Archives for posts with tag: Obama

Moving between Survival and Spirituality

January 29, 2011 //
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What do the following have in common?  – The state of the union address, the Arizona tragedy, evolution, Achilles tendinitis, Abraham Maslow, 2001: A Space Odyssey and spirituality… Maybe more than you might think!

I was rocking along this week feeling very productive, checking off things on my to do list, planning what I was going to do this weekend – you know, living life and getting things done.  Then, a couple of days ago, all of those plans got thrown out the window when a sharp pain appeared in my left heel.  I hobbled to the doctor who labeled it “Achilles tendinitis”.  I never really thought about this diagnosis before – but I’ve since been reading about it on Wikipedia and now know more than I ever cared to about the topic.  Here’s the bottom line – it hurts to walk and I have to stay off my feet a few days.

Life can sure be strange!  You’re moving through all of your high-minded plans one moment and then you are struggling to get off the couch the next moment.  I was supposed to assist in the program last night of a good friend’s ordination as a minister.  I wanted to be there to honor her on her spiritual path, and my comments were already prepared!  Alas, I had to bow out and sit home with ice on my leg and popping anti-inflammatory pain pills.  One minute I’m focused on spirituality – the next on personal safety and security.

Abraham Maslow sure had it right with his famous and elegant theory of our hierarchy of needs – he pointed out that it was only in meeting lower level needs such as physiological, safety and security, love and belongingness and self-esteem would we be free to focus on higher needs such as self-actualization and self transcendence.  It’s hard to focus on communing with God when your stomach is focused on communing with food.  If at any time your basic needs are unmet, then in a New York minute your intentions quickly slide down to fill them.

Of course, this all makes great sense from an evolutionary viewpoint.  If we don’t take care of our lower-level physical needs – air, water, food, shelter, health, and procreation – then we don’t continue living and don’t propagate the species.  It is only in meeting our base animal needs that allows us to focus on our higher spiritual needs.

Human beings seem to walk simultaneously in two worlds – on the one hand, we are physical, material animals who are controlled to a degree by our animalistic nature – and on the other hand, something within our conscious awareness walks a higher path, calling us to become all that we can be, to seek connection with others, to live by the Golden rule, and to understand the meaning of life.  Wayne Dyer likes to focus our attention on the higher path when he says “you are a spiritual being having a human experience”.  Sometimes in our humanness, we are focused on survival.  Other times in our divineness, we are focused on spirituality.  We straddle a strange fence.

This really is part of our evolutionary path.  In the distant past, life evolved in physical form on planet Earth – from single cell organisms to multi-celled organisms to plants to animals – and at some point, the animal that became us crossed a threshold – it moved from being an animal to being what we call a “human being”.  What was this threshold?  It was a shift in our consciousness.  Lower life had consciousness but not self-awareness.  Humans had consciousness as well as an awareness of that consciousness.  We began to straddle the fence between our animal nature and something higher.

I believe that our crossing this threshold in our consciousness is what was represented by the monolith in the movie “2001: A Space Odyssey”.  It wasn’t so much about the big black object shown in the film or where it came from, but more of what it stood for – that magical moment when our consciousness shifted.  The animal became the human, we became aware of something within us that was already there – consciousness.

The forces of physical evolution are still embedded within us.  We must still meet our basic animal needs.  But the self-awareness of our consciousness has also allowed new evolutionary forces to emerge and call us to action.  Something within us calls us higher, bringing the desires for love and companionship, knowledge and understanding, compassion, and a sense to connect with something beyond our human physical form.  It is this desire for self transcendence – call it connecting with God, spirit or sensing oneness – which motivates us to a higher realm.  In a sense, we’re being called to leave behind the straddling of the fence where one foot is planted in our animal nature and the other in our spiritual one.  It’s my belief that this next threshold of moving from human to divine is what was represented by the second monolith at the conclusion of 2001.  Our consciousness shifts from self-awareness to divine awareness.

As we straddle this fence between our animal nature and our divine nature, we shift back and forth between our desire for survival and our desire to live in spiritual oneness.  Evolution rewarded those animals whose adaptations allowed them to quickly perceive quick changes and movements in our environment.  Those who could quickly detect a changing condition were rewarded by either catching their prey or not being caught and eaten.  We have hardwired within our DNA an evolutionary security system which is set off whenever there is a sharp change in the environment.  Slight gradient differences are less important than big changes when our safety is at stake.  That’s why you can supposedly drop a frog in boiling water and it will hop out but it will allow itself to boil to death if you slowly turn up the heat.  Survival benefits from seeing conditions as one way or the other.

As we answer our spiritual calling, one of the realizations we obtain is that everything is connected.  The black and white we only saw before now becomes various shades of gray.  The desire to categorize everything into two categories starts to dissipate as what were previous distinctions now blur into flowing patterns of interconnectedness.  Either-or thinking gives way to seeing everything as “and”.

As we slide between our animal nature and our divine nature, we shift between how we perceive things.  Life becomes a battle between right and wrong, good and bad, life and death when we are in survival mode.  Life becomes a dance of alternate ways of being, variety in our personal expressions, sensing life and more life when we are in our spiritual mode.

Our foot planted in our material physical world tells us that the survival of the fittest needs to quickly distinguish between what will save us versus what will kill us.  Our base fears are called into play when our lives feel challenged.  The 21st century world is moving fast.  It can be a scary place out there.  Terrorism and the recession threaten our way of life.  In fear we call upon our evolutionary past and divide the world up – things that will save us versus things that will harm us.  Something within our animal nature calls us to act fast – it’s fight or flight time.

This animal fear feeds our politics and our media when they can only see two alternate viewpoints – one right, one wrong.  It stokes the flames of violence where we feel we must own guns, use violent metaphors in our language and when taken to extreme – actual violence as we witnessed in Arizona recently.  Yes, the young man who did the shootings had mental issues.  But our system of animal-based fear is what keeps us from placing any limits on emotionally disturbed individuals from purchasing automatic weapons designed purely to kill other humans. This fear says “no gun control is better than any gun control”.  There is no chance for other options when fear kicks in.

If we could shift more to our foot planted in the spiritual world, then we could see how all of life is part of a grand oneness – interconnected – a beautiful web of life where the barriers we see were all erected by our humanness out of the need for physical survival.  By allowing these barriers to fall away, we remove such distinctions as left versus right, Republican versus Democrat, science versus religion, one country versus another, and so on.  Instead of barriers, we see gradients and differentiations of the oneness – an infinite variety within the one.

It’s not easy being human – we are still linked to our animal past becoming locked and addicted to physical needs and mired in fear of threats real and perceived – while something within us draws us to the angels of our better nature, seeking a world that works for everyone, where love and peace are the norm, where we taste the divine within our consciousness.

Every chance to melt the barriers moves us to our higher calling.  This past week during President Obama’s State of the Union address, Republicans and Democrats sat together in a spirit of cooperation.  Our cynical fearful side says that such a gesture is purely showmanship and not real.  Our higher loving side hopes that it’s the first step in a movement in seeing our unity as Americans and humans first and foremost over our political differences.

I’m a realist in that I know we will continue to slide back and forth between our divisiveness and our sense of affiliation; a movement between survival and spirituality.  But I’m also an optimist – I know that in each one of us we are shifting a little bit more towards our spiritual nature.  Each day we move closer to that higher threshold and towards the day when we no longer straddle the fence, standing firmly with both feet in our spiritual consciousness.

Mark Gilbert

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Categories Featured Article, Spirituality

A Blueprint for Pursuing the World that We Seek

May 28, 2010 //
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Today’s title is taken from the White House blog from yesterday (link to article).  The United States announced on Thursday its National Security Strategy that “lays out a strategic approach for advancing American interests, including the security of the American people, a growing U.S. economy, support for our values, and an international order that can address 21st century challenges.”  The full report is available from the White House site.

What’s noteworthy about this strategy is its reference to the United Nations “Millennium Development Goals” says the watchdog website “UN Dispatch” (link to article).  These goals which were crafted 10 years ago with a plan to lift the standard of living for the entire planet have not been guiding US strategy for much of the past decade. Their direct reference in this document as well as some of the positive language referenced below can be considered good news as we move forward here on Earth.

For example, this is the opening of the section entitled “Promote Dignity By Meeting Basic Needs: “The freedom that America stands for includes freedom from want. Basic human rights cannot thrive in places where human beings do not have access to enough food, or clean water, or the medicine they need to survive. The United States has embraced the United Nation’s Millennium Development Goals and is working with others in pursuit of the eradication of extreme poverty—efforts that are particularly critical to the future of nations and peoples of Africa.” 

Or here’s another example: “Draw Strength from Diversity: The United States has benefited throughout our history when we have drawn strength from our diversity. While those who advocate on behalf of extremist ideologies seek to sow discord among ethnic and religious groups, America stands as an example of how people from different backgrounds can be united through their commitment to shared values. Within our own communities, those who seek to recruit and radicalize individuals will often try to prey upon isolation and alienation. Our own commitment to extending the promise of America will both draw a contrast with those who try to drive people apart, while countering attempts to enlist individuals in ideological, religious, or ethnic extremism.”

Likewise the document offers other similar passages that show a vision of creating a world that takes what is good and wonderful about the United States and seeks to export those ideals as an important part of a safe future.

This September, the UN meets to check in on the Millennium Development Goals which have a target date of 2015.  Here is link to page with the goals.  Check them out, hold them in your thoughts for success, and know that the document issued this week by the US is a major step forward in creating a world that works for everyone.

Mark Gilbert

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Categories Culture, Featured Article, Politics, Uniting Nations

Lessons from the Oil Spill

May 3, 2010 //
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Today some personal commentary regarding the Gulf Coast oil spill with an evolutionary eye towards what lessons we can take from this event to move us to a positive future.  I recognize that we don’t realize yet just how catastrophic this disaster might end up being, but I don’t think it’s too soon to start thinking about what we can learn from it.

As of this writing, oil is still coming out of the hole in the ocean, surface efforts to contain the oil slick appear not to be working totally as oil is being detected in Louisiana marshlands, and BP says it will pay for all cleanup costs.  The federal government is overseeing BP’s efforts and President Obama has just toured the area.  News reports indicate that it may still be days before the leak is stopped and months before the well is totally capped.  Some dire predictions have come out regarding the environmental impact on the Gulf Coast, the economic impact on the fishing industry, potential problems up the Mississippi River, potential for the oil slick to float around Florida and head up the East Coast, and how oil prices will rise in the United States.  Time will tell just how accurate these predictions are.  Let’s all continue to pray for the best.

Even at this early stage, there are some lessons we can draw from this world event that might direct our thoughts and actions as we continue to focus our mental and emotional energy upon it.  What follows are some of my personal random and preliminary thoughts on a positive response that each of us individually might consider (and humanity collectively) as it relates to this tragedy.  My intention is to be positive, not political.  I would love your thoughts.

Potential Lessons:

  • Immediately, our attention should be on stopping the leak, protecting the environment, and protecting people and their economic livelihood.  Let’s focus our energies on positive actions and not on blame.  Be aware of and turn away from any news coverage that spends excessive time focusing on such negative activity.  Yes, let’s hold BP accountable financially for the cleanup, but beyond that beware of any news organization whose focus is turning this into a political issue.  Watch out for friends who want to engage you in conversation that turns this into political or corporation bashing.  Turn away from the negative and towards the desired positive.
  • The reality is humanity needs energy to live and thrive.  Historians have pointed out that as humanity and its social systems have evolved, the energy requirements to maintain one person has grown.  We needed less energy when we were hunters and gatherers than we did when we moved into an agrarian society.  As we moved to cities and evolved through the industrial age into the information age, our energy needs per person have continued to increase.  Energy needs around the world continue to rise.  Recently, the Obama administration announced its energy plans for the upcoming future.  It’s mixture of focusing on green technology while expanding offshore drilling appeared to please no one.  Environment groups were disappointed over the expansion of extracting oil offshore while the “drill baby drill” group were disappointed that certain areas were kept off limits.  I found it ironic at the time that Obama’s efforts to utilize all available energy sources and balance the desires at each end of the energy political spectrum met such resistance.  The attempts to please everyone, appeared to please no one.  What’s my point here?  One, humanity needs energy and an ever-growing rate.  Two, we need to let go of our extreme differences (and our emotional anger when things aren’t exactly what we want) and come together to find practical solutions that meet our energy needs, our environmental needs and our economic needs.  Turn away from arguing and towards solutions.
  • The recent announcement of the expansion of offshore drilling included references to how much more safely this can be done now.  I was pleased that the President announced an intention to revisit that expansion in light of the current crisis.  No matter where we fall individually on the issue of offshore drilling, we should all agree that learning safety lessons from the current oil spill is essential.  Should this event mean that we immediately eliminate any expansion of offshore oil drilling?  If you immediately stated an unqualified “yes” or “no”, then there is a good chance you are so locked in your political opinion on the issue that you are not open to a potentially higher possibility.  I’ll be honest, I tend to lean towards the “no drilling group”.  My desire is to see us move towards a higher use of renewable energy that has lower environmental risks.  Yet I understand the difficulties in moving immediately away from oil in the short-term.  I do believe in the long-term we need to wean ourselves off of oil.  What I’m asking you to consider, no matter what your political opinion, is to see that our revisiting the safety of offshore drilling is an important step, yet we still need to consider all potential energy sources.  What is ultimately most important, is that each of us individually move off of any polarizing political opinion and move towards an openness that seeks solutions for our highest good.
  • Once again, we can see from these events how everything is interrelated.  We need energy, companies provide oil.  Oil spills, harming the environment.  People’s jobs and the economy are impacted.  Energy prices go up, prices of other goods and services go up.  Animals are harmed leading to a loss of species important ecological balance of life.  We watch the news and form opinions and have emotional reactions.  I could go on and on.  One important lesson to take from all of this is that we are all connected, events like this impact us all no matter where we are, we are all in this together.
  • Finally, let’s each individually be open to ways in which we can support those who are impacted by this disaster.  As the events unfold and we learn as to the extent fishermen and others may be economically impacted, how wildlife may be harmed and so on, let each of us be open to giving of our time, our talents and our money as necessary to reach out in support those in need. 

What positive lessons have you learned from this event?

Mark

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Categories Culture, Featured Article, Politics, Uniting U.S.

Killing Time with President Obama

March 8, 2010 //
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Does anybody really know what time it is?

Today we look at President Obama’s first year in office, the debate over reaching across the aisle, the chiding I took from a children’s book and the metaphysical meaning of time.  Sometimes I like to go in strange directions.

Chiding from a Children’s Book

We all have these weird moments that stay with us all of our lives.  One of those moments for me was when I was in college.  I liked to frequent this small, eclectic bookstore in the “hippie area” of town.  It was run by this old man with a long gray beard named Gene, who somehow in my youthful mind, represented wisdom.

One day, as I entered the store and looked around, Gene asked me if I needed any help.  I replied,  “No thanks, I’m just killing time.”

Gene looked at me over his glasses and in a booming voice said, “Killing time?  Isn’t it bad enough that we waste it?  Must we kill it too?”

I must’ve looked a little sheepish, because the bookkeeper went on to explain that he was quoting a line from a children’s book.  That moment and that quote have always stayed with me.  It led me into pondering the meaning of time, and how we use language in relation to time.  Can we really “kill time”?  Is there really anything such as “wasting time?  What really is time?  Or as Chicago said, “does anybody really know what time it is?”

President Obama’s Efforts to Reach Out

Last night I was watching some political pundits on television discussing Obama’s first year in office.  They were expressing concern over his inability to push through any healthcare legislation.  After all, they said he came into office with a mandate for change, the Democrats controlled both houses of Congress as well as the presidency…why didn’t he just propose legislation and get it passed?

Much has been written in the media about the reasons that Obama did not take this tack. Reasons include the wide variety of opinions on the bill within the Democratic Party and the difficulty in getting them all on the same page.  In addition, there has been a lot of coverage also about the need for the Democrats to have a super majority of 60 votes in the Senate in order to get a bill through.  Yet in spite of these apparent roadblocks facing the president, most pundits seem to believe that the Democrats could have crafted a bill that would have met muster within their own party, worked around the filibuster in the Senate and passed some kind of legislation.

Those I saw on television last night made this point and went on to say that the president lost a lot of political capital by not getting the health care bill passed.  There seemed to be a consensus that he “wasted” a whole year of his presidency.

It was felt that the reason he didn’t take this approach is because he tried to reach out across the aisle to the Republicans, as well as to all of the healthcare stakeholders to bring them on board with any legislation.  The commentators acknowledged that Obama came into office with the desire to change partisan politics “as normal” as exhibited by creating his “team of rivals” on his cabinet, much like Lincoln had done.  Yes, Obama had tried to get consensus, but in the 2020 hindsight  that political announcers often exhibit, they agreed he had wasted time.  In their opinion, the president was now realizing that he was never going to get a consensus and he needed to move forward now without it.  Their attitude was like “duh, he should’ve known that from the start.”

So did the president really “waste” a year?

Metaphysical Time

One could write a whole book on this subject of the meaning and experience of time (in fact, many have).  I just want to outline a couple of key concepts from my current understanding about how we look at time that I believe are pertinent here.

First, much is written about “the power of now” or “the eternal now.”  Metaphysically speaking, there is only this current moment with the future and the past being constructs of the mind.  Hence we are encouraged to live in the present moment, letting go of our concern over what may have happened in the past and any worries about what might happen in the future.  We are told it is our thoughts and actions right now that create our life and that all of life is happening in this present moment.

Yet, what about this stream of time in which we appear to be immersed?  If there is only the present moment, why do we have memories of the past or concern herself with plans for the future?  Why do we have this sense of time marching on?  Mystics and spiritual teachers have offered that the purpose of time (as well as the sense of space) is a divine illusion that was created in order for us to experience a sense of separation, a sense of free will choice, and all other third dimensional life experiences.  If the Unity of the One did not create the appearance of the multiplicity of time and space, then we would not have the playground for our life experiences.

Time and space give Spirit, through its incarnations in each of us, the ability to live our lives, make choices, learn, grow and evolve.  Seen from the spiritual level, time is a gift given to us that allows us to stretch out this one true moment so that we can experience the infinite variety of life.  Ultimately as we have this experience we are called in our choices and actions to move in the direction so that we return to Spirit….that is, we ultimately will remember our Source.  Free will allows us to veer from away from our return, but some force within us generally moves us back to Oneness.  This evolutionary force tends to direct us to higher degrees of both complexity and cooperation.   Seen from this perspective, there is no way we can “waste time” or” kill time.”  Such ideas come from a human sense that there is a limited amount of time, that a clock is ticking and we need to get busy right now.  The reality is we have all the time we need to experience the fullness of life and make our journey home.

At the human level, the desire to be efficient and effective in our use of time can be beneficial.  Yet like most things in the physical world, we can get seduced by them.  We can get so wrapped up in our sense of human time, that we forget about the vastness of spiritual time.  When we can step above our human view of time and see things from a spiritual perspective, we can see that what at the human level appears to be wasting time or killing time is really a time when deeper things are happening.

Most of us have had the experience in our life where we appeared to be stuck and going nowhere… at least that’s how it felt at the time… but it’s only later in life when we have distanced ourselves by the passage of time and the shifting of our perspective that we can see how we truly were growing.  We may have felt like we were killing time while in fact, we were going through a necessary step in our unfoldment.  The caterpillar must “waste time” in its cocoon, before it can blossom to the butterfly.  The seed appears to be wasting time as it readies itself to burst open.

Planting Seeds in the  Political Process

So did the president really “waste” a year?

Seen from the human level with a desire to put in place healthcare legislation immediately, one might believe, as the television pundits did, that time and political capital was “wasted”.  There certainly is a part of me that feels it is a moral imperative that our country provide healthcare for everyone now.  Every day we delay, more people suffer.

But there’s another way we can look at this.  Our country is facing another moral dilemma.  This is one of the excessive divisiveness and overly partisan behavior that has kept Congress from addressing major issues facing our country.  In my opinion, this is the greatest challenge facing our leadership right now.  Healthcare is one of many issues which Congress and the president need to face.  If they don’t rise up above partisan behavior on healthcare, how can we expect any real solutions on our financial crisis, global warming, overpopulation, wars around the world, or any of the seemingly overwhelming matters facing the planet?

Yes, I wish that Obama’s efforts to bring people together in a bipartisan manner would’ve lead to meaningful healthcare legislation.  But I continue to be an optimist.  I believe that in spite of the lack of our leadership coming together on this issue now, seeds were planted.  It may appear to our human eyes, that nothing is happening.  However, I believe the effort and the dialogue has served a useful purpose.  More people are beginning to look at our leadership and seek to hold them accountable for solving all of our problems, not just healthcare, in a manner that transcends partisan politics.

I trust that as we look back on this time, after we have distanced ourselves from it by the passage of time and the shifting of our perspective, that we will realize that seeds have been planted that will one day burst open and reveal our new expression.  Humanity, through the process of evolution,  is being called to a higher level of cooperation.  From that higher perspective we will realize that there is no true wasting or killing time.  There is really only our human experience of time as we unfold into the highest possibilities of who we can be as a people on our return back to Oneness.

Mark

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Categories Culture, Politics, Uniting U.S.

Healthcare Deals and Our Greatest Ideals

February 4, 2010 //
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What are our greatest ideals?

Today I’m facing a moral dilemma. What’s more important… passing health care legislation immediately that ensures access to adequate health care for everyone in our country now… or… passing health care legislation in a little bit longer time frame but for the right reasons?

To be clear, I truly believe that every person should have access to quality affordable healthcare. This is an issue I feel so strongly about, that I wrote all my Congressional representatives in support of health care legislation. In my letter, I pointed out that our providing healthcare is a moral imperative and encouraged them to hold that vision above the needs of special interests. I still feel this way.

In my “prior life” I had worked for the Medicare agency for over 20 years and closely watched health care legislation of all types. I knew that if the Obama administration decided to make health care legislation a priority that they had a fairly short political window in which to get this done. Generally public mandates are only good until the next election two years away. I trusted that they had learned lessons from the Clinton administration’s attempt to pass health care legislation in the 1990s and would not make the same mistakes. My biggest concern, and why I wrote my letter to my congressman, was that the legislation would not stay focused on the needs of the people. Although I knew the legislation should appropriately consider the needs of the healthcare industry, I also realized that this industry is so complex and has so many special interests with a multitude of lobbyists that frequently their voices drown out the voices of the people who need the health care.

Now I have a confession to make, after spending many years watching health care legislation, I enjoyed not reading every news article about Congress’s efforts to pass the bill. Occasionally I’ve had people ask me questions about the current health care debate and I had to acknowledge that I had not immersed myself in the details. However, I did begin to wonder why the Democrats who could have crafted and passed a bill had not done so. After all, if they truly wanted to push something through on partisan lines they could’ve come up with some kind of bill that would pass muster for everyone in their party and get it through. I told myself that they were taking this more time-consuming approach because they were trying to ensure the support of the healthcare industry and create a bill that met their needs.

Of course, as we know by now, one of the reasons that no bill has been passed is because a number of Congressional representatives would not support the bill until they had won for their state some special concession often unrelated to healthcare. The current issue of “The Christian Science Monitor” (February 7, 2010) has an interesting article on the backlash to these deals. One aspect of their report truly saddens me. It outlines a number of the deals that Democratic congressmen obtained for their states to secure their vote. Although I am not naïve and recognize that this kind of bargaining has long been part of our political process, the degree to which they withheld their votes on our moral imperative to provide health care in order to seek gain for their state, shocked even me.

Here is one telling quote from Senator Ben Nelson of Nebraska who came under fire for the deal he brokered for his vote (involving getting Nebraska exempted from a Federal Medicaid mandate), in his defense he stated, “this was never just about Nebraska. It was to be a placeholder to try to get [the Medicaid extension] fully funded for all states. My priorities are Nebraska first, Nebraska, always — not Nebraska only.” Sen. Nelson’s comments are representative in my opinion of the beliefs and intents of other congressmen who made agreements for their votes.

I feel compelled to mention at this point, that this is not a partisan article attacking Democrats… these political deals occur on both sides of the aisle. As I wrote about yesterday, I truly believe we need to move beyond our partisan divisiveness and move to a trans-partisan approach to our political challenges. We need to come together as a people and solve issues collectively rather than continuing to do things the old way where all too often we focus on the needs of the few over the needs of the many.

Therefore, I was really encouraged by one aspect of the Monitor’ s article. People are pushing back on their Congressional representatives for putting the needs of their individual state ahead of the needs of the entire country. Now I know some of this pushback is motivated by the Republican camp who senses a vulnerability towards their Democratic counterparts and is “stirring the pot” for future political gain. Yet beyond this is a growing group of people of all political persuasions who are seeking more transparency from their leaders. They’re tired of backroom deals, and they’re using the power of the Internet to stay informed on them. They are seeking to hold their elected representatives accountable for all the people not just a few. This is a good thing for all of us, no matter what our political beliefs.

I sense an interesting shift going on here. In the early days of our republic, the needs of the states were most often put above the needs of the country. Our Congressional branch of government was designed to support the needs of the states. The pattern of congressmen brokering deals for their state has a rich history. Historians tell us, that it was only after the Civil War that people shifted their perception from seeing us as a loose confederation of states to one country. Our worldviews continue to evolve in this direction. The people for whom we have care and concern and to whom we feel connected is growing and growing and transcending political and geographical boundaries. You can call me naïve, but I consider myself an optimist. The shift I see occurring is in the consciousness of the American public, where they are less concerned about the needs of their state than they are about the needs of their country… and their fellow countrymen. They are less concerned about “their political party winning” and more concerned about “everyone winning.”. Yes I know, there is a lot of evidence to the contrary and a lot of continuing partisan rhetoric and actions, but in my optimism I do see a shift.

Which brings me to my moral dilemma… I truly believe everybody in our country deserves access to quality healthcare simply by virtue of their humanity. Everything and everyone is interconnected. The lack of access to care for anyone affects all of us whether we realize it or not. The sooner we provide this care, the better off we will all be. So there is a part of me that wishes that this healthcare legislation had been passed. On the other hand, I truly believe that all of us including our congressmen need to evolve in our outlook on life to where our actions and choices are driven by the greatest good for the greatest number. Our care and concern for humanity must evolve beyond state boundaries and political parties.

So I’m left today seeing the gift in all of this. In spite of my desire to have immediate healthcare available to everyone, what good is coming through our country through the challenges of this failed legislation? I truly believe that the debate around healthcare and the pushback on congressional deal making is calling into our awareness thoughts of our greatest ideal as a people. Although we have a ways to go, this situation is raising our consciousness. It is one further step in the process at our realizing at the essence of our being that we are all connected and that connection transcends all human boundaries. Our next step is to release our old limiting beliefs in the way things must be done in seeking new actions and new solutions that serve everyone everywhere. That is where our greatest ideals are to be found.

Mark

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Categories Culture, Politics, Uniting U.S.