The title makes this sound like a political blog….and to a degree it is….but it really is a spiritual blog at its heart.
I was walking through my neighborhood with Penny, my chocolate lab, like I do many days and I noticed this yard sign that I had not seen before. It said “Hate Won’t Make America Great”. Although many of you may have seen this or similar signs during the current Presidential election, this was the first time I had seen the saying on a sign. I came home and Googled the phrase and found out that there is a whole industry of t-shirts and signs with this and similar sayings on them. There are some even put out by the Harris-Walz folks.
I thought to myself “how true”. Hate is not what makes America great.
Hate is what keeps America from living up to its highest vision of itself.
A Common Complaint
I have been having a similar conversation with a lot of people recently. The main points of this recurring dialogue boil to one or both of us stating the following:
(1) I am so tired of the political arguments. It seems like anytime we disagree about anything slightly politcal it dissolves down to some base level where we end up disliking one another. In other words, the political disagreement tends to divide us so much that we forget the “humanness” of the other person.
(2) This political divisiveness is so prevelent that I have concern about the United States and its future. How can we get beyond this? Or are we going towards degrees of hate that we end up in violence?
(3) I don’t want to give into my fears, but I don’t know what to do.
Have you been having similar conversations?
I am basically a positive person and I know that we (Americans and humanity) will get through this. The only question in my mind is how much “pain” we will have to move through to get to the other side.
I usually don’t often bring up political parties and candidates in a partisan way, but if you read my spiritual writings much, you would easily know that I am politically progressive. Hence, I will be voting for Harris/Walz. But no matter who wins, this matter of “hating one who is for the other party” needs to stop. This is totally un-American and it is in complete opposition to our spiritual truth.
Love is Our Spiritual Truth
At the heart of most spiritual paths is the realization that not only are you and I spiritual beings who are moving through a human experience, but at our highest levels of realization we are all interconnected. We are all One.
At the human level of existence, we live in a world of relative form. We see and experience everything not as a oneness, but as different “parts” that are experiencing each other is a state of “relating”. Here I am. There you are. I believe this. You believe that. Each of us bumps into each other here on Earth and has an experience of each other in relation to one another. We have free will and can choose how to interpret and react to that experience. I can choose to demonize you or to respect and honor you.
Keep in mind that each of us is a unique individualized expression of that greater oneness although we are so immersed in this physical world that we generally forget that truth. Instead, we are reinforced daily believing that we are different people in competition with one another. Both the human history of conflict and division fesding a collective consciousness belief of separation along with the experiences of our individual life that support that belief make it easier for us to make a choice that continues to divide us. But it doesn’t have to be that way.
The collective consciousness of humanity and our personal history are full of other stories, stories where we uplift each other, take care of one another, seek to unite us, to give love. We can tap into that consciousness and those stories and use them as reminders of what Lincoln called “the better angels of our nature”.
Most spiritual paths discuss the power of love. Many times they equate God or Spirit or The All with the word Love (usually with a capital L to denote the transcendent aspect of this love). God is Love. The creative force and intelligence of the universe that masterminded this entire experience in which we find ourselves immersed is “love”. What does that mean?
“Spiritually speaking” we are all immersed in a field of divine love that tugs at us from different directions. Love is a power that calls us to connect with those things or people that we believe at our human level are separate from us. By doing so, it breaks down our belief in separation. Love also pulls us to grow and expand our sense of care and concern to the “biggest” and “highest” levels possible, to “Love All”, which is to return to a sense of Love for The All. Love ultimately is a spiritual evolutionary force that is moving us to remember our source in Oneness and Unity.
Most relatable at our human level, we experience an emotion that we label as “love” in connection with romantic relationships. I love you. You love me. We are “in love” with each other. It feels good. It connects me with another person. I break down my sense of separation with that other person as I feel this love for them.
But we all recognize that at some level love is more than that romantic love. We love our parents, our children, our relatives, our friends. Our love can expand broader. Our love can spread out to encompass more and more people. Generally, we tap the breaks on our love including everyone and end up excluding someone from our love. Those exclusions can be people who don’t look like me or believe like me. Or they can be people who don’t live in my country or of a different faith or a different religion or a different race, maybe even a different political party. But we don’t have to tap the breaks, we can consciously choose to expand our love outward to include everyone. It’s not always easy, but it is possible. Something inside us knows that.
So, Are You Tired of the Hatred?
There are so many people who are feeling that they want our country to outgrow this sense of hatred. Something inside us says “enough”. Can’t we find common ground? Can’t we get along? Can’t we focus on the fact that we have so much more in common than how we are different? Can’t we disagree on politics without disliking each other as a person?
Do you have any of these feelings or ones that are similar? If so, then I want you realize at some level that those feelings are driven by the spiritual power of love. Love is calling you to expand your circle of care and concern, to remove the breaks from from love and let it fly ever outward to encompass more and more people and the world.
But here is what is key…..start where you are. Start finding some small steps in your life actions to be a force for love. Do what you can in your sphere of influence.
Here are a few simple suggestions:
(1) When someone believes differently from you, avoid labeling them with words that belittle them. Always honor the person and their right to believe what they do.
(2) When someone uses words to belittle you, hold a healthy boundary but avoid the temptation to retaliate.
(3) When you disagree with someone, ask genuinely honest questions to seek to understand their position.
(4) When you realize that you are not going to agree on the topic at hand, seek to turn the conversation to an area where you know there may be some commonality.
(5) Always keep a distinction in your mind between the person and their beliefs. See them as this spiritual being having a human experience and remember that their different experiences have led to those beliefs.
I have written a series of “tips” articles on “uniting the world” which have some other practical ideas, this LINK takes you to the listing of those articles.
NOTE: If you have other ideas, please share them!
America is a great country which I love. I deeply want it to move beyond this current challenge. Yes, there are people expousing hatred and using our political system to devolve us to the lowest possibilities for our country by dividing us. We can turn back this challenge and bring love and joy to our country. It starts with each of us in our own way setting an intention to create a kind and more loving America where everyone is treated with dignity and respect and given the freedom to live a free and full life believing as they wish.
If this resonates with you, if you are tired of the hatred, then set the intention now to create a more loving America and act on that intention NOW.
Mark Gilbert