Through the years, when someone asked me if I was a person of violence, I would be very quick to say ”no.
I had only hit one boy when I was in elementary school and it startled both of us so much that we both remember it to this day! I have come to understand through the teaching of Gandhi and his grandson Arun that so much of our violence is passive. It’s the way we are unwilling to speak when we see something absolutely wrong or not in alignment with our values.
It’s when we get angry about a situation and allow it to take us to the level of violence, rather than approaching our anger as an Enlightened Rebel. Anger is good medicine. When used as a spiritual human practice, you learn to transcend the emotion to a place of proactive action. That is when you have discovered the mystery of what life is longing for.
It’s not anger but the denial of it which makes it unmanageable. When denied, it becomes projected on situations that are not even relevant to its creation.
When we say we are the light of the world, it is more than a cliché. It is a calling to shine a light on circumstances in our culture that need healing and mending. We are not created to kill each other. Every time there is a violent act that communicates “life doesn’t matter” we are creating more prayer requests for the Enlightened Rebels to stand up and stand out in this world.
Twenty-six years ago, I was watching the show America’s Most Wanted. This was certainly before I understood in my consciousness to not put these types of things in my head. They would alert us on the show to be aware and on the lookout for dangerous people driving a white van with a Florida license plate. I would notice myself days later actually looking for the van. Every time I found myself parked by a white van my mind would begin to get busy. I found myself reacting in fear and wondering if I should call the police in case this was the white van in question.
What I was absorbing into my mind was not serving me as a Difference Maker, it was actually feeding me in the opposite direction.
Like you, I want to contribute to society as a change agent and I want a world that works through everyone and everything.
I want to be clear when I am speaking in truth with solutions and possibilities, rather than reactively with unresolved emotions like fear, anger, and apathy.
