Yesterday was quite a day. Between responding to the Florida shootings, sitting with the aftermath, and other negatives that came up, I realized a few things.

It doesn’t help anyone or anybody when we are negative about anything. Last night, I found myself falling into the trap of complaining, even though I was calling it venting. Really, it’s complaining no matter which way you look at it or how you say it. It’s complaining and it’s negative. If we realized that our minds could not hold two thoughts at the same time, we might stop the negative thinking and complaining. How do we expect to manifest and demonstrate the good in our lives, when we are in a negative state of mind?

Why do we fall into the trap? I ask myself this question today. When we know about the power of our mind, like I do, why do we still do it? It is old habit that we fall back into. Sometimes, in my case, I might even realize I am doing it and then I do it anyway. In that case, for me, I think it is just somehow wanting to be right or looking for justification for something I am doing. Making others wrong doesn’t make us right.

The blessing is that I can make a change today. I am not restricted by old karma. I can forgive myself and move on and start again. This is the greatest gift of life. Remember, Jesus telling people he had healed, “Go and sin no more.” I have come to believe that he meant start thinking aright. Stop putting yourself and others down. Love! Love! Love!

So, as far as the continuation of all that we do not like about the present political environment and its repercussions on society, complaining about it and getting angry will do no good. Feeling guilty is a useless emotion. What is needed is straigtening out our own mind and then acting from the higher state of mind.

I know it is difficult to not get boiling mad, but behind that maddness is something else. It’s a belief. What is causing us to be so boiling mad? Is it a belief that we are helpless? When we find that out, we can turn it around and use it for good. We are not helpless. As I wrote in yesterday’s blog, there is much we can do.

What do we want right now? We must be clear! We must stay stayed on Truth, mentally and emotionally. We live in a mental Universe. This is the one thing I know. I promise to do my best to stay loving, positive and put that positivity into action. When I fall off the positive train, I promise to immediately forgive myself, get back on and move forward. Anything else is a waist of time and does not serve the good of the whole.

What does it mean to ride the positive train? To me, it means that there is a higher Law that I can depend on. Martin Luther King, Jr. once stated it like this: “Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars… Hate can not drive out hate: only love can do that.”

Love and Aloha,

Rev. Rita