9/15/13 Rev. David McArthur
Peace Through Compassion
In the story of the Tower of Babel, mankind built a great tower to get “up there” close to God. This is a symbol of seeking vertical transformation, or higher understanding. Cinderella is another symbol of our vertical transformation, of acknowledging the presence of God within. With compassion, we can heal and go through transformation. More recently we talked of the Now Moment. It is another vertical experience of connection with the divine.
But in the story of the Tower of Babel, God sent the people out [horizontally]. In the second chapter of Isaiah it is written that in the last days (days when we near completion) the mountain of the Lord’s temple will be chief of all the mountains and all peoples will stream to it. They will beat their swords into plow shares and their spears into pruning hooks, and they won’t train for war anymore. It is the mountain (the Earth) which is lifted up. The work we have been doing with each other lifts our consciousness and we are brought to the house of God (your heart) where we experience the direct connection, divine intelligence, love and understanding. From there flows out harmony among nations and heals our feelings. No need for war, but understanding for each other. All traditions teach that loves flows out from the heart.
Lately when I turn on the TV, I identify with the people who are being wronged by others. But to feel compassion is to feel for the ones who are wrong, too. And feel it for the decision makers, and for the ones fleeing their homes. I even felt compassion for the Russians. It was harder to feel compassion for the people who were bringing the pain. But I remember times when I was out of control in my world, when I was not compassionate.
The people who are figuring out what to do—that’s their job. Our job is to feel the compassion and to send it out to all of them. You can see them in your compassion, even in their lowest times. My belief is that the time is coming when conflict is resolved with compassion. We can start now, when we turn on our TVs, to watch the world with the compassion of our hearts. Affirm, I will watch the world with the compassion of my heart. I will watch the world with the compassion of my heart. I will watch the world with the compassion of my heart. This is the time!
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