When I was growing up in India, in the early sixties, I thought of America as this far away place with nice, white, rich people. The only Americans I was exposed to were tourists and missionaries and they were always nice, white and rich. We had no television and so I had no chance of seeing any other aspect of American life.
I visited the USA for the first time in 1983 and it was in Disney world: again, nice, mostly white, happy place, 32 years ago.
I began living here in 1988. I still remember catching a flight out of Toronto. I walked straight to the airline counter at the gate and got my boarding pass. There was no check points, no removing the shoes or belt, no suspicious look from TSA agents, no pat downs, no questions, no stress, it was a joy to fly. These days, I dread flying.
September 11, 2001 was a huge turning point in the history of this nation. It fundamentally changed the character of America from being a friendly, hospitable, amiable place to a fearful, hostile, anxious nation. After the initial stage of shock and grief, we as a nation went into an attack mode. We invaded Iraq with the intention of killing the terrorists before they killed us. Islamaphobia was added to the list of fears. Our phones began to be tapped. We were told to look at people with suspicion rather than trust; “See something, say something” became our national security slogan. Protecting the home land became a priority and we created a new department of home land security.
Guns sales have gone up by 300 percent in recent years. Everyone is afraid of someone or something. The sale of security cameras have gone up a 1000 percent. It is hard to find a place these days without cameras watching your every move.
If you watch TV or go on social media, you will see that the level of animosity, partisanship and hatred among people is extremely high. Suspicion, paranoia, hate mongering and name calling are rampant. The Charleston church massacre, the discussions about confederate flag, and the supreme court decision on marriage equality have cumulatively brought out the worst in some people.
Many people live with a disease called the “mean world syndrome.” That phrase was coined by George Gerbner, a researcher at the U of Penn. He found that since we witness so much bad news, on TV and social media, we come to believe that the world is a scary and ominous place filled with danger. As a result, our first reaction to people is suspicion not compassion; We live in fear rather than with the freedom of the children of God. We become an anxious people living in a besieged society. When we assume that we are always at “at risk” we will treat others as potential threats.
I have a friend—Jim—who always talks about the “risks of living in a crazy world.” So he uses so much modern technology to protect himself.
His latest gadget is a mini camera attached to the rear view mirror of his car. He purchased it mainly to record the outside because he was worried about two things: People who might scratch or dent his car and leave, because nobody saw it. He also wants to protect himself from drivers who might hit him and lie about it.
Jim has also installed 4 cameras to protect his house. When he is away from home, he watches his house on the app on his smart phone. He has Life-lock to protect his identity. He also has guns to protect his family from intruders and robbers. He always talks about the “rough world out there” and the “crazy people” who are “sick and dangerous.”
I don’t have any of the above “protections” and I have no desire to acquire them.
Life is so fragile and there is no man-made gadget that can protect you from all eventualities of life.
So I don't protect myself with man made gadgets. I refuse to live in fear, being paranoid about other humans. First of all, I refuse to label other humans, who are my brothers and sisters, as “crazy and dangerous.” As soon as you see others as crazy and dangerous, your brain activates the fight or flight response; your defenses go up. Your blood pressure rises; you become fearful and suspicious. That is no way to live.
I believe in divine protection and it works. What I mean by divine protection is not about a God “up there” protecting you from outside. It is the God within you acting as a defensive shield.
You might think I am nave and unsophisticated. Let me explain what it is and how it works…It is free, no equipment to buy and no installation required. No monthly service fee that has to be convenient charged to your credit card.
The equipment is already there. You were born into this world, pre-installed. It is called your soul or the image of God within you. You are created in the image and likeness of God. People repeat that phrase, but I doubt they know what it really means and how it applies in their daily lives.
In technical language, I call the image of God in us, the “divine app.” You don't have to install it but you have to use it. It is like the apps in your smart phone. I have about 122 apps on my phone. But I use only a few of them on a regular basis. The others are just there, and has no impact on my life except that they drain the battery.
The divine app is like that; everybody has one; but only few people are aware of it and even fewer people use it.
So, how do you activate your divine app also called the divine spark? First of all you have to believe that you have it.
When the divine spark is sparkling inside, two things happen: First, the spark in you removes the darkness around you and secondly, you see the spark in others. If you see another human being as a “divine spark” you are likely to be relaxed and free in his presence. On the other hand, if you label him “crazy,” “dangerous” or a sinner because he is homosexual” you are making the whole situation dark.
Seeing others as Divine spark is an inside job. What you see out there is a reflection of what is inside you. We see the world as we are, not as it is. Wayne Dyer puts it this way: “A happy person lives in a happy world, a miserable person lives in a miserable world.”
Imagine two houses in your neighborhood. One of them has light inside and outside. The other is totally dark. Which house do you think has more of a chance to be burglarized? It is a rhetorical question.
If your divine app is working, if your soul is sparkling, if your light is on, the likely hood of being attacked is very low.
How do we make the image of God glow within us? First of all, we have to use our brains to process our life and part of that processing is the removal of ignorance. According to Buddha, the root cause of all our suffering is ignorance. Ignorance about who we are, ignorance about who God is, and ignorance about what life is.
Look at how ignorance permeated so much discussion in social media about the supreme court ruling on marriage equality. A friend of mine was so angry and frustrated that he posted this: “In all the postings on FB, the massive amount of ink spilled on the internet and news papers about the subject of gay marriage, I have yet to hear anyone talking about the long term fall out of this decision....years down the road, when the children of gay couples grow up in these homes, there anger, confusion, and identity crisis....pity all the counselors, caseworkers, social workers, psychologists and pastors who have to pick up the broken pieces.”
That statement is mired in ignorance. There are about 9 million children in America living with gay parents. There is no study indicating that children growing up with gay parents are angry, confused and acting out any more than those being raised by heterosexual couples. Gay marriage has been legal in Masachussets since 2004. There is no study showing that kids living with gay parents in MA are acting out more and having identity crises more than kids in neighboring New Hampshire.If anything, those kids will be more happy and better adjusted because their parents don't have to live with anxiety and shame anymore.
The behavior of children raised in heterosexual homes is nothing to write home about. In fact, starting with Cain who killed his brother, and Hitler, and Ted Bundy, and Charles Manson, Osama bin Laden, the Oklahoma City bomber, the Colorado theater shooter, the Connecticut school shooter, the South Carolina church shooter—they were all raised by heterosexual parents...enough said.
Then there is the lament about how what we do hurts the heart of God—that God is going to punish America as he did to Sodom and Gomorrah. The notion that what we do hurts God is based on ignorance about who God is. Any God who gets easily hurt is not big enough to be God to begin with.
I think it is ignorant thinking that a God who has not punished us for dropping atom bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki killing 700,000 people, a God who has not punished us for killing a 150,000 Iraqis, a God who has not punished us for polluting his earth, a God who has not punished us for corporate greed, a God who has not punished us for massive gun violence, a god who hasn't punished us for having Donald Trump and the Kardasian sisters, is going to finally punish us for letting two men love each other!
I see this ignorance playing out in a commercial for Toyota cars. People from Publisher's Clearing House show up at this guy's door and tells him: “Congratulations, you are a winner” and presents him with a check for one million dollars. He looks at the check and says: “This is the 2nd best thing that has ever happened to me.”
Then he is given a special deal for a Toyota Corolla and he his is jumping with excitement. He says: “This is the best thing that has ever happened to me.”
Very often, we are like the guy in that commercial. We are created in the image and likeness of God. But we see it as the second best thing that has ever happened to us. We see ourselves first, as weak and unworthy sinners. God created the world and called it “good” six times, but we see it as the second best thing; we see it first as a “mean and nasty world.” God created other human beings as our brothers and sisters. We see them first as “crazy and dangerous.”
Fear and ignorance are related. The level of our fear is directly proportional to the level of our ignorance. Or, the level of our awakening is inversely proportional to the level of our ignorance. Put it another way, the more awakened you are, the less afraid you will be!
The other ignorance we need to remove is the belief that God is separate from us—that other humans are separate from us. “Separation theology” creates “separation sociology” which sees the world as a hostile place inhabited by crazy people whose main purpose is to hurt us. When I experience inter-connection and inter-dependence, I will see the other person as an extension of myself. It is ludicrous to think that “myself” is going to hurt “me.”
When I love everybody—men, women and children everywhere on this planet, all seven billion of them, regardless of their race, religion, color, sexual orientation and hold them in the embrace of my energy field, the invisible but real field of positive energy becomes impenetrable to negativity.
Apostle John says: “There is no fear in love; perfect love drives out fear. The one who fears is not made perfect in love (1Jn: 4:18)
So, if you are a fearful person, you may be lacking in love, because fear and love are contradictory emotions.
Jesus repeatedly said to his disciples: “Be not afraid. Let not your hearts be troubled..trust in me and trust in my father.” These words that Jesus spoke to his frightened disciples 2000 years ago, is not a pious platitude but a promise guaranteed by his resurrection.
The Psalmist repeated that sentiment years before that: “The lord is my Shepherd, there is nothing I shall want. Even though I walk thru the shadow of he valley of death,I fear no evil for thou art with me.”
Apostle Paul echoed the same sentiment when he said to the Romans: “If God is with us who can be against us?” (8:31)
Paul is not talking about the distant God beyond the clouds.
The divine spark within you is God with you all the time, wherever you are.
Keep that spark sparkling and and it will serve as the best protective shield in all situations.
