Birthing a new world

Peace I leave with you,
my peace I give unto you:
not as the world giveth,
 give I unto you.
Let not your heart be troubled,
neither let it be afraid.
John 14:27 KJV

When I ended Saturday's piece with Jesus' call for forgiveness, I felt an uncomfortable inner cringe. We obviously cannot just up and forgive ISIL for the bloodbath in Paris. What does Jesus mean?

Could He mean that as all of us become strong and empowered, whole and healthy, lifted up and out of our own internalized anger and enslavement (and we are all enslaved by many things) we could gain the inner strength, similar to theirs, which would make our ability to love more powerful than their pain and anger, and more invincible, and an antidote to their pain-fed pseudo-invincibility? And, since that's the ultimate goal for humankind, there's a promise inherent in this situation, and that's this is not the end.  It is a terribly painful stage. How do we midwife this planet's birth, into a new planet?

Forgiveness is born out of an inner state of love which creates such a powerful all pervasive peace that it chooses not to be bound down by unforgiveness.  Consequently, forgiveness becomes a powerful intention, a choice to see and understand by comprehending the bigger picture and realizing this is a frightening stage in the development of the human race, and specifically the maturing process of oppressed people. Forgiveness is a wise decision not to react but to choose love in response to another's reaction to the oppression of  imperialism, racism, elitism, and religious persecution. 

Theirs' is an uncritical reaction. It is a state of out of control anger so strong that it overwhelms any sanity or wisdom. It is the scapegoated Black teen who bolts out of the house, hungry and angry, and robs a 7-eleven, and then takes the fall from a magistrate of the white imperial court that has caused the whole system which has oppressed his people to an intolerable point.

An Arab friend once said we ordinary American people don't understand the whole picture of what has happened historically in the Arabian context. I asked him to explain it to me, and he shook his head and declined, saying, I wouldn't understand.

So, there is another outcome we can hope for. I realize ISIL wants an Armageddon. And, sometimes I think the right wing Christian fundamentalists do too.

I want a Golden Age. I want us to realize this is a stage - as terrible and dark and horrific as it is - and see that it's not the end of the story. It is not the end, despite what the media and religious fanatics say, it is only the birth pains that precedes the whole world's birth into the Golden Age, a new Genesis.

If creator of the Universe, the great Parent of life itself, and more specifically a Parent who loves us, knows us, and is urging us to grow up, then our God always knew we would go through this terrible collective, global adolescence of rebellion against abusive, evil, control. It is an important, yet volatile stage, and one which our God has called us to do for more than 5000 years.

If that's the case, which I think it is, then there is another stage to get to, the stage of reconciliation, of whole planet empowerment, of ultimate creative aliveness that will plant the flowers on the graves of all who have been lost in this huge global uprising. If it exists, the golden age promised in the Book of Revelation, that New Jerusalem, and if that's part of our global development, that would mean that we will get to that stage. It is part of the plan.

So, whether or not the suicide bombers want to end life on the planet because in some strange way that would eliminate their anger, it is not the end. It may feel like it. It may feel like we can't come against this terrible consolidated power raging through the Middle East and Europe and taunting our U.S. shores, but we can.  

I feel that we have to get to that place of pure peace and light and then stand tall and strong together in it. We have to grow up, become enlightened, empowered by the ultimate love of the universe, and stand up and allow that power, that awesome creative power, to flood the planet and flood these very angry men.

I only know one thing for sure. This is not the end.  

Humanity's God who loves us beyond our ability to love ourselves or each other is asking us to trust, to wait, to love, to believe, even to know God's love and infinite mercy, and with that full knowing, rise up and walk with His power. When we react, we feed the fire. When we watch and wait, listen with our hearts open, and learn to see our face in the face of our enemy, and love ourselves despite what we see by forgiving ourselves, we can authentically love them.

Then, maybe, hopefully, one-by-one we can begin to mitigate this great and terrible outpouring of pain and together give birth to a time of peace, thriving in the light of God's perfect love. 

(From yesterday, and continued tomorrow)