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Dear Church Family,
Today is the 19th anniversary of a day we all will remember for the rest of our lives - September 11, 2001. The events of the days - planes crashing into the World Trade Center, Pentagon and a rural Pennsylvania field brought many of us to tears of disbelief in the thousands of lives lost. In our shock we asked the questions why did this happen to us? Why do other's hate us? What can we do about it?
I have shared in the past that I was in my graduate program studying Creation Spirituality in Oakland. One of the programs offered at the school was "Indigenous Mind," where the students studied under the elders of several indigenous cultures in assisting them to explore their own ancestral lineage, ancient traditions and spiritual practices.
On the day of September 11, 2001 we were visited by three Iroquois women elders who assisted us in a sacred ritual that help us in our grief. Because they are earth-based people - people who intimately live from the land and practice rituals celebrating the earth - they encouraged us to become grounded in the earth - to find strength and solace in the earth.
Like many of you, I grieved heavily that day. I cried rivers and felt the pain throughout my body. I grieved not only for the loss of lives, but also for the loss of innocence. Intuitively I knew our worlds would be FOREVER changed because of this event. And many aspects of our world did change; airports, concerts, government buildings all employed new safety protocols that have changed the course of how we do business. We would continue to look over our shoulder and ask - are you friend or foe?
As a Truth Student, we often find conflict in our human experience. Life demands us to continually reconcile our Spiritual unfoldment with the human nature. There is no one right way to do it, but Jesus taught us to continually return to Love whenever conflict or challenge arise. I felt deep love for the world on September 11, 2001. I feet deep loss for the death of innocent people in the crashes and deep loss for the innocence of people who suffered with grief along with me, and I felt utter confusion and deep sorrow for the men who acted out in this horrific event. I feel sorrow for others who are so lost they bring pain and destruction to the world.
Yes, I felt anger, rage, depression and the other feelings that we go through in grief. But as I deal with my response to those events in this time - I continue to bring the love of our Christ Consciousness forward in allowing healing to unfold. I cannot change those events. However, I can be a vehicle of change through God's love to our world. I can bless the world with my prayers affirming God's revelation, peace, power and love to every soul that walks the Earth with us.
I can encourage others to see the eyes of God in each other. I can teach Truth reminding others that God is love and everywhere present, we are love, and we create our experiences through our thoughts. And I can remember these Truth's, too. (Yes, sometimes we forget!) I can work toward creating safe world for everyone - not just my tribe - but everyone.
I know you join me in bringing loving thoughts to the family and friends of those whose loved ones made their transition on that day or from that event. May we continue to bring love forward in a powerful way to transform the human experience into the Kingdom of God that we know is possible for all to experience. Let us continue with our prayers affirming peace within, and throughout our world.
God Bless,
Pastor Robert