“What do we really want?” is the question being asked this coming Sunday. There must have been a powerful want that got me on my soapbox this week when I let a good friend of mine “have it” so to speak. I knew I could let off steam and she would understand. This person is one of my guardian angels and I am eternally grateful for her ability to let me “ripen into full expression” (Jon’s words in last Sunday’s handout) because she will let me express my ripe emotions but not let me get moldy and squishy before she pulls me back into self-control.

This bring me to a question I would like to toss out to all of you: When we say things like “accepting our true nature and allowing it to ripen into full expression,” are we only talking about adults who are seeking a richer, more fulfilling life? What about our children?  Isn’t this what we want for them as well? To “ripen” into the fullest expression of the truth of who they are?

If that is true, then my bigger question is:  How do we do that? In this world of conflicting cultures, racism, bullying, natural disasters, global warming, schools struggling to keep kids safe, graffiti-covered buildings, rising incidents of youth suicide, splintered families, etc., where do we fit in the teachings of finding the truth of who they are, and have it stick?  Social media is way ahead of us in shaping concepts of self-identity, and the kids are buying it while losing any sense of how the world could be different. I could go on and on but I’ll spare you that.  Yet I’m asking all of us, myself included, this question: When we say we don’t watch the news, or listen to the weather channel, or read the newspapers, or put any focus on negative things, but just get quiet and go inside and meditate so we will not be disturbed in our thoughts and physicality, how can we know what’s actually going on in the world for us and our kids?  How can we help them walk through these truly heavy-for-them-and-all-of-us times so they can come out the other side as complete and fulfilled human being?  By not knowing what they are going through in deep and vivid detail (they get the news from their phones, believe me), and if we don’t learn more about the choices they are forced to make when not in our care and we don’t develop skills to help them deal with it all, how will they ever “ripen into the fullest expression and truth of who they really are” as spiritual beings?

Doing something I’ve thought I never wanted to ever do, I have been listening to the songs our teens and pre-teens are listening to, looking over the social media they are glued to almost 24/7, and asking some of them their opinions about things. I’ve learned that very few have any real opinions and resent being pulled away from their phone screens to answer “dumb questions” like that. Yet when finally convinced to listen, they pour their hearts out and I want to weep. Nobody is minding the store and it’s “help yourself to anything” time. While they have free reign, we Om our way through our stressful moments so we can walk in peace, uncluttered by negative realities. Disagree on what’s going on for our kids?  I’ll challenge you to check it out and get back to me.

OH YES – oh yes – please - we must continue to meditate, to pray, to Om, to be present to Spirit, to love one another like we’ve never loved before, to fortify our spirits, to be the light we were meant to be, to let our true nature shine because it’s needed now more than ever before.  The speaker at the “live-streamed” presentation by Silent Unity confirmed this during our Wednesday evening opening ceremony for World Day of Prayer. We need to be peace. But we as adults also need to step out of our insulated prayer rooms and–with peace and calm and strength and love pouring from our hearts–reach out now to the rest of the world, especially our children, and say “Enough!” to all the unacceptable negativity pouring into their minds via their ear buds from adult-created apps for exchanging inappropriate words, images and music and gather these” kid-people” in our arms and Unity centers and, with their parents, love them into a new way of receiving what will help them accept their true nature and become part of uplifting the world.

Yes! “We are the wholeness we seek.” But let’s not keep it to our adult selves any more.  Let’s pro-actively pass it on and help our youth grow through the rock and the hard place into the beings they want to be and we know they can be. If this is what we want, we have to speak up. Today. And not be afraid to do so. Even if it means proactively confronting the adults in the outside world and saying “Please stop.” Somebody has to, or our prayer closets will not be peaceful for much longer. There are peaceful ways to do it all. I’m open to talking about it with anyone. 

Now that I’ve most likely upset some people or preached to the choir, I will close with my heartfelt love for everyone in our spiritual community who is being peace in the world and still welcoming weird people like me through the doors as we all seek to discover what we most truly, deeply, want for this beloved world and the young people who will inherit it from us.  

See you Sunday. 

Love,

Sherry