Celebrating summer solstice this year was a quiet and inward experience for me, unlike many previous years where the warm sun and longer days included late-night dinners socializing, accentuated with that idyllic summertime lightness of being. This year, the weather is cooler with lots of gloomy clouds, and there are many other dark things happening that could be considered, on the shadowy side.
Many of us are perplexed, some outraged, and others completely distraught at the “state of the world” at this pivotal time. The increasing rise and dangers of fascism, the burgeoning climate crisis, alongside the relentless drive for fossil fuel. The increase of poverty despite unprecedented wealth—which contributes to the plague of racism, displacing millions of humans from their homes. To heat things up even more, the very real threat of nuclear war with tensions over in the Middle East and the Trump administration’s recent direct involvement.
And yet, some people are completely in a state of denial—likely the 50% who elected Trump, while others are in a state of distraction—as if living on a completely different planet, with the rest deeply concerned, not knowing how to ‘put-out the fire’ of inhumane acts overseas, how to help or support. Nevertheless we all likely experience the restless uncertainty of our challenging, rapidly changing times. In conversation with family and friends, I ask: “How do you think we can help and why don’t more of us do so?” Their reply is: “It has to be closer to home for us to act.”
Stunned I reply: “Do you mean to say that we all have to suffer before there’s change?” I comment that the climate crisis is affecting many people in the western world and yet, do we notice any demonstrative change on that front? Not really.
And so, here I make my case, that although we are in many different types of crises right now, the only way out is to realize what is the actual root cause of the crises. One thing I feel is that it isn’t the bigger louder symptomatic problems of our material world.This is a crisis where I believe, if we all took it upon ourselves to solve this one “actual crisis” we would likely solve all the problems of our world. And so, what kind of crisis are we in? We are in a Spiritual Crisis.
We have lost our sense of interconnection to each other’s humanity, to each other, to our home and to life itself—yet we don’t call it a spiritual crisis, but it is.
We think that we are superior to the life force, the extraordinary intelligence of the Creator Spirit (God) that sustains and provides life force energy into all of us and the universe. We have lost our grace, our humility and our capacity to see awe and wonder in the everyday miracles that Life offers us, so we take it for granted.
We use, abuse, take and exploit the Life force, we fear but don’t revere it. We are continually at odds with it, and with ourselves. We have become unhealthy and unhappy—addicted, medicated and generally dysfunctional. Sexuality, self-worth, morality, place and purpose, physicality are at odds within many. We suffer, as we give our ego’s more and more power. Our spirits and our hearts are displaced. They have no home, and they don’t know where they belong or come from anymore.
“We can not live in a world that is not our own, in a world that is interpreted for us by others. An interpreted world is not a home. Part of the terror is to take back our own listening, to use our own voice, to see our own light.” (Hildegard of Bingen, 12 C.)
We are certainly in crisis. Most definitely a self-identity, ie, a spiritual crisis. I mean, I’m no Guru or Saint, but many of them would say that the biggest impediment to humanity’s liberation and personal freedom is humans’ incapacity to see past the illusion of the small-self and the material world, to truly know the GreaterSelf. Most of our spiritual and subsequent religious traditions refer to this unified field of consciousness (from science) as the web-of-Life, of surrendering the idea of a separate ego-Will, (possession, survival, fixated, attached) with Divine Will (peaceful, loving, expansive, unconditional awareness). To know who and what we are, within the whole.
Why Does It Matter?
When the ego loosens, you experience:
More peace, compassion, and clarity.
Less suffering from grasping, comparison, and control.
A sense of being held or guided, rather than always in charge.
It’s not a state of disconnection but one of deep belonging—to life, to love, to something greater.
It is the illusion of the small self to believe that power belongs to the personal self, when in fact none of what animates us, is ours. The ‘I’ of us, is fundamentally, pure, free and forever, immortal, not the body or personality.
Ask yourself…
“Who am I without my thoughts, my story, or my name?”
Sit in silence with that. You might discover a presence, an aliveness—spacious and aware. That’s the beginning of recognizing the Greater Self.
It is horrific that so many are traumatized, losing their homes. It is no wonder that many more feel that we have collectively lost our home, our sacred place of refuge, value and community. Our places of shared social belonging, social contribution: of service, brotherhood sisterhood, motherhood, fatherhood, family including the land that we’ve loved, worked and stewarded with our sweat and memories; all are threatened. To realize that our entire world is in danger—our whole planet and all sentient beings, with whom we share our earthly home, is disturbing. This due to the ridiculous absolutely insane actions of ones so greedy, manipulative, dishonest and corrupt they will put everyone at great risk and everything in danger.
The heads of state have totally betrayed and abused us and our home,
for their egocentric addiction to power.
My conversation with family turned into a robust dialogue on all the above with various calls to action. The first call is a commitment to our own spiritual growth and personal development. Moving from ego consciousness to Self-realization means paying attention to your motivations, your thoughts and your internal dialogue. This involves healing then integration of shadow, persona, and unconscious material. Replace ego identification and separation by developing a sense of interconnectedness, purpose, and wholeness beyond personal success or validation. Social CTA’s focused on various types of peaceful protest and collective action. These social based actions also included creating small interactive groups to exchange ideas and in particular to envision a new way of being together on planet Earth.
At the end of the day, we all want happiness and personal freedom.
What is freedom? Freedom is self-determination: the ability to act with integrity, consistency, and from a place of sovereignty, self-awareness, self-love, self-reliance, self-regard, regard for life, regard for others, regard for the gift of life and regard to paying it forward. Freedom is when you are innately in tune with Creator Life-force, when you completely understand all is one. Freedom is when you don’t fear your body, death or pain, you respect them. Freedom is when you release attachment for approval from others and your sovereign mind is bathed in equanimity. When your power is not addicted nor derived from force rather the verb to love, and co-create with the life force.
Those who are aligned with the Creator Spirit are self-assured in a humility that is derived from autonomy of spiritual responsibility, and the contentment that comes from surrender to something greater than oneself.
Not life-destroying, always and in all-ways Life affirming.
Blessed be,
Mary-Jo
