Today, I want to take a big burden off myself and those who come to me with questions about death and other experiences of life. I want to be free to say sometimes, we cannot step back far enough to know. We simply do not know the depth of each person’s eternal journey.

In the Science of Mind, we take responsibility for our life’s experiences. We do not place blame on the outside. However, there are always questions like “Why did that child get sick?” or “Why did that young person die?” or Why? Why? Why? “What about the Holocaust? Did those people bring that upon themselves.”

It’s complicated and I do not claim to know the answer for any of it. I can only feel that there is always something bigger going on behind the experience. Again, I don’t know another person’s journey, karma, or dharma. I do not know the bigger picture. However, I do know there must be a bigger picture. Otherwise, we are living in a very mean Universe. I do not believe that is true.

What I focus on grows, so I know that what I focus on brings about what occurs in my life. However, that isn’t the only answer. If we are all part of one mind, one field, one heart, then it holds true that each of our journeys affect each other’s journey. We are dancing this dance called life together.

As an example, I look at what happen to our sweet cat Quanta last week when she was shot by a pellet gun. She is an animal and so innocent. She was out playing – curious. Did some outer power punish her in her innocence or better yet, punish us, her loving parents and family? It wouldn’t make sense that this is true. No one is punishing anyone. However, so much shift and good is coming from her shooting, which brings up the question about why people learn through suffering.

Ernest Holmes once wrote that the world would soon know it had learned all that it could through suffering. It is time for a higher way of learning. Can we learn through joy? Can we learn through curiosity? Do we have to continue to learn through tragedy. There is something about the energy of complacency. Have you noticed when we all come together for some tragic event like the death of a family member or with a community experiencing a natural disaster. We are close. We help each other. Then the moment of crisis is over, and we go back to same old/same old. We become complacent until another disaster hits.

What is that about us? I want to know so I can change it. I’m asking right now. What do you think makes people come together in tragedy and then as life subsides again, so do we – into complacency. What is it about tragedy that brings us together? I long to see a world where we are always in that heightened feeling of love and compassion? What’s up?

Here are some reasons that I believe might be true.

1. The illusion of separation drops. We are experiencing something together.
2. The need to be loved becomes more primal. We realize life is fragile.
3. Our vulnerability connects us.
4. There is a pause in our routines that keep us distracted from our true selves.

Then we tend to go back to the status quo. Why?

1. A heightened state of compassion takes energy and presence and it is easier to go back to our comfort zones.
2. Our earthly systems are structured to prioritize separation, individualism, competition and scarcity.
3. It can feel risky to remain open and vulnerable. It might require radical shifts in our life that we are not willing to make.
4. Our heart-opening fades unless we intentionally nurture it.

However, it is possible to stay in this heightened state of oneness. It’s called spiritual practice and the rewards for expansion and growth are worth it. It takes intention, practice and community. Compassion and unity can become our default. What can help us stay in this state? It’s all right here.

1. Daily practices that connect us to love (meditation, prayer, sacred service)
2. Spiritual community that reinforces the truth of our oneness
3. Art, storytelling, ritual that keep us awake
4. Courage to disrupt the status quo in small ways, daily.

We are on a journey to reveal our wholeness. Whatever it takes to bring wholeness forth is our individual journey. However, what happens to one of us happens to all of us. We are all walking each other home. Let us each take the necessary time to do our part to become conscious citizens of a loving world. It all begins with each of us. We have the spiritual tools to do so. We have each other for love and support, but the journey is ours.

Love and Aloha,

Rev. Dr. Rita Andriello-Feren, Author and Co-Founding Spiritual Director CSL Kaua’i