Norman Ornstein, of the American Enterprise Institute—according to BBC World News, perhaps the leading authority on the United States Congress—stated on BBC World that although only 15 members of the Republican Party crossed sides to vote against their President on a non-binding Iraq resolution, “While the overwhelming majority of House Republicans voted with their party, with their President, against this resolution, had there been a secret ballot vote the majority would have voted for it.”
The Middle East is in a sad state today because, everywhere we look in the world of politics, pretence trumps Presence.
This is not a partisan matter. It happens on all fronts, continually. There were both Democrats and Republicans who voted for the war, who in their hearts suspected there might be a better way—but no one wanted to “appear” unpatriotic.
On the same day as the House vote, in New Zealand protesters against the Iraqi war were arrested on the occasion of a visit by the Australian Prime Minister John Howard. A banner captured by the camera read, “Howard Racist Scum.”
How authentic are we when, claiming to value people by being non-racist, we devalue others? Polarized views of our fellow humans, no matter how deeply we may disagree with them, reflect as much a lack of Presence as those who are racist lack Presence.
What’s missing from both the House members and the protesters is the authenticity that alone can change the course of the world and steer it toward peace. Being against each other achieves no enduring results—whether as elected officials or as protesters.
As long as the approach we take to issues on our planet is heated, instead of coming from the calmness of Presence, there will be no lasting peace. This is why, for thousands of years, no sooner has one conflict been solved than another arises. We lurch from conflict to conflict, blaming and opposing, because we are locked in inauthenticity. The result is drama on the world scene.
The fact is, neither the politicians nor the protesters are able to act wisely, calmly, authentically. At this stage in our development as a species, we are driven far too much by our emotional neediness and reactivity to be able to make wise choices.
Says Michael Brown, author of The Presence Process, “Our dramas are the ‘acts’ we use to gain attention and acceptance from others.” Whether in the voting chambers of government, or protesting on the streets of our cities, we are incapable of making sound decisions when we are addicted to drama. We are too concerned with ego—with how it would “appear.”
The Presence Process is a cure for drama. It’s needed now on our planet more than ever, because the stakes have become potentially lethal for our species.
The agreement brokered this past with North Korea on the nuclear issue is one that observers say could have come quite a long time ago, had been serious dialogue instead of posturing. Posturing is drama—staged behavior that masks our inability to be authentic.
And now, with Iran, we are playing out a similar drama, and they with us.
Michael Brown explains, “Our calculated drama is successful in that it makes us acceptable to the adult world, but in the same breath, it renders our authentic self unacceptable to us.”
It’s the inability to truly love and accept ourselves that causes us to see a visiting prime minister, a president, a politician of a particular party, a race of people, or those of a different religion as “the enemy,” instead of as real individuals with whom we need to interact as authentic adults and not through posturing.
It’s easy to blame the politicians for the current mess in the Middle East. But the politicians are no more to blame than we are, for they are merely a reflection of our own unconsciousness.
The Middle East muddle is a “messenger” to each of us, seeking to awaken us to authenticity in the way we deal with each other. It is a reflection of our own internal worlds.
How can we effect change?
It requires no more—and no less—than becoming present ourselves. As each of us becomes authentic, responsible, free to make truly beneficial choices, this “ups the ante” for everyone around us.
Solely by becoming present, we invoke presence in others.
As Jesus said, the kingdom of God spreads like leaven in bread dough set to rise. Authentic change is a process of osmosis. It “rubs off” onto others when it’s genuine.
If we want to change our world, the answer lies in each of us investing ourselves in a serious way in becoming present. It has to become the single most important task in our lives.
That’s why, throughout much of 2007, Michael Brown will be touring North America, speaking to groups and sharing with them the path to Presence. Sign up for our RSS information service, and you’ll know instantly when new venues are added.
No comments:
Post a Comment