I can see the mess the world is in. I can see the fear instilled by the thoughts about the virus, and the current political climate, especially in North America. I know the Americans are louder about their opinions, but we Canadians have got a few too. Watching the news anywhere will get the blood boiling. We really want to see the world change, and we keep wondering why those to whom we have granted power don’t “do something” because we don’t see them doing the “something” we think is appropriate. It’s messy. It feels hopeless. Our western culture is so used to looking for rescue and stability outside ourselves, that when the world is unstable, we try and replace the windows, roof and walls, rather than the foundation. We seem collectively confused about how to arrive at our desired destination. We want to be secure, safe, recognized as valuable, validated by our society... We treat our governments as though they have the parental rights to our wellbeing.
It has me seeing Mel Gibson’s character standing in front of an open refrigerator trying to calm himself down with the perfect self medicating snack, in the movie, What Women Want, saying, “What am I doing? She’s not in the fridge.”
Humans have habits, we get upset, we eat, or avoid food, depending on our personal tendencies. We get scared, we retreat into our vices, drinking, gambling, excess media… we hide for a while. We rally the troops in the institutions of politics and religion if the insecurity is great enough. Sometimes, we even run to people, just to vent, silence the inner chatter, if only for a minute. We cope. We do not settle.
I’m not talking about settling for what isn’t right for us, I’m talking about the settling of finding stillness, a peaceful inner spot, rest, a state of being rather than doing. What that character wanted was to be with the one he had come to know and love. Humanity longs for relationship. The most accessible of all relationships is found in our inner depths. It is oneness on all levels. Complete being as an individual and belonging in unified community all at the same time. It is learning to breathe with our Source, both alone and together.
The world has been looking in the fridge. It is so convinced that safety and comfort and belonging are somewhere out there that is has reduced itself to studying the mould on the the leftovers pushed to the back, and the condiments long forgotten, crusty and abandoned… Why? Because being ultimately responsible for ourselves isn’t our desire. We have left our nature for our nurture, thinking it was our nature. But it is a lie. What we need is not in the fridge, it is already inside us.
But all of those things out there affect me.
They have the potential too, yes. Viruses, politicians, religions, vaccines, scary stories, ghost stories, conspiracies, misinformation, mislabelled misinformation, misinformation to discount real information (that’s propaganda); all of these things can make a mess of the fridge. All of them. If we are looking for life to be made safe based the contribution of external forces, impending doom is imminent.
But how do we get out of this mess?
We don’t.
We realize that it is not happening in us. We actually do get to choose our environment. We actually do get to close the fridge door and look for the love, the safety, the relationship, the sense of worth and wellbeing where it is actually found. Because it isn’t in the cold, cold world, its inside. Deep. Inside.
Truly. Collectively. Peace is not found in binding together over a common cause. That inevitably leads to an increased agitation and confrontation, discord. Peace is found in understanding our secure innate identity. Our intrinsic worth and value. Because it is basic, because it is shared, because it evens out the playing field and puts us all on the same team.
Our salvation is not in a politician, a medical system, a vaccine. Humanity is no more doomed now than it has ever been. It just doesn’t trust its Source, neither concerning their design or their sustenance.
Start with “Who am I?” And then move on to “Who are you to me?” And then answer: “Love” And “Love my neighbour as myself.” Trust me. It’s warmer, brighter, and much more hopeful. The path of peace is within. It always has been.
It’s time to stop looking in the fridge.