In two of the world faiths that I study, Paramahansa Yogananda’s Self-Realization Fellowship and the Bahai Faith the Unity of Mankind is often encouraged as well as the connection between the East and the West (India/Iran and the U.S.).  From both of these traditions, I have “heard” the call for us to reach out to the Divine (God) and really ask for that connection.   It may seem like an easy thing to do for some people who have never questioned or pondered what they believe, but for those of us who question, becoming vulnerable within ourselves to reach towards something/someone when all we have to go on is faith….can be very difficult.

And that’s just for those of us who don’t have all kinds of accessory problems with being human and living such as mental illness, dysfunctional families, addictions, catastrophic illness in ourselves or a loved one etc.   That may leave about two people out of the 7 billion of us on this planet who are able to fully give their attention towards finding the Divine (God) without any distractions.

So what about those of us who remain?  How do we handle big situations that occur in our community such as the shootings recently at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut? What is it that needs to be looked at more closely in order for us to heal the limping elephant in the middle of the United States?  Sure, we can look at gun control and have conversations about what laws can be put into place so that mentally disturbed people can be found out before they are able to purchase weapons of destruction.  But how are “we” going to know who is mentally disturbed and what being mentally disturbed means if we aren’t willing to look within our own lives, at ourselves and the people around us to admit that there just might be a bit of insanity in all of us?   Much less reach for the Divine (God).

For me, admitting I am powerless over addictions, people, places, mental illness is hand-in-hand with coming to believe there is something (the Divine/God) that can restore me to sanity. But first, I have to surrender to the reality of what “is”.   As a nation, I feel the United States is such a long way off from surrendering to the idea that some (many) of the things (overlooking extreme violence in film and videos etc.) are either a symptom of something much more wrong with us as a people than we care to know about or its too painful for us to let go of the curtain that hides the great and powerful Oz.  As in the Wizard of Oz, there is no great wizard that can grant us our wishes, our gifts are inside for us to find and realize.

Trying to reconcile the incredible distrust I have with politicians and big business in general with the belief that, as a group, our nation has the amazing capacity to unite together and leap towards goodness more than any other civilized nation in history,  considering where we come from (prisoners, refugees, etc.) is so complex. Where do we begin? Where do I begin?  How can I best live my values and help the people and community where I live (as well as myself)?

If ever there was a time for us to “wake up” it is now and as the great Sufi poet Rumi said, “do not go back to sleep” instead we’ve been giving another huge wake-up call to surrender our illusions and reach out for the Divine.