CHAOS ALWAYS PRECEDES ORDER

In this time of upheaval and challenges facing us all, it’s prudent to remember that chaos occurs when a new and higher order is on the horizon. Granted, that horizon isn’t yet visible, due to racial, COVID, and political turmoil; but please remember that the darkness we’re witnessing today WILL be followed with a new dawning.

How each of us moves through today’s challenges is critical to how swiftly we will witness new and positive changes occurring in our lives and our world. Over the past almost five months since COVID became a part of our everyday lives, I have periodically “hit the wall” – meaning I have days when my impatience, irritability, and general emotional upset get the best of me. Whenever that happens, I just have to re-set my thinking. And as I recognize what’s going on, and understand why I’m upset, I also have to be okay and not criticize myself for the imbalance I’m experiencing.

With all the emotional distress challenging us right now, we must be gentle with ourselves. And while I pride myself on a typically stress-free lifestyle, these times are anything but free of stress! While reading something to help me get centered this morning, I was reminded of Gary Simmons’ book, The I of the Storm – Embracing Conflict, Creating Peace. In his book, Gary explores how to embrace conflict by getting back in touch with our spiritual selves.

I first studied this book while dealing with organizational upheaval. But Simmons also speaks to relational disturbances as well as those resulting from outside circumstances – such as we’re experiencing globally at this time. You may find yourself wondering what, if anything, YOU can do right now to help us all realize the positive outcomes we’re desiring. Try to remember that today’s challenges bring each of us maximum opportunities to realize our potential as we learn and grow. As Gary reminds us, each of us is here right now as a vehicle through which God’s love, light, and healing power can be expressed. It just takes remembering that Truth.

Whenever we’re frightened or anxious, we’ve forgotten that essential Truth of our being. Remember that today’s fears are the result of yesterday’s experiences, our past. And what’s even more important is that those same fears will influence our future. That reminder is reason enough to get re-centered! Just as it’s the case today that everyone – and I mean EVERYONE – must take responsibility for both his or her own health and that of those around us by WEARING A MASK when in public, so must each of us take responsibility for the fears we’re experiencing.

At the moment I’m writing (July 2020), a variety of forces are converging to stir the energies and build the intensity of this time. Our current challenges require us to become present with greater courage and strength – and less fear – than may be our typical response to a crisis. It’s time to recognize, at depth, the oneness of our global community. Not only are we all sharing this experience of COVID-19; but we are all doing our scientific and medical best to develop an effective vaccine against the virus. And yet we still have a tendency to become defensive rather than pulling together. Our collective history has demonstrated that adversity produces divisiveness rather than cohesion.

When we allow ourselves to welcome conflict – in this case, primarily conflict with an unseen and unfamiliar enemy – we may end up discovering a remedy for much more than a deadly virus. Every ill we face can be linked to our individual and universal belief in LACK.  Crises such as the ones we currently face arise for a reason – to get our attention and point us to a higher way to embrace life than we’ve previously experienced. COVID-19 is much more than a deadly virus; it’s a harbinger that’s come to teach us that we must relate differently to life. Rather than living from fear and a general sense of lack or insecurity, we – the citizens of this world – need to live in harmony with nature and with our fellow human beings. Divisiveness has driven hard wedges between us and garnered disrespect for Mother Earth. We now have greater opportunities than ever before to set things right.

We’re not victims, and we’re more than survivors. We’re over-comers. But we have to realize that about ourselves before our inner strength and potential can work for and through us. We can do that by following these suggestions:

• Recognize the energy of an enemy – whatever or whomever the foe – as the energy of a friend – something or someone who is here as a teacher.
• Allow yourself to be in an uncomfortable, even dangerous, situation without becoming defensive or being intimidated.
• Remembering that the one you consider an enemy is simply a mirror for something inside you where you’ve become disconnected from Source, and bless that adversary as a resource for your growth and greater understanding.
• Let go of needing to be RIGHT, and focus on how you can best demonstrate your wholeness and worth in this lifetime. Remember: it is impossible for you to be right without making another wrong. The “right” thing or action is always about taking responsibility for your own actions.
• Don’t avoid things or another; avoidance or denial only makes things worse.
• You can feel fear at the same time you recognize and exercise your strength. By remaining confident and centered, Life will reveal your choices and options.

Quantum physicists have discovered an interesting paradox shared between all universal systems, including us human beings. As separate as we often feel or as things appear, everything and everyone exists ONLY IN RELATIONSHIP to all else in this universe. Said another way, within all things IS all things. And that is the link that unifies all life, everywhere. If this global pandemic should have taught us anything at this point, it is that we are ALL CONNECTED. So let’s make the very best of that truth and this challenging “enemy” we all face.