An Eye for an Eye?

The Killing of Saddam


“Our respect for human rights requires us to execute him, and there will be no review or delay in carrying out the sentence," Al-Maliki said. Associated Press, December 29, 2006

Surely, the world must look at this very public case as a perfect example being held to the light to view the darkness of mankind.

Mercy is the hallmark of a civilized soul. Whether or not another is merciful cannot dictate our ability to be so and to believe it should dictate such, is to be uncivilized.

Vengeance is the mark of man’s weakness, as it attempts to break down Spirit within, not add to it. Man must look at it for what it is; vengeance, incorrectly called justice, is an attempt to destroy the foundation of man’s divinity within, which cannot be destroyed.

In this public instance we can view this as an opportunity to begin to actually follow what Christ and many others have suggested we do. Hope springs eternal, in many who see this as such.

We are not made better people for killing murderers. We are not made more holy by showing our dismay at the evils of man. We are not made more powerful by exerting power over others.

Let us show Mercy and forgiveness to every one, not just some. The message of all Spiritual paths including Christians, is not murder or vengeance; not punishment or public display of power.

We must not kill in the name of justice; it is never justice to kill, in any circumstance.

We cannot murder him in the name of ‘righteous’ vindication; it is never righteous to justify our power over life. And vindication is but a show of selfishness to the highest degree.

And last but not least….we cannot kill in response to the cries of anger from victims; we are all victims of hate if we choose to do the same as he did. We can only respond to their calls with love, and in so doing, we help heal them. Murdering Saddam is not healing anyone.

It’s so simple! Yet we listen instead to such complicated reasons for his execution, given in the name of the ‘laws of man’ or ‘human rights’ laws in which we claim one life is more valued than another. There is no more valuable a life, nor less valuable, and no one human being less deserving of Mercy.

Until we all agree upon this, our so-called civilized society will fall and we will all fall victim to our own hatred and judgment.

Diane L. Perretto

http://thesacredself.com

Upon the Ladder to Home

Stuck on a Rung

For those of us on a conscious path toward Spiritual awareness, we often use the ladder as our favorite metaphor. Well, I don’t know about any of you out there, but I think I’m stuck on a rung. The number is not important, even if I knew, but seeming to be stuck is my point. Anyone want to lend a hand?

Actually, never mind. Your hand does not exist. And besides, if I tried to use it, I’d fall. And I would truly fall because the moment I believe you can help me, is the moment I have once again, ‘fallen’ for the idea that salvation is outside of me. Frankly, those of you standing here with me on this rung are the only ones I am talking to, because those above us, are most likely listening to others on their rung, since just as we go through a door with no handles and can’t back through it, as we move up a rung, the previous one disappears! So, to my friends on the same rung, I’ve got to tell you a quick story….. even though I know you are not actually ‘there.’ Indulge me, if you will.

I think I landed upon this rung when I believed that the choice for Spirit was a better one than the choice for ego, and I certainly don’t want to go back. The ego is a nasty invention, and although I know I am apt to think I still choose it, I’ve at least got it figured out that it brings only temporary states of happiness if it does anything at all. I was granted a few experiences that showed me glimpses of ‘more’ than what this world of ego rule offers, and so I decided once and for all, not to ask ego for any advice, and also to look at its shenanigans as often and as honestly as possible, in order to keep clearly on the right path: toward awareness of Spirit.

So, here I am, wanting now to go to the next one as you are most likely wanting as well. For quite some time on this rung, I’ve wondered what it was I needed to understand, in order to move on. I waited, and a few years have passed. But in the past few days I’ve had a nagging feeling and a few coincidences to enforce the feeling of an impending ‘leap.’

First I must tell you that all this time upon this rung, I’ve been sooo enthralled and grateful to be able to hear Spirit on occasion, that I’ve been inclined, often, to write many poems and stories I think were divinely inspired. I set up my own blog and I write about what I have learned, so others can enjoy. It seems I can’t stop writing, and have no other place to put them. So, sometimes, in need of an ear out there, I often send these writings to family members who have no idea about what I am speaking, and I try as well to get them published in magazines, but to no avail.. I want others to listen…. to hear what I hear; to be able to share my new found joy! And I suppose I want for others to acknowledge my chosen path, and gifts. This much I acknowledge, but cannot for the life of me, get due satisfaction.

So, today, I took a walk in nature, thinking on this, and as I did, I kept hearing ……’There is no one to impress.’

I answer.…’What?’ inside this mind of mine.

The Voice again says…’There is no one to impress.’

I don’t like the sound of that. NO, Spirit, I have things to say! I want others to feel my joy. I have a purpose, a role to play, and I will do it for the betterment of my life and others.

And He responds, “There is no one to impress.’

I sort of wish He’d at least change the wording or emphasize one word or another, for variety. No, I shake my head, and I finally admit, I wish he would not say that, at all.

But, willing as I am to move on, I asked Spirit, Whose VoiceI heard, that I understand this, once and for all. And then I came to a defining moment of thought.

You see, so far, I’ve believed that we, you and I, are both Spirit and Ego, and that I was choosing one or the other. When I wrote my poetry or stories, I chose Spirit, and the reward was in the writing. But viewing this outside of Spirit, there were no rewards.

That is because, we are not both Spirit and Ego. Because ego is nothing and so are its rewards. All of its projections on which to impress upon, and things it chooses to use as impressive acts to entice us….are nothing. The ego, who attaches himself to the writing is not a ‘thing’ at all; but the words in the writing is indeed of Spirit. The attachment to it, is ego.

But, ego is not in existence. Only my ego thinks it is and thus values the valueless; values what is not there; hoping for rewards in an empty treasure chest.

And as I learn this, do I also see that if there is no ‘me’ writing and teaching, but only Spirit, there really is no one else either. And so….there is no one to impress. There is no one to write to. There is no one to tell of my Joy. There is only One, and He is the joy and the lesson learned.

But let me back up and tell you how I came to understand this, or shall I say...how I have begun to understand this?

So, I say…’But, I have a need to tell of my joy. I have a need to write. Don’t I?” It seems a silence comes back to me. It speaks volumes. I want to throw a temper tantrum but part of me thinks ‘someone might see me.’ I laugh and think...‘How could they?’ They are my own projections on which my devilish ego would love to impress a temper tantrum upon, knowing, then, they will see how very angry and special I am. I will show them! I want to scream, even knowing upon deaf ears it would fall.

Then, I hear the same Voice in my beautiful mind that seems to know things I have forgotten. He says, sweetly, kindly..…’If the Buddha stood in your midst, would you try to impress him?”


Silly question! I snickered to myself. Then, I answered. “Of course not. Who could impress the Buddha?”

Then, another whisper …”If Jesus were to walk with you right now, would you try to impress him? Would you share your writing with him?”

Of course not, I said, as a tear trickled down my lonely cheek. ‘He already knows.’

And then, appearing in this beautiful mind, the Buddha with his big smile, and round belly, and Jesus with his open arms and hands outreached, each spoke. “Then why do you try, with the others, for those others are me.” said the Buddha.

Then...“As you do to your brother, so do you do to me” said our brother, Jesus.

I stopped walking and looked down at my feet and then, looked ahead at the long, rung-less dirt path in front of me. Then I thought, ‘I will try, one more time. I placed my foot in front of the other and I took a step; how easy it seemed.

As I walked, I thought of how I needed to tell You this story ~ my friends on the ladder, so I could thank you all, for being the Buddha, the One, the Christ, the Love in my Mind, reminding me to be still and just remember...

WHAT KIND OF FORGIVENESS DO THEY KNOW?

Inspired by the Amish Way
When the very young daughters and grand daughters of the Amish people were shamelessly shot execution style by a stranger one day in their school, the community and families comforted one another then looked immediately to the family of the murderer, taking up a collection on their behalf. This was an offering of more than hope for them to resume a normal life, but an offering which told a tale of true forgiveness. We can use this tragedy of human suffering beyond our comprehension to help us all to see the practical and yet incredibly profound use that forgiveness plays in our lives.

But practicality is not a word one uses when thinking of spirituality. The question really is, how could any one man, any one religion, any anything that is of this world, ever come close to helping us to bridge the gap we imagine exists between our selves and our Maker and is made more obvious by such heinous acts? Yet, this is what forgiveness does, and obviously, why Jesus advocated it.

And not only Jesus. Forgiveness can be said to be the equivalent to non-attachment in the eastern religions. Buddha’s main concern was to end the suffering of man. It is done, according to the eastern philosophy, by learning to not attach oneself to the temporal world but to the Oneness of all Things eternal; with peace being the result. Forgiveness lends us this same effect of peace, but Jesus teaches us how to get there, by the practice of forgiving, which made him a very practical teacher.

Our anger and frustration at violent acts such as this recent one keeps the gap forever widening between us and the perfect benevolence of God’s peace. The answer to obliterating this gap, this righteous indignation that in the end only breeds hatred for others, is in the answer which Jesus suggests is the answer: Forgiveness. But it is not Jesus who can bridge the gap; nor Buddha, nor anyone in particular. Yet it is what Jesus tells us we need understand to allow forgiveness to happen where we need to focus.

Most of us have a vague understanding that forgiveness is divine. Even with that small amount of understanding, forgiveness has at one time or another brought us to an awareness of a state of peace we do not understand; usually realizing afterward, we could not have granted ourselves this state, of our own accord. No doubt, God’s Peace is upon our mind and heart strong and clear at times, yet only to wither when we hear such sad stories of mankind’s inhuman acts. Imagine then, as it was for the Amish; if it were your own child murdered! And so, we look with respect and awe at our Amish brothers and sisters, to understand what kind of forgiveness they have come to embrace. It certainly must offer an unchanging state of peace, even among such painful events as this.

WHAT SORT OF FORGIVENESS DO THEY KNOW?
So, we all ask, after something like this especially, what exactly IS forgiveness? After all, no one can, in their right mind, ‘forgive’ or ‘condone’ or ‘pardon’ murdering children. The forgiveness which the Amish live by, sounds very, very much like the understanding that I have learned from the spirituality found in A Course in Miracles. Both of them, based on the foundation of Christian thought.

In the Course we are taught that forgiving is not an act of pardon, but is more of an experience of empathy that extends beyond the physical world, pointing to the idea that it is indeed divine, and yet can be experienced by us as humans, to reach that ‘other world.’ That is why it is termed a course in ‘miracles’ for there is no greater miracle, than the one that changes anger, hatred and sadness to love of the deepest and most giving sort.

To be willing to have this ‘experience’ one needs to understand first and foremost in our mind, that our bodies are not our True Nature and therefore, we need to see past the body and the body’s acts, of our selves and others, to be able to even begin to entertain the idea of the sort of forgiveness that truly heals such inner turmoil as this.
You might say that ‘seeing past a body’ can not be called a practical piece of advice! But in the Course, it is not said we need to know how to see past another body’s acts, but only that we are willing to do so. The rest is divine.

And so, what does ‘being willing to see past the body’ really mean?

It begins by being willing to believe that our human perception of acts; even murder, and all of what we see and hear and think every day, is not necessarily…. true. Before I lose you and tangle myself in a metaphysical maze of thought, it is really not nearly as complicated or as ‘wild’ as it sounds to begin to believe this. What is important to grasp is that what we perceive is not to be held as true, or false, but as meaningless when it is a perception made from a mind that cannot know truth. BUT (and it is a big but,) there is another side to our ‘perception’ from which forgiveness is understood by man and obviously, which the Amish advocate and the Course teaches. That side is from a Holy perspective.

In other words, we can have perception come from a part of our mind that does know truth, but it is not the part we call our ‘self’ which most of us identify with, only because we have not yet met….another Self! It is the part we call the Holy Self, or Holy Spirit and it is entirely our choice when to begin to find this other Self. The Course promotes honest and constant self reflection to uncover an unconscious but ferocious fight against knowing this Higher Self. The ego’s buried need to remain our chosen state of awareness becomes fortified and stronger, the further buried it remains.

From what the Course terms, ‘true perception’ of Spirit, we see truth reflected in the world around us and thus begin to heal our many wounds of the ego’s world. It is not Truth Itself we see in the world, for the world is only symbols and can only reflect God’s Truth. God’s Truth could never be evil, or wrong, or anything which can be judged by man. And so, knowing this, such an event as the murder of these little girls, leaves us with one conclusion. What must have occurred did not reflect God’s Truth. And God’s Truth is how we live and all that we need, to know. And so, we leave the judging of what we do not know to Someone Who knows. And we trust, 100%, it is all good. It simply could not be any other way when we see it through the reflection of Spirit’s eyes.

Coming from ego’s perspective, we use judgment based on the ego’s world which would find it right and good to condemn and punish all such acts, being both judge and jury. And from the Holy Spirit within, from which I would presume the Amish are coming, the question then becomes, ‘How can one not forgive what we could not truly know, or understand?’ This is how forgiveness begins, and lends a new Light to life, but it is not how it ends.

However, I can’t tell you how it ends and I am sure the same goes for most in the Amish community. Like them, I have not totally forgiven everything or everyone, or every act I see, in which event, would I then be in Heaven’s embrace. According to the Course it can take but a second to do this, but it seems, many lifetimes occur before we are willing to let go of this ego’s perception we hold so dear, though buried. Many lifetimes of wondering why God would let such things happen, until we see, He wouldn’t.

And so, I am still in the process of joyously learning to choose Spirit as much as I can, and thereby learning not to label all I see as good or evil, wrong or right, and paying attention to when and why I have a need to do this. I am sure beyond a shadow of a doubt, when I am able to forgive entirely, as Jesus taught, I will have found ‘Heaven’ where a broken world no longer needs forgiven.

Painted Trains, and Other Thoughts

Memories of America

Old men,
Folding chairs
Skinny ankles
White socks.

Young men,
Playing horseshoes
Picket fence
And hollyhocks.

Summer.

Muggy days
Alley echoes
Children run
Shady spots

Warm wind
Storms brew
Mother’s calling
Getting caught…..

Freedom

Suntan
Freckle face
Sweaty head
Dirty hands

Sleepy eyes
Cotton sheets
Painted trains
Dream land.

Innocence

Same men
Same boys
Bloody bullets
Shooting spar

Shoot first
Always win
Kill your brothers
Win the war.

Judgment

Empty chairs
Dying children
Crying widow
Mother’s pain

Gain nothing
Lose all,
No more,
Painted trains.

War

Crucifixion of a Message

THE CRUCIFIXION OF THE TRUTH

Today, more and more you will hear about documents that speak of different ideas of who Jeshua ben Joseph, (Jesus) was. The church will dismiss it all or fight their authenticity. Some may not be authentic, but many are. And for those who have been seeking for the truth independent of the church, both within our heart and mind, and also in the newly found scrolls (some found in the 1950’s), we are very happy to have many ideas be questioned and many intuitive thoughts be given credence!

For myself, I would go so far as to say, that when we begin to truly hear our Savior, we realize the crucifixion was of his message, not his body.

Whether or not he died on a cross, willingly, unwillingly, or at all, is being questioned by the mass media today in newly found writings by various people. Some Christians fear new revelations, some scoff at it in arrogant defiance, dismissing it entirely. The truth of what occurred to Jeshua is important, only in its ability to make people understand his message to mankind. And if we strip away all the pomp and circumstance, the idolization of a man, the false pretenses on which the church has built a savior to build instead, itself, we see a man who found his own Savior within, and was reaching out his hands and heart to all of mankind, in an attempt to share this Truth about all of the ‘Sons of God.’

So, while we do what we do, whether it is listen to scripture at church, or simply in our actions and in our thoughts toward our brothers and sisters, remember Jesus’ most poignant statement regarding finding Peace and abundant Joy…..’The Kingdom of God, is within you.” There is no truth more relevant to living a loving life, than that one.

From understanding this, come all things good.
Diane
April 06

Victims of Fear

Is it Freedom or Fear?

From an article entitled, ‘Bush Calls Domestic Spy Program 'Limited' by DEB RIECHMANN, of the Associated Press, President Bush says regarding his use of surveillance without a court order, "It's seems logical to me that if we know there's a phone number associated with al-Qaida or an al-Qaida affiliate and they're making phone calls, it makes sense to find out why," Bush said. "They attacked us before, they'll attack us again."

Yes, it does make sense to find out why. And we have set up a system of checks and balances in our government such as the secret court created by congress in 1978 for the purpose of granting warrants for the President or an appointed person in the administration to use surveillance on citizens or non citizens of our country. For our President to find out why, he only has to bring the request for surveillance to the court and have it agreed upon there if there is reason to look into the matter, domestic, or otherwise. The ‘agreeing’ part is key to the checks and balances of a democracy.

The issue is not whether or not it is ok to obtain inside information needed to protect us. The real issue is a two sided one, as I see it. One is the use of fear by the administration to convince us all that we don’t need these checks and balances. To suggest that there are times (in which we now find ourselves) that these checks and balances can be overruled for the benefit of society. These checks and balances are a huge part of what makes a democracy a democracy and in war or not, it is why we are free. The truth of the matter, it seems to me, is that fear is the enemy here; and we are its victims.

The secondary issue stemming from this fear of the ‘new enemy’ as the administration has named it, is the issue of the use of power and when and where our Government’s use of it becomes an infringement of our rights as free citizens rather than a useful tool to keep our country conflict free.

HE CAN TAP MY PHONE ANYTIME?
Fear can bring negative changes in our lives, and has brought down the working governments of countries such as it did in Nazi Germany. We all know how fear of anything restricts our life in the obvious ways. We begin to be afraid to do our normal activities, and question our safety with every step we take, losing our free spirit and to some extent, our actual physical freedom. But what it does on the level of a collective group is what we need to examine because this is what is occurring in our country.

I’ve heard a few people express concern about the President insisting it is ‘ok’ to wiretap United States citizens without court approval. At first, this too was my primary concern; after all, it seems to me, it should be easy enough to do, being the President! But now, my biggest concern has turned to what the fear of Terrorism has done to the average citizen of our free country, both young and old. I have heard too many people saying “I’ve nothing to worry about; they can tap my phone any day.”

We do have something to worry about. It is the belief that we can and we should, trade more personal freedom for what we are told can give us all more safety. This attitude will limit the only freedom we all truly have; the freedom to be a free thinking, free acting, contributor to our society. Be it an anti-war activist, or a practicing Muslim, or yes, even an extreme liberal in a very conservative country. This ‘lying down and rolling over’ and overlooking our government’s request to break the rules on account of our own fears can only lead to us thinking it is ‘ok’ to suspect a person just for reading a book about the fanatical Muslim movement if they judge you to “have more than a normal interest.” The question is, who decides that? How many books do you take out of the library on this subject before you are asked to explain yourself? How long before we begin to dictate that sort of behavior with some sort of law, and begin to suspect family members and our neighbor over such trivial things as book ownership or a passing conversation at the local coffee shop?

THE LEAP THAT FEAR CAN TAKE
That may sound far fetched, and indeed it is quite a big step from here to there, but to prevent that leap we cannot, no matter how fearful we are of Terrorists, allow our government to decide for itself how and when to invade our private world without using the court we set up for that very thing, to keep within the healthy boundaries that checks and balances provide.

Without these checks and balances such as that court, other laws we made to protect citizens such as the right to free speech could be overruled by the government as well in situations they deemed ‘necessary’ , and would affect even our ability to write to newspapers such as what you are reading. It could soon be considered as the suspect behavior of being a sympathizer to the enemy. Think not? Think again. In recent history, people such as the late John Lennon were being considered for deportation from our country, in essence, for suggesting we ‘Give peace a chance.” This is one small example of why we created the court for congress to use.

BEN FRANKLIN'S LEGACY
And since our country’s beginnings, people have been dealing with this attempt at suppression or unnecessary investigation by the governing forces. One such person was Ben Franklin who wrote several pieces for the New England Courant in 1720 as a young man of 17. Although his brother owned the paper, Benjamin had to use a pen name to protect himself from being thrown in jail by the English government. His writing strove to bring awareness to the American public, of the unneeded control the British government was trying to impose upon them. Too many were too willing to simply live with it, having gotten quite accustomed to it in England. This writing eventually landed his older brother in jail for one month, because he was unable to supply them with the author’s name. Benjamin Franklin went on to write many wise things about the politics of freedom under many pseudonyms, due to the ability of the government to suppress and imprison people for such writing. He was very much a part of our freedom as we know it today. He puts it all in a nutshell in this quote of his: “Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both.”

Regarding what Franklin and others fought for in the 1700’s, including being able to distribute the important writings that influenced so many, I think a relevant question to ask is what if the American public had instead said to England, “Go ahead, let the King see my writing first, and decide what can be printed or not. I wouldn’t write anything unprintable.”

This idea of allowing our government to be above its own laws is really what we are doing by agreeing to allow private surveillance of our library card, or our phone calls without asking the administration to simply go through the legal channels we have all agreed were necessary. The willingness to disregard this legal process and even encouraging the need to bypass it with statements like “I’ve nothing to hide” sadly mirrors the mindset of a very fearful public.

THE NEW ENEMY IN HITLER'S WORLD
In the days of the Hitler regime, desperate and fearful German citizens were convinced of a ‘new enemy’ to their own economic ‘safety’, and this enemy was called the Jewish people. With this new enemy labeled and identified by the government, so many people of Germany evidently saw reason to look the other way, while millions of their Jewish brothers and sisters were murdered. People today say that could never happen again and I must agree, with a bit of optimistic hope, for the most part. However, the bowing down to fear that I have recently heard among some citizens of our country is disheartening. I think we would do well to pay more attention to the fact that so many people seem so willing to give into fear itself and perhaps this is more of a threat to our freedom and way of life than any act of terrorism.

Without harping too much on condemning our President, who has perhaps made a poor judgment, in very difficult times, maybe we can stand together now in agreeing that we must ask our government to follow the rules and to use this court that was created for good reason in 1978, to put reasonable limits on their ability to ‘protect’ our freedom. It may be very true that what the administration deemed as necessary, was necessary. But it was done in an unnecessary fashion. And that is the issue.

And sticking to this issue, we need to ask ourselves if the overriding of our own system of checks and balances, for the safety of the public, is truly protecting, or limiting our freedom in the end.
Diane L. Perretto