I finally had to put the book down. I never looked, but it must have been well over 1000 pages. I was on pg 397 and was still not to the half way point.
It was a book about Lincoln and the situation in the United States in the years leading up to the Civil War. What startled me was the uncanny similarity to the United States today! Trade the words Northerner and Southerner for Blues and Reds, there is such a vibrational match it is wholly disconcerting.
Both sides felt righteous in their outlook and exclusionary in their attitude. Any attempts, few that there were, at compromise or reconciliation, because they had the underlying flavor of righteousness, never had any lasting effect.
As one news correspondent wrote, “They think the South has been appeased and the boiling animosity has simmered down, but it has gone underground to include resentment and woundedness to pride now.”
It really doesn’t matter what the issues are, when brought to the peace-making table served on a platter of indignance and fixed righteousness, any attempts at understanding only create a belly ache for all involved. People have always held that when moral issues are involved, whether they be the right to own another individual or the right to own your own body, the bottom line is this: if we are going to evolve as a species, we must find ways to collaborate, coordinate, commune, cooperate, unite and get along.
The way we have been doing it leads to inevitable extinction. I am not saying that may not be what needs to happen, because ultimately if we don’t evolve, we become a failed species. Not the first, not the last, just another species incapable or unwilling to evolve.
But let’s say we do want to last, just like the Unionists wanted for the US Constitution and the States, we have to become like Ziplock sandwich bags. Each baggie is equipped with a red side and a blue side. When properly connected, the seal turns purple (red and blue combined). They are interlocked to produce the desired effect~ airtightness. The red and blue sides separately don’t serve much purpose, but together they preserve the union, or whatever it is you put in the baggie.
How do you do that? Two ideas. Essentially, (one) you let go of your tight hold on righteousness. Whatever you believe gives you the right to be hateful, judgmental and right, you are doing it at the cost of your very own species. Perception shifts can greatly help here. For example, when you’re in the 7th grade, you don’t go poking your nose into the kindergarten classroom to judge them on how immature they are. And when you are in graduate school, you don’t visit the 7th grade to see how little they know. Everyone is learning the lessons their own lives provide and they are not linear. We can find ourselves judging someone we believe is below us only to recognize we may need their help through a different turn of events. It isn’t our place to judge someone else’s story or lessons.
Two, include instead of exclude. Has it ever worked (with Northerners, Southerners, Reds or Blues or any other exclusionary group) to exclude, humiliate, belittle, criticize or lamblast? Does the ‘other’ side suddenly rise up in gratitude saying, “Wow, we didn’t realize how we were being, so sorry about that”? No. Exclusionary tendencies only serve to dig the dividing hole deeper.
Inclusion means softening your heart, welcoming, overlooking conflicting beliefs, finding things in common. Think Alien Spaceships attacking Earth! That is global unity, right? Putting aside all differences for a common goal. What if we could find and maintain that attitude of unity just because we are capable of it as human beings?
No matter what your moral, political, or social proclivity, remember that all living beings deserve to be treated with dignity. All are part of the infinite expression of endless creation energy. Ask yourself what kind of person you want to be. One who holds to a cause over compassion for others? Or can you hold to your own values and beliefs without being exclusionary and righteous? Can we be kind and loving and still believe what we believe regardless of what others believe? Just a question. What’s the answer…for you?
