Spiritual Sustenance for Occupy Together

Waves of love are sweeping though, rattling the foundations of these systems built on values of greed. The love that listens to all the stories of those ignored, crushed, and demeaned by the dehumanizing forces of a world caught up in greed. The love that brings people into the streets to reconnect, see ourselves, and dream anew of a world in tune with love…where all the human potential that comes to life when loved will be released not suppressed.

How can we be in love all the time?  When we are in love with a new romantic partner, a child, a pet, or a place or activity we adore, the guiding orientation is “I see you.” The heart of being in love is seeing, really seeing and feeling with those around us. “I care for your well being.” “I am with you.” “I have your back.” I ask how you really are and I take the time to listen with full attention. Your opinions and needs matter.  I look for your strengths and gifts and welcome and encourage them.

Contrast this to the energy of greed – when we are so hungry for more, so caught up in “never enough” that we are oblivious to others’ needs. This is not love. This insatiable striving for ever more wealth, while ignoring the consequences to people and the earth is not a basis for a society and economy. This is not love. People who have so much already, who have the power to push others out of the way to get more for themselves…these are not the ones who should have privileged access to our collective decision-making. This is not love.

I see you. I hear you. I love you. I love what we will become together. As Hafiz writes “The heart is the thousand-stringed instrument that can only be tuned with Love.”

We might step back and observe this as a period of deep energetic restructuring. Everyone in the industrialized world is feeling this shake-up - you are not alone. Imagine that this challenging phase has potential for awakening new forms of human behavior. These forms are not yet in full view and so the task is to imagine them and desire their frequencies.

Imagine a social organization based on mutual consideration and cooperation. What will this look like? Instead of focusing on the lack in one’s own life, an individual may consider: “What benefits each one of us?” For too long the model has been ‘survival of the most aggressive and self-centered.’ This is an implicit basis of modern capitalism. Now we are force-fed the fruits of this short-sightedness: If we plunder the planet we all perish; unchecked financial greed causes ruin for all. The lessons are etched boldly across the screen of every layer of society.

From the old vantage point of individual survival this may seem devastating (indeed the devastation is very real in many lives). But calming our spirits may we also consider the beautiful possibility that this season where we reap the fruits of short-sightedness may herald a merciful tide of human awakening?

Imagine that the currency is changing. Paper dollars and plastic cards reveal their worthlessness so that you may discover currency of abiding value: spiritual development, mutual encouragement within community, stewardship of the land, creation of products and services than benefit humanity. Abiding values now reveal their true worth. And what a grace this is! For paper and plastic cannot make the journey beyond this earth, and your spirits surely will. Each person may ask her/himself: “What is my lesson now; what is my calling?” Assist each other in these discoveries.

- Jane Smith Bernhardt, The Sweet Conversation

Know that new connections are being made…that lay the ground for a consciousness shift.

Many hearts are awakening. Souls moving. Souls called.

Where the old ways will not satisfy, the old promises will ring hollow.

We’re not buying it anymore. It’s not working - it’s not working.

Many many are waking up - the ground is being laid.

So you can sing and stay in the fullness of Love and promise that even grander fullness, abundance and freedom can be realized.

These are the changing times.

History is not the material phenomena. There is an unbroken progression in the evolution of the heart. It has never been more bright or strong or even more hopeful. Its weakness has been burning away in the fierce furnace of history - the dross that kept the purity at bay, and all that threatened to pollute it from within. In the fiery explosion of the thousand forms we are witnessing the birth of a universal heart of Love.

It is here – like the buds of spring, the shoots secretly peeking through the detritus of the long winter. Content yourself with searching for those new signs of life, for they are everywhere. A new world is at hand that could not coexist with dying forms.

Rub your eyes and shed your pessimism. Be like a child expecting to be surprised by tiny miracles shooting up everywhere. And be dazzled when they appear.

This is the time we have all fought for these thousands of years. Awakening is at hand. The fields have been cleared by fire. Hearts have been purified by the hot furnaces of devotion. Allow your mind’s perceptions to rest. The time of awakening has arrived.

- Jane Smith Berhnhardt, The Sweet Conversation