I have in deep grief for the past few month, as it seems that every Sunday I have had to stand in front of our congregation and find some way to explain what is going on in the world, to offer comfort, to reveal truth aback the rubble of despair.

I do not despair although I have had moments of deep grief. I do not despair because I know that Principle is. Just as when there is trauma or tragedy or violence or in contrast if there is joy, peace and love – Principle is. That Principle is that Spirit is moving beneath and aback and around everything. There are no loopholes and none of us get out of the circle of life, the never-ending spiral of Cause and Effect.

Remember the childhood puzzle of connecting random dots together and a picture being revealed? I believe that this is our challenge right now. How do we connect the dots of violence and peace, hatred and love, freedom and bondage? If I were to connect these random states of consciousness, the dots would represent choice, and the the picture I would reveal would be oneness. Oneness is all there is. We are all either aware of that oneness or unaware. The picture we are drawing is based on the number of dots that celebrate or negate that oneness.

Some people will ask why does that thing happen? It happens because we are always at choice. Dr. Ernest Holmes once wrote, “We cannot live a choiceless life. Every day, every moment, every second, there is a choice. If it were not so we would not be individuals. …We are individuals and the only way we can be individuals is to be spontaneous. There is no such thing as a mechanistic individuality; it must have the essential elements of spontaneity. …There can be no choice unless there is something from which to choose, otherwise the ability to choose would be merely a fantasy. There, must be not only a choice but the possibility of choice, and the liability of experiencing that which is chosen.”

We might wonder why everyone wouldn’t automatically choose loving behavior if they were to reap the reward of love. Why do we continue to choose violence? When we are very young and we take our first picture to connect the dots, sometimes we cannot connect the dots because we do not understand the concept? Is that a possibility for some of us? We just don’t see the connection that we have to each other? We are living in an I Am Consciousness and that I Am is so centered on the self that we do not see the bigger picture and how our choices affect other.

Maybe this is why Jesus, as he hung on the cross, is said to have proclaimed, “Father forgive them for they no not what they do.” The interesting thing about that is that in our metaphysical interpretation of the Bible, he might have been talking to the Law. The Law that only says yes to the seeds that we plant. It is unforgiving in that it is unbiased and not based in all the emotions we are experiencing. It is deductive. It is merely giving us the output of our thoughts and beliefs. Perhaps Jesus was begging for a different outcome of that which was already set in motion.

Where do each of us stand on the spectrum of the dots in this picture of oneness? Do we see the oneness at all? Can we even allow ourselves to believe that we are all brothers and sisters in the one no matter how we are expressing or will we continue to add to the madness, even in thought.

I have family in New York and Los Angeles two hotbeds for violence right now. I have to admit that this morning when I spoke to my sister and she told me what was going on not far from where she lived, and when I heard that places in New York City where I frequented as a little girl in peace and fun were now being torn apart and looted, I had that moment of despair. I didn’t feel like saying, Father forgive them for they no not what they do, but instead I wanted to cry and scream and do something.

My sister and I came to a conclusion together. We would bring out our gifts and connect the dots of our own life. We would be the microcosm of love within the macrocosm of hate and we would have to trust that the act of sharing our true selves, our gifts of the Spirit, our talents, our passions would be enough. If we could lift one life right where we were, that would have to be enough. If we spoke up for truth when someone struck out at someone instead of remaining silent that would have to be enough.

We are all ministering. It is a verb. We minister by the way that we live our lives no matter where we are and what we are doing. We stand in ministry every time we open our mouth, every time we move into action. Someone is always watching and we never know what they are looking for in that moment that might assist them in some way. Perhaps one smile or one word from us might stop them from hurting themselves; ad instead allow them to feel enlightened and changed – to love a little more. We have the opportunity in every moment to make a choice and connect a dot on that picture we are all forming together.

Dr. Holmes wrote, “The way in which our thoughts are to become manifest, we cannot always see or should we be disturbed that we do not see the way – because effect is potential in cause.”

That picture we are forming with the dots that seem disparate is not concrete nor is it solid. It is liquid form and at any moment it can re-form itself through the thoughts and actions of each dot in the whole – Us. There is something called the tipping point. I believe in it. Ernest Holmes wrote that it was 51%. If we could just reach 51% of us believing in oneness, doing our part, loving, taking that love into action, speaking truth, living our true selves, there would be a shift.

There have already been big shifts in the evolution of our species, so there is proof in the tipping point. Think of the great movements of peace – Martin Luther King, Jr., Gandhi, Jesus, the fall of the Berlin Wall and other significant occasions. Peace is possible. We are facing a challenge right now that seems greater than ever, but it isn’t the first time. Have faith, do your part and don’t despair.

Love and Aloha,

Rev. Rita