As I was contemplating writing about Healing, I kept seeing and hearing in my mind the immigration children who had been separated from their parents at the border, crying and feeling so alone and scared; feeling the fear of their parents. I finally realized that was what I needed to write about.
Fear seems to be the one common denominator in this crisis:
- Some people fear the immigrants themselves, that they will take jobs, bring crime, “take over”, change the life they know
- Some people fear that if we continue this policy we will loose our democracy, loose our heart as a nation, loose our status as leaders
- Some people fear that they will loose their lives, their children, their hopes
Listening to different news channels, all of these fears seem real. And there is so much confusion and contradiction. What is the truth? What is fake?
Each of us are on our personal physical journeys while on this earthly plane. We have our hopes and desires, we have our loves and fears, we have our passions. Yet, underlying all of this is what is REAL. God’s presence is Real. The oneness, the connection of all beings, the God in each of us is Real. This doesn’t mean only those who share our beliefs and actions. God is in all. We aren’t supposed to understand it all while here on earth. Only to deepen into our Knowing the God within us, the God around us and the God through us. What is the opposite of Fear? Love. And Love lives in each of us.
Knowing the True Reality does not mean that we don’t Treat and Move our Feet. But what can we do? We have our lives here and the crisis is at the southern border. As Rev. Cynthia James always says, “Pray first”. No matter where you are, what you are doing or who is around you. Pray First. Then each of us need to respond in a way that is true to ourselves. Some of us are quiet and do our work from within ourselves, other of us are vocal or visible when we do our work. We all have our strengths and we can support each other. All of us are needed. All of us are the Face of God.
A good place to start our work is with our own personal practices:
- Pray
- Meditate
- Listen for Guidance
- Journal
- Read
- Pray
Then we can write letters, go to marches, speak out, vote, go to the border to help, or use our professional skills to help. And always go back to our Spiritual Practice. “I Can’t Do All the World Needs, but the World Needs All I Can Do”.
This is Healing. Healing ourselves, healing our Nation, healing our World. Thank you to those at the borders who chose to demonstrate for us that we all have healing to do.
Treatment
Always being in the presence of Spirit. Knowing that Spirit is wherever we are. Knowing that Spirit is in the words and actions, the crying and the laughter, deep within everyone and every situation. Knowing that is what is REAL, spirit is everywhere. There is no place, no thought, no action where Spirit is not. Knowing this I also recognize that Spirit dwells within me and within everyone. Spirit manifests in each sentient being in this world that we know as home. That Spirit is the essence of who each of us are. Spirit guides and protects and lives in each of us. I know that Spirit is in each of us who are affected by the crisis at the border. I know that Spirit is guiding each of us as to what we might do or say or write. That Spirit is calling each of us in different ways to our own healing. That Spirit is giving us this chance to deepen into our understanding of ourselves and how this shows up for us in our physical world. That Spirit is teaching us what is truly Real, that each of us are Spirit manifesting in the way we need to show up. I know that Love is stronger than Fear and I know that our spiritual practices will guide us and that Spirit is always with us no matter how it looks. I want to say thank you to those who are showing up at the border to give us as a country and world a chance to learn more about who we are and to know that in Spirit we have Peace, Assurance that God is everywhere and that Love heals. I know that each of us show up as a Beneficial Presence in our own lives and in the lives of those we touch. I release this prayer acknowledging the Truth of these words and Knowing that Healing is happening and Love is present everywhere. And so it is.
Kathy Nunemaker, RScP