Dear friends,
I sing quite a bit and was recently particularly struck by a few of the lines in one of my favorite songs to sing, "Come Gather 'Round.”
Wind on a hill sounds lonely if you're sad,
Free if you're free, cheerful if you're glad
and also…
Some people think to harvest happiness
by weeding troubles, easing every stress
The trouble is that troubles never end
Get rid of one, and you find its friend
The point is that the entire world around us is a reflection of our own consciousness. Rather than trying to better every element of our circumstances (and then hoping the changes miraculously freeze in place somehow!), it may behoove us to work on our inner selves. That does not mean that there is no external reality. But it does mean that it is our interpretation of that reality that affects virtually everything about us. If we are deeply sad, everything around us looks dark and depressing; if joyful, the world seems a beautiful place.
Given that, it is funny how much more energy we put into changing the things around us. Even those of us who have spent a lifetime working on our own consciousness spend most of our time tinkering with the world around us in hopes of making our lives just a little better. A great saint once said, “Change not one whit of my circumstances. Change only me."
It is not that effort to improve things is not important or worth doing. It is! Especially since service to others is one of our highest duties. But we ought not to forget what is really going on. If we work to change something because it is a situation we cannot stand, or are upset by, we are slaves to circumstances. If we find our own center, and then, from that position of calm strength, it seems something needs to change… go for it! This world clearly needs help. But some of that help surely is our becoming free ourselves. Compulsion of various sorts drives much of the pain we see around us. But even compulsion for good is still compulsion. May each of us find both lasting and deep inner peace, as well as the dynamic energy and willpower needed to make everything around us a reflection of Spirit’s beauty.
*****
And a reminder that if you enjoy these blog posts, you can find a complete set of them here.
Blessings,
David G., manager
For the Gang at East West