This is Part 1 of a 3 part series. Many of the dedicated spiritual students that I’ve talked with lately have really been struggling for the last six months because of their political and personal views and what they see transpiring in the world.
When I was in beautiful Australia last September we were talking about the fear of terrorism when loved ones, living in other countries, were living with what felt like a very real threat. How do you work with it at the level of the mind to heal it.
A Course in Miracles says, “Nothing real can be threatened, nothing unreal exists.”
Many have been asking me how to hold the current political situation in America with Love when things feel so challenging.
Recently someone I Love told me they didn’t wish to have anything to do with me anymore because they found out I support a woman’s right to choose. In their opinion, it meant I was judgmental and, essentially, not really walking my talk and so they were angry with me.
As a spiritual counsellor, I have been counselling people for years who were experiencing severe anger and anxiety because of their beliefs about politics, politicians and the world.
For many years, people have been asking me for advice about how to handle the intensity of their fear and upset regarding situations in the world. They ask me what I do, and so I thought I’d share some things that could be helpful.
First, A Course in Miracles tells us right at the very beginning of the Text to “seek not to change the world, but to change our mind about the world.” It tells us that to have complete Peace, and to see with Divine Vision, all we need do is to take responsibility for the world we see. And that’s the path that works for me.
It’s 100% responsibility for the world I see.
0% blame for any of it.
ACIM begins teaching us right at the beginning of the Workbook that the world we think we see is symbolic. Everything is symbolic of what we believe. Yes, everything is a symbol we see with our mind.
In the gorgeous story The Wizard of Oz we find a similar kind of story to our own story, or script, as ACIM calls it. Dorothy is the prodigal daughter. Consider the very important details and plot points:
- 1. Dorothy gets upset because she thinks people don’t really love and understand her. She mis-interprets what’s going on and she clings to her judgment/opinion and she decides to run away. Her mis-interpretation is merely a projection of her own lack of Self-Love and insecurity. Dorothy’s “decides” to escape to a new and different “reality.” Like the prodigal son, she sets off on an adventure. Isn’t that just like us? We decide our interpretation is correct – even though it scares us. Using our judgments, opinions, interpretations, we’re able to block our heart awareness. With our heart awareness blocked, we interpret the symbols around us through the lens of our history and the meaning we’ve made of things in the past. Therefore, “everything I see only has the meaning that I give it.” And so we set off down a path of darkness, frightening ourselves at every turn.
- 2. A terrifying and life-threatening storm/tornado comes. As soon as we set off down a road of trying to create our own alternative reality based on our interpretations, a terrifying storm enters our life. It’s called separation. We separate ourselves from the flow of Love. And that’s exactly what Dorothy does. She’s on her own, in a storm, without Love and she gets hit in the head. In a sense, she loses her mind.
- 3. Dorothy now finds herself in a magical land and she only wants to get back home. Again, isn’t this just like us, like the prodigal son/daughter? At home there’s real Love, security and comfort. Escaping to this alternative reality, things are unreliable and constantly shape-shifting. Attack is constant. Fear is sparked around every corner.
- 4. Along the way, Dorothy makes five special relationships. Dorothy meets others along the way: the Scarecrow who thinks he doesn’t have a brain (wisdom), the lion who thinks he doesn’t have courage (strength of heart) and the Tin Man who thinks he doesn’t have a heart (capacity to Love and be loved). These three companions are actually projections of her own belief about herself. Glenda the Good Witch is Dorothy’s kinder loving nature – her Higher Holy Spirit Self. The Wicked Witch of the West is Dorothy’s ego that is so hurt and afraid it only knows how to destroy and punish to find power. Each of these five are crucial parts of Dorothy’s identity. She must Love the parts of herself that she judges in order to experience their highest expression and find her way home. Just like the Lion must discover that he actually does have true courage, the Tin Man learns he does have a heart and great capacity to Love while the Scarecrow discovers he has the Wisdom to make loving choices even when he’s threatened. Their experiences ARE Dorothy’s experiences because they share the same mind. Dorothy must see all of this unfold in her outer world to recognize the reflection of her inner world, her true Self. Notice that the Tin Man, Scarecrow and Lion are childlike and simple. Dorothy, when she aligns with her own inner strength is able to be a parent to them even though she’s actually still a girl herself. Her inner wisdom is naturally mature and wise, but when she’s judgmental, she can’t access that Wisdom, and then she’s immature and afraid.
- 5. After battling and dissolving the Wicked Witch Dorothy finds the way to go back home. Since the Wicked Witch (ego) is out to kill Dorothy, she has to battle the Wicked Witch to get free and focus on what’s most important to her – going home. She literally dissolves the Wicked Witch with a bucket of water. What is water but a symbol of clear thought, and clarity? To the interpreters of dreams, water symbolizes our intuition. What is the thing that pushes Dorothy to stand up to the Witch and to throw that bucket of water upon her? It’s the Love she has for her loved one. It’s the power of Love that gives her the courage and the insight.
- 6. Dorothy succeeds because of the Love she has for her companions. The thing that gives her the strength to launch this battle with the Wicked Witch (ego) and get her power back is the Holy Relationships that she has with her “mighty companions.” They’re “all for one and one for all.” This loving alignment with her friends (who represent her disowned selves) is what brings her back into her right mind. They’re relationships transform from special to holy as they learn to love, support and accept each other unconditionally with compassion.
- 7. Glenda points out that Dorothy had the power all along. In order to go home, Dorothy has to realize that the kingdom is within. The “mighty and powerful Wizard of Oz” who cannot rescue her, she must rescue herself. The only thing that can take her home is going within, and desiring to be at home, where the True Love is. That’s the decision that only she can make. That’s the willingness that only she can find.
- 8. Dorothy awakes from the dream. She discovers she’s already at home. The prodigal daughter “returns” only to discover she didn’t go anywhere. She never left. It was all in her mind – a dream.
- 9. Dorothy realizes how much she is loved. No one is holding anything against Dorothy because of the judgments she had before she ran away. They’re all just glad she’s back. Everyone rejoices, no one is angry that Dorothy went off on an adventure to discover what it would be like to be separate. No one is angry because they know it was just a dream.
Look around your life – who is the Scarecrow, Lion, Tin Man, Good Witch, Bad Witch in your life? If they feel like special relationships now, can you ask and allow the Holy Spirit to transform them into Holy Healing and Healed Relationships?
If the politics of the world are upsetting you, and frightening you, are you willing to more clearly see that it’s not the world that is upsetting, it’s your thoughts about the world.
We’re on a journey home, just like Dorothy. Our landscape will shift and change when we change our mind about it.
This is Part 1 of a 3 Part series. In Part 2, on Sunday, I’ll share more about how to recognizes what the symbols we see in the world are for – and how they actually point us in the direction home.
Retreat with me! I’m offering a deeply healing, renewing and restoring retreat March 16 to 19 in New York. As always on my retreats we’ll have a lot of fun while we’re doing a lot of deep cleansing and clearing of old emotional and mental baggage. It’s such a relief to let it go! If you’d like to start your spring with real clarity and healing, come join me! Click here for details about my Masterful Living Retreat – the early bird discount is on now – this retreat is open to all – come and bring a friend!
If you’re finding what I’m sharing to be helpful, won’t you please share at facebook and twitter to let others know? Thank you!
