GOD, COUNTRY AND CHOCOLATE

Julian of Norwich wrote: We are all one in love. . . . When I look at myself as an individual, I see that I am nothing. It is only in unity with my fellow spiritual seekers that I am anything at all. It is this foundation of unity that will save humanity. -- Fr Richard Rohr, "Daily Meditation," April 9, 2021

For whatever reason, the truth of that statement hit me in the heart and the head this morning. Especially the last sentence:  It is this foundation of unity that will save humanity. 

Now, more than ever in my lifetime, there seems to be serious concern for democracy...for the very survival of the United States of America as a free and open country as envisioned by our forebears. I take this concern of our coming undone back to the daily trashing of the word "united."

Picture it: The radical dissention in America could have started with the idle thought-judgment by one person about another. Idle thought-judgments are condensed gossip, meaning they cannot remain idle. They swirl in our head, gathering  dirt and debris to sling at the judged one, who invariably responds in kind. There. The beginnings of any so-called Civil War. 

The nearly impossible lesson to learn is mental resistance is rarely if ever stopped by will or by want. We can each sit in our room willing and wanting, and what we get is unspoken gossip in the form of idle thought-judgments...which usually break out in resentment, blaming and shaming the judged one. Since both sides are blaming and shaming for the exact same reason, we've shot unity in the butt, each of us judgers cementing and paving over our egoic need to be right.

Please note, in all of this, there is no mention of spirituality, of help from a Higher Power, of the need for Providence to step in...which, who's kidding whom, is the very guts and glue of unity. 

Without the binder of a Power greater than the reasoning mind, there will be no lasting peace between humans. The reason being, according to me, is the binder comes dressed as humility. 

The scary fact is that the block to this foundation of unity that will save humanity is not just our lack of humility but our fear of wanting humility. Of wanting a power greater than ourself. Of wanting God. 

Even as we profess our love for God, Country, Mom and apple pie...or, today, make that God by many different names, my own idea of Country, and Chocolate. 

Thank you.