Everything in the universe in in balance.  It is ONE consciousness.  Everything that exists is manifested from the same SOURCE, is a reflection of that SOURCE, is a bridge to that SOURCE, and exists within that SOURCE.  There is nothing bad, there is nothing wrong, there is only the Divine expressing itself through a multitude of perspectives or manifestations, that collectively, maintain balance – because everything is ONE.

This is what I realized a few years ago, and it completely transformed me.  I accepted that the things I was witnessing each day, that seemed so awful to me in the moment, were actually fulfilling a greater purpose – hard as that was to fully accept or comprehend.  But in accepting that, I discovered the true meaning of “faith” – Not a faith in which we simply believe that all is going to be taken care of for us, but rather, a faith that is grounded in the belief that everything that exists is Divine.  When we can fully believe that the Divine (or God, or the universe, or energy, or a source of some kind) is ALL there is (and therefore believe that everything that is manifested begins with the Divine, and passes through the Divine, and therefore, that all manifestation never actually left the Divine), then we are able to accept that everything around us IS Divine – even those things which we perceive as “bad”. 

I have wanted to express this in my blog for quite a while, but have struggled with how to speak of such a perspective, without sounding “preachy” or “religious” or “dismissive of the pain suffered by others” or “focused too much on love and light”.  It is not my intent to do any of that, nor is it my intent to try to persuade anyone to believe as I do.  But, given all the “horrors” we continue to witness in our lives and around the world, I feel compelled to at least do my part to share a perspective that has helped me to find peace within, while traversing through the storms that are brewing all around us.

I have complete faith that things can and will get better over time if we can be patient, and trust that everything that happens in life has a purpose and a meaning, and always exists within the realm of the Divine.  The way to find peace in the storm, is to look for meaning in what the storm is revealing.  That’s very different from “accepting everything without question”.  It’s actually more a matter of questioning everything  – but without judgement.    

Human beings are conscious beings who learn through experience and observation.  We’ve been doing that for thousands and thousands of years, and each time, with each experience and observation, our individual and collective human consciousness expands its understanding.  And it’s not as if we learn things, and then we die, and it is all lost.  In fact, the memories of our experiences are stored in our blood (in our DNA), and our blood is passed on to our children who carry those collective memories in their own DNA, so that, each time a human is born, they are born with a wealth of information and consciousness, within, that was gifted to them by their parents and ancestors accumulated over thousands and thousands of years.  We are not always aware of it, but it is there.  This is one reason why indigenous people have always honored their ancestors – they know that they are a literal part of them – a part of their being – and they understand that, in this life, they are a continuation of an evolving human consciousness.  Of course, consciousness is much greater than simply that expressed and experienced by humans.  But human beings carry within them their own particular spark of divinity, that allows them to impact their environments and shape the world they share.  This means that, in addition to having the potential to maintain balance (which the SOURCE always maintains), they also have the ability to disrupt the balance (creating conditions that require the development of events which must return us to a state of balance).  This is not always something that happens quickly – and, while we don’t always realize it, each one of us has a role in determining the speed and the means for making this happen.

There are two ways of being in the world.  One, is to see life and consciousness as never ending and infinite, and to honor all experience as part of a divine path that is unfolding and taking us, collectively, in a direction of greater and greater awareness, and an understanding of who we really are – which in a reflection of the Divine.  Another way of saying this, is that we are all on a path of discovering (albeit very slowly), that we are indeed Divine. 

The other way of being in the world, is to see ourselves and our world as a finite place, where good and evil exist and must be constantly battled, and in which we never feel like things ever really get better, or that we never really become the best that we should be.  This viewpoint involves seeing ourselves as something separate from the Divine – in other words, that we only have “a relationship” with the Divine, like a child has with a parent. It’s this way of viewing the world, that can lead us to believe that someone else will save us (God, aliens, political leaders, etc.), and that we, therefore, are not as responsible for all that occurs around us, or that we are victims of circumstances we are powerless to control (which sometimes nudges some people in the direction of believing conspiracy theories).  It can also lead us to believe that we are incapable of changing things, or are not good enough or rich enough or powerful enough to have a meaningful impact on our world.  Ultimately, it can lead us to a place of despair, particularly if we are deeply caring individuals, because we can’t make sense of the pain and suffering we witness, and can’t understand why a greater power would allow such things to continue to exist.

If we see life as infinite, and that all manifestation is One Source expressing itself through a diversity of forms and perspectives that are simply a multitude of expressions emanated from the same Divinity, then we can also understand our lifetime, and the things we experience and witness, to be part of a divine path. It doesn’t matter who you are, or what you do in your life, you are always a manifestation of the Divine as it expresses itself through your specific spark. If, on the other hand, we see ourselves and our world as finite and filled with challenges and temptations that are always trying to prevent us from achieving goodness, then life can appear to be filled with very dark paths, very bad people, and lots of terrible options we can’t escape from. 

Ultimately, it is how we perceive life.  Is it Divine and interconnected and a collective creation of our own making, or is it something separate and different and out of our control?

How we think about things matters.  Do there have to be horrors taking place in the world?  Well, it depends on how we view “difference”.  For thousands of years, we have viewed “difference” as something to be feared.  And our way of addressing our fears, has often been to kill or destroy that which we fear or do not value.  As long as we have that perspective (that we are all different, or valueless, rather than divine), we will continue to see horrors in the world.  But I actually think that human beings, all of whom are carrying within them, unconsciously, the memories of the horrors experienced and witnessed by their ancestors, are, in greater and greater numbers, seeking to change that perspective and that reality.  Because we are, in actuality, divine at our core, we can change our reality.  Human consciousness has been evolving for a very long time.  We are consciously looking at the world now (and much more collectively due to the power of social media), and finding ourselves appalled at increasing polarization, unnecessary acts of violence and war, intentional destruction of our planet, and disrespect and disregard for the well-being of our fellow human beings and all life.  We want something different – we can feel it, and we know it is necessary – and this realization is becoming much more evident in the way we are questioning everything around us. In the history of our species, we have never quite seen the world and our own existence, in quite this way, before!  We are going through something BIG – collectively!

And this is where I come back to my earlier comment, that, “The way to find peace in the storm, is to look for meaning in what the storm is revealing.”  Now, this is going to mean something different to every single person.  I only suggest that, rather than being angry or sad or depressed by the awful things we witness and experience, as horrific as some of them may be, try, instead, to look at what is being mirrored by that event or action. And then, each day, try to visualize a better option being manifested.  Our world around us is created every day through our ways of thinking about it.  We “see” what we “look for”, because our thoughts are constantly being reflected back to us.  Why not look for something different?  There is always a 50/50 chance that things will either get better or worse.  Why not decide that they will get better? 

I know this may sound a bit simplistic.  There is so much more to say about this, but I don’t want to turn this post into a book, so I am leaving it here, for now, and hope that there may be some helpful food for thought. 

Our world begins with each one of us – and each one of us reflects the Divine – so everything around us is revealing something to us (good, bad or indifferent), and that’s where the mystery and the answer lies.

“The way to find peace in the storm, is to look for meaning in what the storm is revealing.”  If you can do this, trust me, you will achieve a level of inner peace.

And if you don’t believe me:

Martin Luther King Jr. said “Only when it is dark enough, can you see the stars.”