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The Challenge of Learning to See and Understand Spiritual Perspectives
It has always been difficult, perhaps almost impossible, to gain a true perspective and balanced sense of reality or accuracy around current events and ongoing issues.
• Details of any event can be given out or totally withheld. Who makes that choice, and why?
• Even when details are made public there is no guarantee of accuracy or depth. Are only selected people informed? For what reason? The traps are many.
• Decisions are constantly being made by someone about what does or does not constitute news for any country, community or group. How much of the available information is given out, how much withheld/omitted? What are the motives underlying such selectivity?
• Whose perspective is it, who pays them, where are their loyalties, and therefore how much and what type of bias or deliberate spin is it given in the dissemination? Why?
• How discriminating or gullible are those who report events? What are their world views, their conditionings and prejudices, and how spiritually conscious are they?
Even fifty years ago we had yet to really wake up to the fact that we lived in one world. Reportage of events was relatively local, limited, unashamedly biased and, compared with twenty-first century expectations, incredibly slow. One could perhaps have expected that with vastly improved communications, instant access to background and current research material, and a far greater sense of global interaction, we would be that much closer to accuracy and thoughtful indepth coverage of events and global issues. But are we?
Perhaps segments of the serious press, radio and world wide web come closest, but media bias, and downright irresponsibility, is huge – either because of political expedience and pressure (such as that consistently exerted in dictatorships, totalitarian countries or in zealously loyal and isolated countries like the USA), or because the commercial pressure to gain and hold viewers overrides objectivity, balance, diversity of viewpoint, thoughtfulness and insight. It is sobering to realise the extremely narrow source base of most of our news. It is even more sobering to be confronted by the fact that in a very real way the world we live in is created by the incredibly few people who control that source base, and their agendas.
In this ‘instant world’, media coverage is in most instances designed to hit ‘breaking’’ news briefly and then move on. As a result follow-up and continuity are almost non-existent. Though we rarely pause to remind ourselves of it, many extremely significant world events simply pass us by, or are given some type of spin. This may be the fault of the disseminating voice; more often it occurs at source.
Even at a relatively straightforward superficial level this is so. Take the Iraq war. While news from the front was plentiful and instant, its source was almost inevitably ‘embedded reporters’. Such ‘embedding’ virtually guaranteed that we were fed the coalition ‘party line’ on events. The persuasive element in such reportage is often almost blatantly obvious, and while at times it is essential that the emotional response of the reporter comes through clearly, at other times such persuasion is simply manipulative. Often without our being in any way aware of it, someone has enlisted our support, sympathy, anger, solidarity, desire for revenge, loyalty, or gratitude.
If this is the reality for even the most ‘in your face’ and seemingly straightforward situations, ponder on how much more difficult it has always been to gain some kind of accurate appreciation of the deeper significance of individual world events and issues – to perceive the spiritual or inner side of happenings, trends and crises – as they form part of the ever-changing kaleidoscope of ongoing global unfoldment.
A short time ago, as scientific materialism reached its zenith and cynicism about things spiritual climbed to an all-time high, this was probably because virtually nobody interpreted current events from a spiritual perspective or saw that events even possessed an inner side.
Now the problem, rather than being one of scarcity, has suddenly become one of over-supply and even satiation in some areas as current issues have begun suddenly to be viewed and interpreted by many in religious terms. Note, I deliberately say religious, rather than spiritual. Religious interpretations are everywhere, and the internet, in particular, has gone crazy as myriads of exclusivist religious groups, cults etc push their own interpretations, angles and conflicting, but often disguised or hidden, agendas. This is particularly true for those, of whatever religious persuasion, with extremist, fundamentalist, jihad or ‘end-time’ mentality. All of these individuals or groups align with outmoded Piscean perspectives and all espouse solutions which are no longer valid as we move into very new times. Sensing an imminent loss of control they are, without exception, desperate to aggressively push their cause.
In no way is this a new phenomenon. Political events have always been viewed in the light of religious bias and agenda, particularly perhaps in the West over the past two thousand years of Pisces. What about the whole Seventh Day Adventist phenomenon which, from 1840 on, used the books of Daniel and Revelation, aided by the visions of its prophetess Ellen G White, to, as they saw it, infallibly interpret all world events and the meaning of history? Modern ‘end-time’ web sites and literature, such as the Left Behind series, with their blatantly apocalyptic interpretations of the book of Revelation, are simply modern millennial equivalents.
What is new, however, is the easy global coverage afforded by internet, the world wide web and other media, and the resulting mileage to be gained by unscrupulous high-profile people and groups in politics or business who choose, for their own ends, to blend religion and politics in confused and dangerous ways. All of them come from fixed positions and agendas, interpreting everything according to watertight formulas. All will twist events one way or another to fit their agendas and prophecies. Most will view religion and politics as inextricable and believe that loyalty in one area automatically demands unquestioning loyalty in the other. Nowhere has this been more evident than in the USA, where to question the validity of the Iraq war has not only branded a person as politically disloyal, but also as disloyal to Christ.
Such deliberate distortion is particularly prevalent and most dangerous at the end of an Age when ideas and belief systems which have held sway for 2000 years are being challenged by a new divine initiative. It is then, in the flux of change, that the old threatened agendas are clutched at, held onto with fierce zeal and touted as the only truth.
The Challenge
So how do we learn to cut through all that crap, feeling free and confident to make up our own mind and to come to our own conclusions? How do we begin to discover and understand with some clarity what is really going on beneath the hype? How do we even come close to glimpsing the bigger reality of global events or begin to understand their often profound significance in the greater cosmic scheme of things? How do we recognise the clues to emergent themes, the accelerating spiritual impetus of the moment and God’s ‘new things’?
It is, firstly, crucial to acknowledge that we all interpret events and issues through the filter of our own conditioning and belief system (even if we think we don’t have a belief system!) and that, as we have already seen, all information that we receive secondhand will already have been filtered through the belief systems of other individuals, groups or governments. To understand and appreciate this is to begin the ‘cutting through’ process.
Relevant belief systems
Either
All events are largely random and ‘stand-alone’. There is no meaning, purpose or process to history; history simply is. The only important thing is to live comfortably and well in the moment – financially, materially etc. This belief system is based upon, or leads to, scientific rationalism, materialism and a ‘flatland’ or single-layer mentality. It is a short-term self-centred view with no real concern for the lessons of history, for long-term issues like the environment, resources, or for the deeper needs and wellbeing of humans.
Or
While there is no evidence of wider meaning, purpose and plan, there is some kind of evolutionary process going on.
This view gives rise to a sense of history and future, even though evolution may be seen as a purely physical phenomenon with little relevance to current affairs. This belief system will engender scientific curiosity and some environmental concern, along with a sense of meaningful historical perspective.
Or
While there is no evidence of Divine purpose and plan, all life is significant and humans have intrinsic worth. This humanist belief system will motivate compassion and humanitarian work, though there is no sense that world events form a meaningful pattern or move in a particular direction.
Or
There was a Divine purpose, but humans stuffed it up and now the only way to get around this is to separate oneself from the world in the hope of getting off the planet as soon as possible (and in the hope that everything comes to an end quickly), or to proactively assist one’s religion to take over the world.
In this belief system, events are seen as examples of the evils of the world and Satan’s minions, or of God’s judgement on the world outside one’s own group, and vindication of one’s own position.
Or
There is profound meaning and purpose to the cosmos, the planet, and to history. Human history represents humanity’s lifetime on the planet as part of the Divine scheme of things, and all events, along with the attitudes and choices out of which they spring, are like individual pieces in a cosmic jigsaw puzzle embracing all time and space.
This world view has vastness, and engenders purposeful choice and action as part of a purposeful process. Everything and everyone, as significant units in one ongoing Divine process, need to be brought into life-enhancing relationship, with one another and with Divinity itself.
Clarifying Our Own Understandings
In the midst of such diverse world views, how do we begin to gain for ourselves a sense of how Divine Purpose and Will are working their way out and avoid getting hooked into small, superficial, exclusivist, limiting or life-sapping agendas? How do we begin to discover and understand that all the events and issues around us mean something, that they are clues to deeper exciting spiritual realities and vast transformative processes?
It becomes very evident that we need to be able to bring to all world events and current issues deepening understandings around:
Purpose: Purpose implies that there has not only been intelligent design in the ongoing creative process but that there is continuous purposeful direction toward some higher goal and state. What might be God’s desire or purpose for the cosmos, planet, humanity, each person, and how has that purpose been worked out to date? What might that purpose be asking of us now?
Big Picture: We will interpret all world events and issues according to the size of the reality which governs our life. How big a picture can we begin to glimpse? How simple or complex is it? How far does it extend in time and space? Is it as small as ourselves and our own desires, or is it as vast as the cosmos?
Plan to date: Not only does history have profound overall meaning and purpose. There is evidence that it is part of a complex plan of unfoldment being worked out by God and humanity in partnership. Global events, crises, trends, patterns, cycles, rhythms, deeper outcomes and transformations (large or small, and deeply affected by human attitudes and choices) are all pieces in the planetary and cosmic jigsaw puzzle which is being created and fitted together piece by piece over a vast time and space frame.
Energy: Events and time periods each contribute, in an amazing and divinely ordered sequence, very different cosmic energies, and it is these differences, and their interactions, which help catalyse new phases in the planetary and cosmic journey of unfoldment. On the whole the West has traditionally, and to its real detriment, had a very poor understanding of energy. Now it is crucial that we bring to all current issues a basic understanding of: the different impacting cosmic energies (such as the uniquely different energies of each 2,100 year Age); the energy flows of different types of cycles and rhythms; the impact of the energies of certain time periods, events, individuals, groups and nations.
Significance of the Present: If there is purpose, then the quality of every moment is significant, because it forms one minute part of the working out of that purpose. In the midst of the media bombardment, we need to be very awake to the significance of every: event, person, leader, attitude, choice and action as they each contribute to the unique energy and character of every present moment.
The Spiritual Role of Crisis: Almost all news coverage involves crisis. In the West we have tended to run from or try to eliminate crisis. We have therefore been slow to appreciate both its immensely significant spiritual role in catalysing unfoldment at every level and how vitally important it is that humanity as a whole learns to understand and maximise this powerful evolutionary process.
Future: We can choose how we view the future. If we see it as an inevitable continuation of a purposeless present, then we will passively and carelessly drift into it, unconcerned about the quality of the choices we make in the present. If we see it as the next phase of a vast divinely initiated and propelled cosmic journey which we are incredibly privileged to be part of, then every choice we make will deliberately seek to enhance that journey, for all humans and the planet at large.
The Role of Humans in Helping to Determine the Future: Natural events, such as volcanic eruptions, will impact on the future. But far more significant are human events. Because, as humans, we have free will the future is largely determined by our individual and corporate attitudes, fears, hopes, desires, prejudices, choices, and actions, along with our capacity or lack of capacity for love, forgiveness, compassion, self-sacrifice, right relationship and right use of power. All of these will stand or fall on whether our vision is large enough, and on whether we have the courage, will, daring and commitment to put it into place. We have a responsibility to do this as well as possible, in co-operation with Divine purpose and plan, the highest future, and the ‘yeasting’ and outworking of the Kingdom of God on earth.
The Challenge of the Present
If this is a time of God’s ‘new thing’, as one Age gives way to another, then the old formulas, old preconceptions, old containers, and old ways of seeing will no longer be valid. We have to find new ways of perceiving events and issues. And we have to begin to recognise that they are not just challenging other people or other nations, they are challenging us to make changes – in perceptions, processes and practices.
It is clear that while we increasingly live in a world which is, to all intents and purposes, a global neighbourhood, it is also clear that many governments and factions (political, religious, economic, scientific etc) have vested interests in attempting to ensure that suspicion and separation are where it’s at.
At this moment in history, global economies and morales are sagging under the weight of individual and corporate fear. Holidays are on hold, spending curtailed. Many people have gone into, and are operating out of, siege mentality. Walls are erected, international trade and goodwill suffers. Much of this fear and suspicion is generated not only by fanatics and fundamentalists of all religious and political persuasions, but by the media.
How Do We Learn to See the Spiritual Dimensions of Current Issues?
While the process is obviously an ongoing and complex one, here are some initial pointers.
You, along with every other person on this planet, are being called on to:
Enlarge and Deepen Perceptions
• Develop the biggest time-space picture that you possibly can
• Attempt to gain an accurate perspective around the relationship of individuals, individual events and issues to overall divine purpose and plan
• Don’t box yourself in or be black and white
• Be prepared to experience, see and acknowledge radical change (and things which were outside your experience and belief system)
• Work at and walk your own spiritual journey with commitment and practical heart expression
Become much more Conscious
• Read, listen, stay alert. Keep your inner eyes and ears, your heart and soul open. Use your intuition or inner listening, and knowing
• Ask big questions
• Dig beneath the surface
• Doubt, be sceptical
• Don’t simply take the news at face value or superficial level. Look for connections and underlying patterns, but don’t force connections to fit an agenda
• Remain as conscious as possible – at every level and at every moment
• Try not to be naïve or gullible
• Don’t get caught up in paranoia, ‘end-time’ scams, or one-sided, simplistic or exclusivistic views
• Learn discernment. Interpret the welter of incoming information with as much discrimination as possible
• Be willing to look at every event, seeing it as part of the divine plan, but being prepared to acknowledge that it in fact may be saying something quite different from what the fixed formulas would have you believe
Think, and Ponder
• Seek, knock, ask, try to see with clarity – explore in new places
• Think clearly, and in as unbiased a way as possible
• Look beyond pat answers, evasions and the ‘party line’. You have a responsibility to be intelligent
• Think big – keep the mind open to divine ‘new things’
• Constantly re-evaluate
• Reflect and ponder deeply on issues, seeking spiritual insight – then test that insight
• Look for congruence and what makes deep sense
Demand Depth
Demand accurate information
Be on the lookout for:
• Ignorance – of reporters, politicians, leaders
• Superficiality which ignores crucial elements
• Unconscious bias – religious, national, racial etc
• Deliberate spin or ‘moulding’ to assist particular exclusivist political or religious agendas
• Deliberate cover ups
• Conspiracy theories
• Demand total integrity, truthfulness, responsibility and accountability
• Demand wide perspective and genuine indepth investigative reporting
• Demand big things, and spiritual depth, of leaders in all global arenas
Hold a Deep Alignment with Divine Purpose as it Attempts to Work through Humanity
• Know at a deep level that everyone and everything on the planet is in this together, all part of the working out of the divine plan
• Know that the plan is inexorably working its way out
• Develop deep trust and act out of that trust
• Know that as you hold alignment with the larger purpose and act from that alignment you are changing the future
• Develop non-manipulative daring and fearlessness
• Don’t try to tell God his job! Our task is to align the personal and corporate will with Divine Will, not make God our ‘genie in the bottle’
• Ask that God’s perfect will and purpose be done
The challenge facing all of us is huge. Two thousand years ago Jesus criticised his Jewish audience for not being able to recognise the clues which would show them that the Kingdom of God was already present and ‘yeasting’ in the world. The task facing humanity now is no different. Each one of us is being called to see within world events and issues evidence of Divine purpose, plan and outworking process. Governments, communities and individuals the world over are, at this moment, being challenged to clear away the accumulated prejudices and separative ideologies of millennia and make conscious choices to move into right relationship.
We will play our part in this process not by ignoring the media in all its forms and with all its shortcomings, but by honing up our capacity to see the spiritual processes at work in the world’s everyday life, and by demanding that media outlets do the same, with integrity.
By Jan Lawson
www.ists-spiritualschool.org
From section: Current Issues
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