Healing Tones

“Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day; nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday.  A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee. Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked.  Because thou hast made the LORD, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation; There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.  For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.” (Ps 91:8)

RADIANT VISION

I FOUND IT QUITE A CHALLENGE to watch the news story of the murder of 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good, mother of thee, by an ICE agent, only with my eyes . . . and not to feel the despair of her partner as she sat down in the snow covered ground next to Renee’s car and cried out “My God! What shall we do?”

There’s so much pain and suffering in this tragedy. One might ask “Where are the wicked being rewarded?” Surely not Renee Good, who had just taken her daughter to school and found herself in the middle of a traffic jam. She had no reason to fear for her life as she attempted to drive away from the scene in order to clear the roadway. The ICE officer who shot her had no cause to fear for his life if he actually saw what was going on as Renee turned her car in a direction to exit the scene. If it looked like the car was headed toward him, the logical thing to do would have been to step aside out of its path. Instead, he shot at the car and at Renee, killing her instantly, an action that clearly went against regulations not to shoot into moving vehicles.

All this to say, looking only with my eyes, the way this tragedy unfolded was an unfortunate and unnecessary waste of a mother’s life . . . whose last words to one of the agents were something like “It’s okay, dude, I’m not mad at you.” Driven by fear and unbridled authority and power, which block intelligent response, the ICE officer acted in self defense to a perceived threat to his life. But an uglier energy revealed itself when he called her a “F**king bitch” as the car drove away with Renee dying or dead at the steering wheel. Was this his reward for his wicked action; the blood of Renee on his hands? What’s more to the point, can I behold and see it only with my eyes? As I said earlier, I’m having a hard time not seeing it with my heart and feeling the pain the scene evokes.

It’s easy for me to say all this, even with radiant vision. It’s another thing altogether to keep my heart from reacting in judgmental outcry. How often have I acted irrationally in the heat of the moment and caused unnecessary harm to another? The world is in a state of heightened uncertainty and anxiety destabilizing people emotionally and mentally. People are on the streets, both here and in Iran, protesting injustice and unbridled authority. It’s a time to be still in order to see what’s actually occurring in the world, for only out of stillness can right and intelligent thinking and action arise. Enfoldment in love and compassion surely offers stability and sanity.

Judging with righteous judgment, as the Master Jesus instructed we should do, all one can say is the ICE agent did not make right use of his gun, nor of his heart, his mind and his mouth. Mainly his heart out of which his murderous action and foul explicative arose.

“BE STILL AND KNOW”

The first lines of psalm 46 speak to a safe place of dwelling: “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.  I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.  Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence.” The secret place is the pure heart where the shadow of the Almighty hovers. The “snare of the fowler” is a net for catching birds. Birds here refer to thoughts that are snared by the net of the mind. So many of our thoughts are not our own. Some, likely most, originate from out of the mass conscious and subconscious Mind. The thoughts of the One I Am may best be heard when the mind is quiet and still. “Be still and know. . .” (Ps 46:10)

What is occurring in the streets of Minneapolis in the wake of Renee’s killing does not give evidence of quiet stillness but may rather be characterized as noisome pestilence. Nothing lasting will come of rioting. A quiet gathering praying for understanding and forgiveness may have greater effect upon changing the way governance is exercised by the powers that be. We the people must finally come around to understanding that this is a vibrational world in which we live and act out our feelings and thoughts. We must become more aware of the power of prayer and uplifting spiritual expression. In a word, of love. Unconditional love that is compassionate and forgiving.

Renee Good’s spirit if no longer incarnate. It hovers, rest assured, over the crowd gathered in protest of her killing. Let us be with her spirit in prayer and compassion for those who seek to govern without arousing defiance and resistance. Let us give her a voice in forgiving the ICE agent who ended her journey here on earth. This much we can do for her and for the healing of the sickness of fear that plagues the heart of humanity. Until my next post,

Be love. Be loved.

Anthony