We Who Dream: The Dreams and Hopes of a New Morning

"Mom, why are they still saying those awful things about my daddy?"

I am a metaphysician. I am not "Christian" (at least not in terms that may be readily apparent to the casual reader.) Thus, I may not believe what you believe, but I see great beauty in your accepting me as I am, as I respect your holding to your beliefs, whomever and wherever you are. My idea and method of prayer might seem startling to you, maybe even cocky, or arrogant, but it is neither. Please don't turn away. This post is neither a sermon nor a prayer.

Let's talk this morning, not about what we don't share, but about what we do. There still are those who think we see Barack Obama as a god, a savior. I suppose they always will think this way. I visited change.gov a few minutes ago. There is a post, written as one might expect, in ALL CAPS. This brings me to part of the reason I began this post by speaking about my spirituality. My beliefs, indeed my deep inborn understanding of things unseen, teaches me the power of mind, and that we must be careful how we react to others. By react, I mean in thought as well as in deed (both of which I believe are one in the same).

The post I saw, over on Obama's (our) site, is the usual rant. But I always think, "Would this person go knock on the Obamas' door, and say these things to Malia and Sasha?" No, they choose to slink about in darkness.

What is going through a person's mind (the term mind I herein use advisedly) as he throws gas all over a church, then lights it? Now I have a struggle, as we all do if we pay attention to our (inner) selves more. I believe there is one unlimited Mind, and that Mind is our true reality, but we are split between this small identity we have made (ego) and our true state of being, our true Nature. Now the split is an illusion, the world that results from it a dream...but the dream is of course very real to us.

The deeper part of me knows all is well. The ego-part (which is shadow, thus cannot hold anything real) isn't willing to abdicate its hold on my sight. It is that part that imagines one of the Obamas' daughters (In my image it is Malia) asking the question with which I began this post.

There was a rabbi in the first century named Hillel. He evidently had the principle of the Golden Rule firmly in mind (a version of it is taught in almost every spiritual teaching on earth.) The rabbi said this: "What is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow creature. That is the whole Law; the rest is commentary."

We are working toward something. There is a reason the economy is in shambles, and Barack Obama is the man to lead the effort to fix it, among the myriad problems we face. It will get worse before it gets better, but it will get better. Often we must, in order to clean a great mess, make an even greater mess, as I will do when I finally get around to cleaning out my garage.

I refuse to be afraid. I know how mind works, and I know that fear attracts fear, calls to the creatures lurking in the shadows. No, I am strong in my faith. I have built my church on a rock, and there it stands, and no flame can touch it. "We are one people," he declared "way back" in '04. I had no clue who Barack Obama was then. But when I heard his voice I had one of my intuitive flashes. I "knew" he would be president. I "knew" he is a great man. I "knew" he would lead us into a new (yet somehow ancient) way of seeing ourselves and one another "I am my brother's keeper! I am my sister's keeper!" Do we really not know greatness when we see it?

Barack Obama inspires my courage, lights my faith with his own. He is not my savior, he is my leader. Greatness does not mean mistake-proof. I know he learns from his mistakes. That is the key. Make a mistake, recognize the mistake, correct it, move on. This is what smart people do.

Those who would only destroy still see us as gathered around a great campfire, singing warm and fuzzy songs while the world collapses around us. But we who are inspired sing not in vain, but with the faith and strength of a billion voices joined as one. Therein lies power, not a head-in-the sand worldview. Those who would only destroy see the tears on the faces of those watching him speak in person, and they see worship. It is not worship, it is the recognition that great men and women still live. That there still are those whose character oversees their human propensity to err. That maybe there is hope after all that a country whose fragile beginnings and imperfect history still can give rise to honorable leaders; is a nation whose ideology simply and boldly determines to "not perish from the earth."; is a place where neighbors still greet one another with a "Good morning." A small gesture, but it matters, you see. This is our humanity, the connection of what is shared in a society based upon freedom.

Well, maybe this post is a prayer after all...a prayer for the shadow-dwellers, that they cannot stop our march to perfect an imperfect Union. A prayer for all who dare dream of better days and better ways. A prayer for our continued and stubborn refusal to give up on our dreams and hopes of a new morning.

[Originally posted at kossacks networking, 1/17/09. What follows is from that site...a good place to visit, to share.]