TO THE
CIRCLE OF THE FREE SPIRIT
EMAIL LIST (9/11/06)
-----------------
Forwarded Message:
Subj: The Anniversary of 9/11 - an alternative response to the unfolding tragedy
Date: 9/9/2006 11:36:03 AM Eastern Standard Time
From: debbie@timothyfreke.com
To: mailinglist@timothyfreke.com

THE ANNIVERSARY OF 9 / 11
AN ALTERNATIVE RESPONSE TO THE UNFOLDING TRAGEDY

As we reach the anniversary of the terrible events of 9/11 I felt moved to send you this inspiring extract from The Laughing Jesus by Timothy Freke and Peter Gandy. If it touches you, please send it on to your friends and colleagues, to help nurture an alternative response to the unfolding tragedy we are witnessing in the world today.

As long as we live in the ‘us versus them’ world created by the illusion of separateness, we will continue to squabble and fight. We will continue to project the evil within ourselves on to ‘them’. It will always be the other side that is untrustworthy, duplicitous, criminal, inhumane, whilst we are good, honest, legal and loving. It is always be the other guy who is a terrorist, whilst ‘we’ are the freedom fighters. At a press conference following 9/11 President Bush stated:

'How do I respond when I see that in some Islamic countries there is a vitriolic hatred for America? I'll tell you how I respond. I'm amazed. I just can't believe it because I know how good we are.'

He’s right of course. But only half right. American is a good country. And in many ways it is leading humanity into a new and better world. But America, like every country and every person, has its shadow side. As long as it refuses to acknowledge this, it will continue to project its own ‘evil’ onto the ‘other’. In an ‘us versus them’ world there must always be an evil ‘them’. Just look at how, when the ‘evil empire’ of Soviet Russia fell, a new ‘axis of evil’ was created within a few years to fill the void.

But life can never be reduced to a simple morality tale of the triumph of the good guys over the bad guys, no matter how much Hollywood may want to portray it that way. In reality there are no good guys and bad guys, because we are all a mixture of good and bad. As long as we delude ourselves that evil is ‘out there’ and can be fought ‘out there’, we will never find the solution. The only answer is to recognise that the ‘evil’ is in ourselves. Until we truly absorb the implication of the parable 'let he who is without sin throw the first stone’ we are forever doomed to hurl stones at each other.

From the Gnostic perspective, the first step to healing the present world crisis would be for us to be big enough to understand our enemy’s point of view. As Jesus says in the gospels, we need to stop pointing out the speck of dust in our opponent’s eye and acknowledge the great plank of wood in our own. We need to seek out and humbly acknowledge everything we have done to divide ‘them’ from ‘us’. We have to make amends for our own failings, whilst forgiving our adversaries. We have to trust even where trust has been betrayed. And love even where love has been rejected. We need to refuse to play the game of winners and losers, and make it clear that we can only win together.

Following the atrocity of 9/11 a wave of sympathy for America swept the world, and was just as quickly squandered. It could all have been so different. Imagine if the American president had addressed the world in the authentic spirit of the original Christians:

‘The American people are hurt and shocked by these terrible attacks on our country. But as a culture rooted in the Christian tradition, it is in such dark times that we must draw on our deepest wisdom, which teaches us to have faith in the power of love and forgiveness. In The New Testament Jesus teaches that we should forgive those who wrong us and turn the other cheek. He declares “You have heard it said ‘an eye for an eye’ but I say ‘love your enemies’". Only love can heal hate. Suffering is redeemed only when it motivates us to make things better. Therefore, even though our hearts are breaking and filled with anger, we will not take revenge. Instead we will try to forgive those who have hurt us so badly and do all we can to make amends. We invite all of you who consider us to be your enemy to come and talk with us. Let us sit around a table and settle once and for all the differences between us. Help us to prove beyond doubt that we are not the enemy of anyone. If we have been guilty of causing suffering and pain, tell us what we can do to make things right. We will continue to nurture our dream. A dream that one day little Muslim boys and girls will be able to join hands with little Jewish boys and girls, and little Christian boys and girls, as sisters and brothers. Come and help us make that dream a reality.’

What would have happened if the President of America had responded in this way? The world would have changed forever. It would have signalled a completely new way of conducting politics. We would have turned a monumental corner in the evolution of consciousness.

From The Laughing Jesus by Freke and Gandy

www.timothyfreke.com

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Posted: September 15, 2006