This week another violent hateful act took place in Charlottesville. I understand and am aware of everything going on in the world, but I have to take a reality check. My reality check tells me that these isolated incidents are not, as the media would like us to think, “the norm.”

Anne Frank once wrote these statements in her Diary during one of the most hideous times in the earth’s history: “It’s difficult in times like these: ideals, dreams and cherished hopes rise within us, only to be crushed by grim reality. It’s a wonder I haven’t abandoned all my ideals, they seem so absurd and impractical. Yet, I cling to them because I still believe inspite of everything, that people are truly good at heart. …I don’t think of all the misery but of the beauty that still remains.”

One person might have gotten up on that morning in Charlottesville and decided to do something hateful, but I refuse to accept that as the majority of our world. There are people still getting up this morning singing in churches across the world, trying to get closer to what they call God. There are people feeding the hungry and being kind to the homeless. There are people trying their best to be good parents. There are people working toward making the planet a cleaner more healthier place. There are people wiping the tears of children who have been abandoned. Yes, there are people all over this world, living their “dreams and cherished hopes.” Don’t be fooled. This is not the majority of who we are.

So what do we do when things like this happen in our world? When our brothers and sisters are hurt right in front of our eyes? We pick up the fallen. We wipe the tears and we speak out, not just in words, but in actions. We live our own lives as examples of unconditional love, putting aside our small grievances and pettiness and judgments. We continue to create a majority that is more powerful in love than one group of people who hate. As Michelle Obama put it, “When they go low; we go high.” Yes, we go higher in consciousness and in action. We reach upward to the highest part of ourselves and live our lives from that place. We reach higher and higher.

Today, we are speaking about Will and Grace at our Center. What is Will? It is our contemplation, our voilition, our choice, our poised attention. If we want to know what to do at times like these, we keep our Will poised in unconditional love for all – for victim and perpetrator, for villain and hero. David Ault of Atlanta Center for Spiritual Living wrote a wonderful statement on FaceBook about being a spiritual sentinal. He said,

“As a spiritual sentinel you are here to guard the light. You are here to keep watch and protect kindness and offer support to those long denied it. You are to remain indefatigable in your pursuit to honor the huddled masses whose lives have been farmed as resource and to never circumvent your calling to uphold the inalienable right that all are created equal.”

We are sentinels and we use our will to keep watch of our minds and hearts to stay steadfast to truth and love. Grace prevails. In reality, it is manifest right now. As I said in the beginning and as Anne Frank put it  I still believe inspite of everything, that people are truly good at heart.

It’s dark, but that is because right now, the Light is growing so much stronger.