{"id":72798,"date":"2013-12-21T09:06:46","date_gmt":"2013-12-21T14:06:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/?p=72798"},"modified":"2013-12-21T14:04:08","modified_gmt":"2013-12-21T19:04:08","slug":"the-eyes-of-love","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/by-judith-gayle-2\/the-eyes-of-love\/","title":{"rendered":"The Eyes Of Love"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Judith Gayle | Political Waves<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

“We are the mirror as well as the face in it.”
\n— Rumi, 13th century<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It’s Winter Solstice, the season on this side of the world finally matching\u00a0our tempestuous weather. Our internal biological clock is urging us to slow down, to gestate, to sleep. But it’s also the holiday season, so there’s a flurry of social occasions to fit into our busy schedules, not to mention planning, shopping, wrapping, cooking,\u00a0all the trappings of Christmas tradition to attend. Year end will quickly follow, with its laundry list of last minute chores for 2013, and then comes the inevitable let-down that follows our holiday fa-la-la’s. <\/p>\n

\"PoliticalIf we follow pattern, we’ll be exhausted and disheartened by January 1 of the new year. Creatures of habit, we do the same thing each year and wonder why nothing changes. <\/p>\n

Because the holidays always bring our emotions into play, this is a big month for culture war. As usual, rhetoric about the faux war on Christmas has continued to amp with\u00a0Fox News<\/em>\u00a0backing Megyn Kelly’s white Santa proclamation as necessary “for the children watching,” although one has to wonder how many little kids find political roundtables must-see evening entertainment. <\/p>\n

Huffington polled its readers to see if they cared what color Santa is, and it appears the majority of citizens believe the mythical entity responsible for Christmas cheer is welcome in any color, although half of the Republicans surveyed still insist that he’s white. Straight too, for a jolly old elf, but nobody asked; they’re too busy picking sides on the\u00a0Duck Dynasty<\/em>\u00a0debacle.<\/p>\n

In case you missed that flap, proud redneck and born again reality TV patriarch,\u00a0Phil Robertson<\/a>, made some comments about gay folk and black folk in a Gentleman’s Quarterly interview that caused the dust to fly.\u00a0Duck Dynasty<\/em>\u00a0is a 21st century version of\u00a0The Beverly Hillbillies<\/em>, reality-style, and stalwart fans are aware that Phil’s oldest son is a fundamentalist pastor and that Phil had an early drinking problem which was tamed when he became a fundamentalist Christian. Seems to me that anybody watching the episodes, which routinely end with a prayer in Jesus’s name, can’t be surprised by his traditional views.\u00a0Appears as though, riding the wave of break-out consciousness change regarding LGBT folks, this particle of grit from ancient days and anachronistic religious thought is sticking in our collective craw.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

This is a free speech issue, a loaded topic that needs careful sorting, and I’ll have more to say on this at a later date, but not today. Finding a reason to separate ourselves from each other during the week that we traditionally set aside for “peace on earth, good will to men” IS a kind of war on Christmas that I’d rather not attend. Still, it seems to me that Robertson is entitled to his point of view, one that he did not put forth in any\u00a0A&E<\/em>\u00a0Duck Dynasty<\/em>\u00a0episode, even if it’s ignorant and stilted. When we step on people’s right to speak their truth — whether we approve it or not — the soles of our shoes are not keeping a respectful distance from our Bill of Rights. Essentially, the patriarch of the Robertson clan’s belief system is well within spitting distance of the fading, old paradigm religious values of the Honorable Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States of America,\u00a0Antonin Scalia<\/a>. We haven’t hung HIM (so far), and he still has his day job. In my opinion, so should Phil.<\/p>\n

Each holiday season we see Congress doing stupid human tricks as important pieces of legislation, long ignored, are pushed onto the table in a last minute frenzy. Most never see the light of day, but occasionally something gets through before the bell rings and the kids get to go home for Christmas vacation. Rather remarkably, last week we got an actual budget, and this week a somewhat pared-down defense authorization bill<\/a>\u00a0was passed, which includes a number of military sexual assault reforms. Although\u00a0the bill\u00a0does not include the chain of command issues that Kirsten Gillibrand and Claire McCaskill fought hard to enact, Obama has issued a stern warning that the military has one year to eradicate this problem or face further action. As we assess all the sea changes that have occurred this year — and there are many — we should also be mindful that the nation longer promotes the testosterone-loaded “old west” attitude that preceded the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Hubris of that sort has soured in the consciousness of America. We no longer want war.<\/p>\n

Well, let’s not get carried away. We no longer want war, but if we look around at our personal infighting and political schisms, it’s obvious that we’re not all that interested in peace, either. Peace is rarely ever mentioned as something we’re interested in achieving except in some nebulous\u00a0future that is always far from reality. Because we don’t even factor that option into the conversation, we are not educated to desire peace. We don’t know much about how to prepare for peace or even why it would be in our best interests to do so. Peace — and the elemental reverence for life that promotes it — seems too distant an option to even consider. We don’t understand what it is, since we know so little about it. When I was a tot, I told my startled Mum that I wasn’t interested in going to heaven: milk and honey sounded boring. Peace has that same kind of uninspiring PR.<\/p>\n

I read an interesting article on the Science page this week over at\u00a0Huffy: “Is the Universe a Hologram? Physicists Say It’s Possible<\/em>.” According to\u00a0the article<\/a>, there are new findings regarding quantum gravity that make the (yet unproven) string theory even more probable. When I think of holograms, I think of metaphysical author and science wonk, Greg Braden, whose work\u00a0The Divine Matrix<\/em><\/em> speaks to the net of quantum particles that make up all matter, and that behaves as a multidimensional field of creative energy, connecting us all. And when I think of Matrix,\u00a0I think of Neo<\/a>. Like the Wachowski brothers, Braden is one of those brave souls who believes science and spirituality can speak the same language, and he’s made it his mission to prove it.<\/p>\n

If we consider that our human bodies are also made from those quantum particles vibrating within the Matrix, then according to quantum physics, the rules that apply to those particles are foreign to our mundane way of thinking, and, rather, are actually free of the laws of physics and capable of doing the miraculous. Much like the Wachowskis’ Matrix, Braden tells us that if we consider the Divine Matrix —\u00a0of which we are a part — a supercomputer, then\u00a0acts of creation are within\u00a0the “software” that\u00a0achieves what we seek and\u00a0we have that software within us to select. Rather than something foisted upon us by bad guys, however, the Divine Matrix is our medium of creation, even able to transcend time and space. Based on his research into quantum physics and spiritual traditions, Braden suggests that the software we’re looking for to make this divine computer kick out desired results has to do with the quality of emotion we can bring to our focus, essential as our programming\u00a0language of the heart. Here’s a\u00a0very brief explanation<\/a>\u00a0by Braden to give you a sense of this material. Some people like him, others don’t think his science holds up, but I can only judge on how he inspires, on how the information makes me FEEL — once again, the familiar face in the mirror that comes with a rush of expansive emotion.<\/p>\n

In order to better our ability at creation, we must re-learn the language of the heart. In twilight sleep, recently, I found myself developing the rules for a video game called Galactic Conquest, but it was not about warring — you earned points and won the game by confronting the “enemy” and convincing them that mutual prosperity and gain could be accomplished by working in collaboration, that acts of aggression lost you points while promoting activity to lift populations out of poverty won you bonus points and assured\u00a0prosperous partnerships down the line. Each new rule carried the seeds for win\/win within it. I woke up amazed at the clarity of the dream, wondering not “Where did that come from?” but rather, “Who TALKS like that?” Sadly, not enough of us.<\/p>\n

We NEED to talk like that, we NEED to keep the bright vision of brother(sister)hood and planetary healing forefront in our minds and on our tongues. We NEED to keep our intention for a functional, inclusive future first and foremost in our thoughts. It’s too easy to get caught up in controversy, get distracted by mundane and often petty events that capture our attention and distance us from larger goals. It’s too easy to give our power away to irrelevancies and miss the potential of the moment. The challenges ahead of us are going to require us to keep a higher vision in mind if we are to create a mutually beneficial future for one another. We need to love one another that much, our neighbor as our self.<\/p>\n

During this holy week, those of us who value the Christmas story as an example of the divine reaching down to deliver to us a realized\u00a0human as template for our growth and awareness have much to celebrate. It’s a very sweet story, perhaps reality mixed with mythology, perhaps more or perhaps less, but it comes to us wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in a manger. The energy of possibility is presented with the innocence of a newborn, in the humble simplicity of a stable, surrounded by stars and astrologers and angels. Pretty good story, don’t you think? Makes my heart feel all warm and fuzzy. Makes me want to hug all those billions of significant others out there in the world who are part of me, of you — of us. Makes me aware of how ancient the compassion that pointed us toward love for one another, and remember that striving toward that realization of Christ consciousness makes me happy down to my toes. Of all the mirrors reflecting humankind back to itself, that one shines the brightest!<\/p>\n

My wish for you this season, is that you have that quiet, significant and moving moment when\u00a0the mirror shows you nothing looking back at you but the eyes of love. Everything\u00a0goes down\u00a0easier after that. From me to you, dear reader — Good Solstice, Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Judith Gayle | Political Waves “We are the mirror as well as the face in it.” — Rumi, 13th century It’s Winter Solstice, the season on this side of the world finally matching\u00a0our tempestuous weather. Our internal biological clock is urging us to slow down, to gestate, to sleep. But it’s also the holiday … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"generate_page_header":""},"categories":[1744],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72798"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=72798"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72798\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=72798"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=72798"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=72798"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}