Creating a Thriving Peace

Something of a sermon that I wrote a few years back.

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Creating a Thriving Peace:
Connecting with Our Sacred Essence and Deepening in Community
by Shams Cohen (04/03)

Each of our lives is a prayer of manifesting. Our lives are our prayer. Take a moment right now to remember that you are sacred. You are a drop from the ocean of Oneness, a holy facet of the Divine jewel; the spark in your eyes is Divine light. Now really open to this idea: your entire life is a prayer. A dance. An opportunity to celebrate, influence, praise and/or damn the existence you have been given.

When you open to these concepts, how does your life look? Does your focus change? How do you spend your time? How do you treat others, and how do they treat you? How do you want to pray?

Mainstream media would have us believe that all is hopeless and all are at war. This is the voice of despair, and despair is based in illusion. Don’t let that statement go by too quickly; it’s taken me my lifetime so far to understand it myself: despair is a real feeling with its roots in illusion. Despair’s roots come from a story of hopelessness we’ve been sold, that the source of power is outside of ourselves and often against us. Many of us have learned to tell ourselves this story, and it locks us in a cage separated from our true purpose, power, and potential. The good news is: there’s a better story to tell.

The source of all power is One, and since we are part of that One, it cannot be against us. When we align with our sacred selves and live our lives as prayer, we come to our choices with more energy, focus, and inspiration. Sometimes we also beat ourselves up with regret. If you go there, don’t stay there. Give yourself mercy and the permission to move forward; you are already forgiven.

Knowledge of the truth of our being as facets of The Oneness gives us access to our real power: clear wisdom, inspired creativity, enlivened health, and Divine flow (often mixed with equal parts of hope and fear). Breathe through the fear; A friend once told me that fear is just excitement without breath.

When I listen to the folks around me, I hear the hopeful version of the story being told. People are learning to hear the voices of their own inspiration and to allow for the possibility that their distinct and individual visions of how to grow peace, love, creativity and community may actually be possible. Not only possible, but necessary. Not only necessary, but evolutionarily inevitable, as these have been the true dreams of our people for some time now.

Contrary to what our “leaders” are trying to force-feed us, people have no appetite for war and the propagation of the idea of “enemy”. People are hungrily available for creative, beloved community. In every workshop, ritual, and community gathering I’ve recently led or attended, people seem more and more available to open their hearts in support of one another. Have you noticed this, too? If not, we need to get you into some more supportive environments ASAP!

The mantra of “We are all One,” is spreading like the most nurturing of wild fires, sparking the creative imagination and burning away fearful competition based on scarcity and violence based on notions of enemy and other. All we need in order to spark loving interactions is to create spaces where loving behavior is the norm. And each of us can effect whether or not loving behavior is the norm everywhere we go.

In my own life, I’ve come to realize that my purpose is to support people in remembering and honoring their Divine Essence as well as to create space for people to support each other’s spiritual unfolding in beloved community. Though it sometimes terrifies me (until I remember to breathe and pray), I am stepping up to join the ranks of the Faithkeepers, those who believe in the possibility of a beautiful future here on earth.

It can be scary to hope. Sometimes it puts us back in touch with despair, or regret. But remember: fear is just excitement without breath, despair has it’s roots in illusion, and the past is already forgiven. There’s a better story to tell, a story of hope.

Within the seed of each of our souls’ dreams is the blueprint for Heaven on Earth, which can only show up if each of us steps up to manifest our piece of the vision. It is not selfish or stupid or impossible to manifest our dreams. It is what Spirit is asking each of us to do. I echo the sentiments of Marianne Williamson when she encourages us to be magnificently whole: “We ask ourselves, ‘Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?’ Actually, who are you Not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn’t serve the world.”

One of my teachers, Reverend Mary Mannin Morrisey formerly of Wilsonville’s Living Enrichment Center, invites us each to consider “If my dream WEREN’T impossible, what would be my next step?” This a good way to trick the voice of despair into letting us grab a taste of our hope. Once you’ve tasted your hope and vision, let these lyrics by Jewel remind you of the way: “Lend your voices only to songs of freedom. No longer lend your strength to that which you wish to be free from. Fill your lives with love and bravery, and you shall lead a life uncommon.”

The steps to creating a peaceful future are deceptively simple. I see them in action all around us, and I invite you to embrace them more fully in your life:
1) Recognize your own spiritual beauty and power.
2) Commit to manifesting the dreams of your soul.
3) Lovingly support others in their own soul emergence.

I see the uncommon life Jewel sings about becoming more common, yet no less wondrous. War is based on a notion of “otherness” that not only no longer serves us, but is also both scientifically and spiritually untenable. People are recognizing that there is no good in personal or national solutions that harm others. For a choice to truly be in one’s highest good, it must support the highest good of all. Since we are all connected, how could the truth be otherwise? People know this! They just need reminding sometimes.

In answer to these challenging times, we must accept our Divine Power and fully manifest our unique talents and gifts in service to the Greater Love. We must know the dreams of our souls and support one another in their fruition. Imagine the world created when each of us is supported in bringing forth our deepest gifts. Imagine our faces, our interactions, our lives in community.

As we bring forth our Divine and creative dreams, we birth an amazing world where people’s hearts join together in holy support of one another’s finest selves, generating the highest common good. In the words of Sufi guide Sidi Muhammad, we manifest the promised land of “peace and love and mercy and justice” by being peace and love and mercy and justice for ourselves and for each other. We dare to love and hope and heal together, creating the world of our yearning today. For the good of all and the harm of none. So be it.