Today's Idea
by Marianne Williamson

Church of Today

Spiritual Leader

Today's Inspiration for Sunday, September 16, 2001

Dear Friends,

I have heard people say, concerning the current crisis, that the idea of holding to love in our hearts seems to work well in terms of an individual's life - job, family, home, etc. but that it doesn't seem to work well on a large planetary scale.

My response to that would be, how would we know? Have we ever tried it?

The basic metaphysical law of Creation is the Law of Cause and Effect: Love brings back love, and fear brings back fear. That law holds true whether for an individual's life, or for a collective life, and individuals are not spared the consequences of actions taken in its government's name. Clearly, it is in our own best interest to foster compassion in the political realm. We know in our personal lives that love is a healing and reconciling force, yet when has any government -- including our own -- ever made love an organizing principle of domestic or foreign policy?

Does love guide our government's actions around the world? And given that the answer is so often "No," has the fear which dominates our foreign policy created for us a world that works? Is it working now? And most painfully but perhaps most significantly of all, is it not possible that some of our own government's behavior has contributed in major ways to the trial that we face now?

The people who perpetrated these terrorist acts are neither rational nor sane. They are full of hate for us and for our children, and they must be dealt with in appropriate ways. But at the same time, there are millions of others - who are not irrational, who are not insane - who deeply resent what they perceive to be America's arrogance and unjust attitudes when confronted by any questioning of our right to economic dominance throughout the world. While those people would not attack us as we have now been attacked, the intensity of their often valid resentments must inevitably contribute to attitudes of violence towards us.

Our President has said that we're going to "whip those people." The presumption is that we will find all the terrorists, route them out of the world, and then the problem will be solved. But that kind of thinking is both simplistic and dangerous at such a time as this. The President's attitudes are like someone saying, "I know I have cancer. Just give me enough radiation and chemotherapy, operate on me and take it all out. Then I know I will be okay."

Sadly, the case is not often that simple when it comes to cancer and it is not always that simple when it comes to politics. Every terrorist was once a child, and it was in childhood that he or she was first taught to hate. If the United States now makes its primary response to our current crisis the complete annihilation of any part of the world which has in any way conspired with terrorists, then we will contribute to the emergence of a generation of people whose numbers, and intensity of hatred toward the United States, will be even worse than what we face now. It is to be noted that if such a situation is to occur, then it will not perhaps be us - but surely it will be our children - who pay a terrible price for years to come.

Of course we want to DO something; it is so painful to think that there is not some one big display of power that will rid us of the horror we feel now. Yet it is our capacity to BE with that horror, and ask God if there is anything He would have us learn from it, that is the key to our deliverance, both personally and politically.

The love in our hearts is more powerful than bombs. If enough of us remember this, we will have a miracle. If we do not, God help us all.

Dear God,
We pray
Not only for those who love us,
But also for those who do not.
May all our hearts be awakened now
To the common bond of our humanity.
Touch every heart
With a miraculous kiss.
Dear God,
Please make us One.
Amen


Love,

Marianne

Today's Affirmation: I am committed to the path of love.

Today's Prayer:
Dear God,
I have experienced such a range of emotions this week.

I long for life to get back to "normal."

Yet, I realize that everything has changed, in ways I cannot yet comprehend

There is no going back.

Instead, dear God - I desire to move more deeply into Love.

You are my refuge and my haven.

You are my strength and comfort.

Please hold me and lead me through this darkness into Your light.

Thank You.

Amen

The Church of Today is a member of the Association of Unity Churches and is affiliated with Unity School of Christianity, publishers of The Daily Word.

Today's Inspiration is copyright © 2001 by the Church of Today, Unity in Warren, Michigan - 11200 E Eleven Mile Rd - Warren, Michigan - 48089. All rights are reserved. This message may be shared provided that the entire message is shared, including this copyright notice. The quotation in Today's Idea is copyright © by Marianne Williamson, and is used with permission of the author. Today's Affirmation & Prayer - copyright © 2001 by Richard L. Beattie, used with permission of the author.

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