congress's makeup alone will not lead to the cultural change needed to unify the country. Such a transformation and rejuvenation of the body politic must come from the individual and collective consciousness of the people who make up the United States of America.
To have a chance of experiencing such a transformation and rejuvenation and to ease self-inflicted emotional angst, we must loosen our grip on our human perspectives. These human perspectives pit two sides against each other, one versus the other. We must see things from the third, or spiritual, side.
To get there, we must recognize and move through multiple stages of consciousness. I'm going to list those stages and briefly describe them. If we move through those stages, we will have a shot at creating the "more perfect union” stated in the Preamble of the Constitution.
Stage 1: Powerless Victim
In this stage, people believe that all our troubles and challenges result from politician X or Y, depending on one's desired or undesired candidate. In this scenario, we think things outside ourselves determine our emotions and lives. People believe that depending on who is in office, that person or party has caused them to feel terrified, depressed, outraged, or even physically ill.
Moreover, whichever party or candidate they oppose is the reason for their plight and predicament. As a result, they look to them to blame and make a scapegoat. Blaming or scapegoating can lead to a cycle of powerlessness in which the only thing they can think of is to retaliate against the party they oppose when they are in power. This pattern goes back and forth with each election cycle, in which someone must be the enemy to blame.
I'm not suggesting there is never any evidence to support such a position. However, if one were to give up the victim role (e.g., "The President did this to me!"), a new possibility opens up.
Stage 2: Empowerment
As we embrace this stage of consciousness, initially, we may feel challenged by the circumstances we face. However, we must face these challenges with our authentic power to change our lives and society. Here, we get to find out what we are capable of. We are never victims of circumstances, but have the agency to be creators of our lives. We use our spiritual tools and take action to move us to the future we desire.
We can say, "Wait a minute. I am powerful!" We can take individual and collective action to create the change we want, such as supporting candidates who align with eternal spiritual values, or running for political office ourselves.
There is one caveat, however: we must avoid blaming or shaming others (e.g., shutting down and blaming "those idiots!") because it only heightens tensions and nonproductive counterattacks.
While this stage, empowerment, is far better than wallowing in victimhood, it does have its limitations. We do have some control, but the reality is that total human control is illusory. Our ability to be the sole generator of every outcome is impossible. No one or even a group can figure out everything using human wit alone. When we recognize that our human understanding can only take us so far, we are ready to move to the next stage of consciousness.
Stage 3: Vessel of Spirit
In this stage, we acknowledge that: "It is not I, but the God within who does the work." We surrender the small self to the Universal Power and allow this power to work through us. At this point, we are open to the unknown, we trust, and we align with the higher power so the greater Truth can flow through us.
When we approach this election, or any election for that matter, our role is to approach what is before us as the spiritual beings we are and ask: "How can I understand the viewpoint of those I vehemently disagree with or disapprove of, or that have positions that appear indefensible and I don’t like at all?”
We may even view their perspectives as crazy and destructive. But spiritually, we ask: "Is this who they are spiritually?"
Moreover, we ask what the confluence of economic, life history, and sociological events brought them to where they are and to their beliefs. To quote from Harper Lee's book, To Kill a Mockingbird, "You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view... Until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it.”
Suppose we can imagine walking around in another person's skin. In that case, we then ask, "Is it possible for me to embrace that person as a fellow human/spiritual being despite our vastly different points of view?" Admittedly, this takes work. It is hard spiritual work. If it were easy, everybody would be doing it.
In this stage, we are beginning to let go of the belief in separation, judgment, and condemnation. Such a release does not suggest we don't stop others from harming ourselves or others. Instead, we are opening up to be the vessels of Spirit so it can flow through and as us. We increasingly live our unalterable Truth — that we are all children of God capable of doing good and not-so-good things.
The important thing is that we understand we have human limits to our understanding and capabilities. When we reach those limits, we surrender to that infinite power to be instruments of this energy. This energy is Love — the force that binds together this entire Universe. When we grasp the power of Love, we are ready to embrace the fourth stage of consciousness;
Stage 4: Oneness
In this stage, we realize and live out the changeless Truth: we are One in Spirit.
Perhaps the purpose of all the external distress we may be experiencing and have been going through for a long time, is to wake us up and catalyze a collective shift in consciousness.
What we experience as us vs. them consciousness, we ought to view from a higher perspective. When seen from that vantage point, it helps us give up our story of separation. Also, when we see it from that point of view, we will collectively tap into the eternal flow of Spirit to show up as we can be — as one people, part of one country, and one planet.
In that consciousness, we can heal the United States, and the world for that matter. In that consciousness, we are devoid of hate or the need to marginalize anyone. We will then be able to listen and talk to one another genuinely.
Imagine how freeing that would be for our Spirit.
Peace and blessings,
James
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