Change as a Spiritual Pursuit

As you clamor for and look for change in our politics, know and remember that change is, indeed, a spiritual pursuit and this is how: The nature of Nature (among other things) is to be in a constant state of change. Trees grow, animals are born, ecosystems breathe, species die out, the sun shines, the rains fall, the temperature changes, the oceans move, lightning strikes, droughts and floods occur and all of it is part of the nature of Nature. Never ending change.

We, as human beings, belong to the planet. We are part of it, connected to it, made of the same stuff. So when in our daily lives we allow change, when we offer it no resistance even when it scares the crap out of us, allowing the change aligns us with the nature of Nature and with well being itself. If we're paying attention, we'll notice that we usually feel pretty good when we're in this process - or at least we feel alive!

So the feelings we have now when we think about the change we have just created in our politics, the excitement and enthusiasm and aliveness are due to that very alignment. When we are reveling in it, when we are feeling energy because of it, that's because we have aligned ourselves with Spirit.

And politically speaking, in America, we've only just begun.

Oh Happy Day

I have one thing to say which I have said before in various ways. We get the government we are. Not the government we deserve, but the government we are. It's merely a reflection of us and that's all it can ever be. In the broadest sense, I think we twice elected George W. Bush because our fears outweighed everything else - particularly the second time. But two terms of his reckless policies re-energized our hopes and visions of what could be. Then, we saw in Barack Obama a man who most closely matched our own inclinations. We inspired him and he inspired us and round and round it went and round and round it will go.

So as we prepare to inaugurate him and to pave the way for a new chapter of American history, let us remember not to hold him responsible for single-handedly fixing and healing everything and anything that ails us. He will be our president and, as such, he will do the job as he sees fit. And he will remind us that we, too, must continue to do our parts; to be optimistic and hopeful, to be of service, to take responsibility for the parts of our lives and experiences that have nothing at all to do with government. But most importantly, as we look at him and see hope and confidence and competence and the ability to inspire, we must also see that those qualities in ourselves as well.

Congratulations to us all.