Little Taste of Peace

Here in South Bend we have an event that is always the weekend leading up to Martin Luther King’s day. I have facilitated with others this event for the past 7 years, it is part of the Human Rights Commission events.Each year the event has grown, this year there were 13 circles with 13 individuals in each circle!  WE come together to discuss questions that are pertinent to what is going on.  Most of the questions this year was about the impact the election is having on people, personally and collectively.

I sat in a circle with such a rich collection of people.  There were 4 men in our circle, there were two races in our circle and a variety of religions as well.  The age range was from 25 to 74.  There are rules that we are asked to follow.  My favorite one is “say ouch” if someone says something that triggers you.  In this way we can become aware of our own biases or conditioning that is unlike someone else.

So, the main theme was everyones concern about politics, racism and the growing division of those who have money and those who don’t.  The emotions I noted were fear and anger, also a deep love for kindness and compassion..  The responses were amazing to me.  The older people seemed to be more fear based, with a deep desire to connect with others. The youngest member spoke of the underground movement of the millennials.   This voice was of anger. There is nothing wrong with this energy if used to inspire us to move.  It tells me that something I care about is being threatened.

It got me thinking about anger and how it impacts the brain, body and the energetic field we all live in.  First 1,400 biochemicals reactions happen in the body …causing it to go into flight/freeze/fight.  My amygdala is hi-jacked, I can’t think from my pre-frontal cortex which is where impulse control, mindfulness, problem solving, etc, come from.  It raises cortisol levels , and we know what those do to us right?  Then I began to ponder when the energetic field is so saturated with anger already (look at the words and posturing of people we see) and if I stayed angry, was I actually adding and amplifying that field?

This was one thing I kept thinking as the millennial kept saying “we are going to stay angry”!  At that time I truly focused in my heart, breathed compassion.  We can’t change anything from the same frequency it is being created. (loose quote of Einstein)

There were others in the circle who were ministers who wondered how do we bring these conversations into the churches?  There were some who were very 3D in their approach.  Others who were very “other worldly”.  Speaking of Love and God!

One woman shared how all of her neighbors ignore her family.  Her son goes out to play with the kids, and they make fun of him.  He asked his mom is they did not like him because he was “browned”?  They expressed that the work she did (yoga) was the work of the devil.

One woman shared how honored she felt to sit in a circle with people who were different that her and to learn more about their struggles.

As I sat in the circle I felt a deep honor to hear of the struggles and celebrations.  Most of all it is a joy to see people willing to sit, to connect, to listen and to care.  My own heart was truly warmed when I left that evening. Yes, the Little Taste of Peace evening truly did warm my heart..hope is born again!  They are all more willing to be proactive.  They spoke of “when we see something, we need to speak up”!   So, in this way I can honestly say, Thank you Mr. Donald Trump for inviting us to come out of our complacency.