My Statement of Faith During National Tragedy

I believe there is a creative energy behind and in creation. That energy created the world and suffuses it with wisdom and beauty. I also believe there is a destructive energy in creation. I see this in the paradox that is the basis of our lives on earth: our survival depends not only on creating but on destroying life. We destroy in big and small ways in every moment.

The Jewish mystics of the 16th century saw these energies. Unlike the philosophers who claimed one energy is G-d and the other is not, the mystics boldly claimed both are G-d. In balance, these energies sustain a harmonious natural order. Human beings are responsible to keep these energies in balance. Each smallest act of every human being contributes to the energy that is G-d. If evil acts prevail, there is disruption in the harmonious energy force some of us call G-d. Interdependent as we all are, and as we are with this force in the cosmos, disrupted energy reciprocally influences the world.

Hinduism captures this paradox in Kali: “Kali is the Hindu goddess (or Devi) of death, time, and doomsday and is often associated with sexuality and violence but is also considered a strong mother-figure and symbolic of motherly-love. Kali also embodies shakti – feminine energy, creativity and fertility.”

As I view with dismay the activity of our current president, a man whose name I will no longer promote by using it, I have to remind myself that he is a mere playing out of destructive energy, the result of disruption in the spiritual energy field. He and his more dangerous adviser, Bannon, whom I believe will soon run the country and bring great death and destruction, will not last. In the bigger picture, despite their grandiose visions of themselves, they are mere specks of dust.

I think of the Pharaoh of the Exodus, who brought such great calamity on his people as he brutalized and tried to stifle the yearnings of his Hebrew slaves, and I think of Hitler, who murdered 6,000,000 Jews and at least 6,000,000 others whom he considered inferior or “betrayers.” The wider my frame for my picture of human history, tho, the more these men and other tyrants fade into oblivion. Instead, the real leaders of history, some whom we all recognize, some who were never known beyond their neighborhood, stand out in my heart and my memory and my soul, and their armies will prevail. These true leaders represent creative energy and inspire creativity and generosity of spirit in those whom they lead. They lead us all toward harmony with our neighbors and all of creation through their own lives.

The rabbis of the Talmud attributed the destruction of the 2nd Temple to “sinat chinam,” baseless hatred. In Tosefta, the rabbis said the destruction was “because they love money and each one hates his neighbor.” They point to prevailing qualities in a broken society, a society dominated by destructive values. We are here.

But I also see and feel an opposing creative energy, a moral force, rising and gaining strength in response to these materialistic men grabbing power in the U.S. and other parts of the world and the societies that generated them. I feel this opposing creative energy rising around the world, in every religious culture, every ethnic culture, every nation-state, every political party, every gender, every age. This rising energy will prevail and move us toward a world of true harmony, or at least will move the needle closer to harmonious relationships with each other, with nature and with the energy that gives life to all of creation. We will push back the needle on the Doomsday Clock.

How do my beliefs play out in the real political world? I am a Spiritual Progressive. I believe the most urgent task confronting us is the spiritual transformation of society: a Spiritual Progressive “seeks to transform our materialist and corporate-dominated society into a caring society through consciousness raising, advocacy, and public awareness campaigns that promote a “New Bottom Line” based on generosity, peace, and social transformation.”

Going forward, I will judge every candidate for office based not on their party and not on their unquestioning support for any single issue but on their commitment to the principle of social transformation and on their ability to effectively lead people toward bringing it about.

“The NSP shifts mass consciousness by challenging status-quo ideas about what is possible.” If you would like to read more about the Network of Spiritual Progressives and what a Spiritual Progressive is and learn specific steps you can take to help transform our society, please visit www.spiritualprogressives.org/newsite.

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