ORDER FORM | HOME PAGE | SEPTEMBER 11, 2001
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By Shepherd Hoodwin |
Dear friends,
Some of you have asked about my friends and loved ones in New York, knowing that I lived there for ten years before moving here in 1995. Thankfully, all of them seem to be all right. There was one person I was especially concerned about because I knew he worked at the World Trade Center. It turned out that his office was moved from the 99th floor of 1 WTC the previous Friday. Extraordinary. Sadly, though, he lost many co-workers and friends.
Almost everyone I know has been feeling enormous sadness. To me, this is a reminder of how connected we are--we are all drinking from the same groundwater.
I had a sense on Tuesday and Wednesday that a large part of me was off helping those who had passed over. There is often shock and confusion after sudden death, and it seemed that many people, both physical and nonphysical, were called to help. By Thursday, I felt that most of those who had transitioned were with their loved ones and were in good shape, but on the physical plane, a dark cloud of vengeful anger was gathering as people came out of their shock. I suppose that that is to be expected, but I pray that we have learned enough not to repeat the mistakes of the past. The most anyone can hope for in such a circumstance is that some greater good comes out of it; if we meet this challenge with consciousness and integrity, humanity can take a quantum leap forward.
When I look at photos of bin Laden, I get a feeling that he carries profound pain. This, of course, does not excuse his actions, but if we are to solve the problem of terrorism, we need to understand it better. This Collection has some valuable insights on this.
Our suffering this week has perhaps given us a glimpse of what it must be like in many parts of the world for people who live with ongoing terrorism as well as war, genocide, starvation, devastating natural disasters, and grinding poverty in general. I believe that the world doesn't have to be this way. We waste so many of our resources that could instead be used to create a world that works for everyone.
It's instructive to look at the psychology of nations and cultures in the same way one might look at that of an individual. The Middle East is like a wounded child who sometimes acts out as a bully. (The U.S. might be seen as an arrogant adolescent who likes to throw his weight around.) If you were a therapist and the Middle East were your patient, the first thing you'd need to do is listen, receiving its anger in a safe way so that you could begin to get at the pain underneath. Perhaps the UN could organize groups of specially trained representatives of the U.S. and other wealthy nations to hold gatherings throughout the Middle East and other third world nations, listening to people's grievances and sharing from the heart, then reporting back regularly to their home nations. (There are more ideas for healing below.)
On a different note, many friends shared that they had premonitions on Monday, the 10th. A healer friend in Ohio had a vision of a skyscraper and an explosion, although he didn't know where it was. Several had a sense of impending doom, couldn't sleep or had nightmares. One friend who was flying Monday wrote me:
"I feel my guides were with me as they were when I had my accident. I have no fears about flying but when I got on that plane, I felt panic creeping up on me. I was ready to get off when I suddenly calmed down and had the thought that the next day would be worse."
It seems clear that by Monday, the probabilities were firmly in place, and we were picking them up. Not only does this underline that we are all one, but it emphasizes the importance of listening to our intuition. It would be most interesting, for example, to hear the stories of those who were late to work at the World Trade Center or the Pentagon on Tuesday. We do not need to live in fear if we learn to trust in our inner knowing. I firmly believe that if it is not my right time to leave my body behind, I will be guided to safety.
I've seen some channeled material this week to the effect that many of those who died volunteered on a soul level to be there, perhaps because their sacrifice would contribute to a potential opening in the heart of humanity, or perhaps because in some other way it fit with their life plan. No doubt there were others who did not choose it but who did not hear or follow their inner guidance. Perhaps there were others whose guides did not see it coming in time. In any case, by Thursday I felt that most of them had adjusted and were happy. For many people, the physical plane is like a challenging, difficult school, and passing over is like getting out for summer vacation. One of my favorite quotes is by Mark Twain, who said that the reason people rejoice at births and grieve at deaths is that they are not the party involved. Those who pass over suddenly often do have much concern for those they left behind, and parents of children continue to do all they can for them from the other side, but mostly, passing over is a joyous event if there's not a lot of unfinished business.
Incidentally, I had a vision of some airline passengers arriving on the other side, recognizing a couple of the hijackers, and chasing them. The passengers couldn't kill the hijackers again, but it looked like they wanted to try! Their guides had to break it up and take the hijackers away.
It's ironic that the terrorists believed that their suicidal acts would be rewarded with Paradise. Their victims are, in general, feeling great joy and liberation, but the hijackers are now burdened with the hellish weight of the karmic debt they have generated.
Sometimes when people die, their guides help create the scenery of whatever they expected or hoped to find in order to make them more comfortable. So if you expect to see the Pearly Gates, you get the Pearly Gates, with the whole cast of characters played by your guides and friends. But with this mass exodus, it was "all hands on deck" in the spirit world, and there was no time for that. Michael said that it was important for the hijackers to see the results of their actions, but even if their guides had created the trappings of Paradise for them, they wouldn't have been able to enjoy them, just as you wouldn't be able to relax on a beach vacation if you'd just done something heinous.
No one I know advocates doing nothing about the terrorists, and I'm not sure that nonviolence is always the right answer. I don't think, for example, that it would have worked against the Nazis. But I do think we owe it to ourselves and the world to explore all the options and try to get the necessary job done in the most compassionate and nonviolent way possible, which ultimately will also be the most effective way. To quote John Lennon, "All we are saying is give peace a chance." I don't think that those who died at the World Trade Center would want the avenging of their deaths to lead to millions more.
Even though death itself is nothing to fear, taking even a single life is obviously a grave responsibility. As Susan Velasquez put it so beautifully, everyone is someone's child. You weep when your loved ones are torn away from you no matter what the story is.
There's no such thing as a holy war. On the other hand, Christianity brought us the Inquisition, the Crusades, witch burnings, Nazi collaboration, murdering abortion doctors, and more, all in the name of God, and most of the other religions have done similar things, so he who is without sin, let him cast the first stone against Islam. We are all in this together.
Sometimes we feel and carry the emotions of others in order to help heal them. Some of us who have been crying a lot this past week are shedding healing tears for those who cannot cry themselves. Some of us who are feeling overwhelming sadness are carrying part of other people's burdens. Don't assume that your feelings are your own. Turn them over to the light as much as you can, be good to your heart, and take a break now and then.
In Sunday's LA Times, 61% of those polled said that it would be necessary for the average person to give up some civil liberties. It seems to me that we could turn this into a police state and those who wish to destroy would still find a way. On the other hand, law enforcement agencies can effectively do their job without a loss of our hard-earned rights if they work smart and creatively. "Give me liberty or give me death." If we lose our freedoms in order to think we're secure, will life be worth living? There is a right balance in all things. In times such as these, it's easy to go overboard.
To truly solve the problem of terrorism long-term, we must do much more to alleviate suffering of all kinds. Non-military foreign aid, for example, seems far less than it was a generation ago. I'd like to see a vast resurgence and expansion of Peace Corps types of activities. Planting fruit trees all over the world could be an enormous blessing. Someone suggested that all 16-year-olds be given the opportunity to change countries for a year. A friend wrote:
"Imagine what might happen if every American of at least moderate income were to spend $22 to $25 a month to sponsor a child in need. We'd never miss the funds, and the children's lives, perhaps also their hearts, would be forever changed.
A couple of reputable organizations' websites:
www.christianchildrensfund.org
www.childreach.org"
We are limited only by our creativity in what can be done to help. The most fundamental thing we can do is to live the love and peace we wish to see in the world. From there we can sense what right action is for us.
All the best,
Shepherd
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Copyright 2001 Shepherd Hoodwin
(Feel free to pass along any of my pieces as long as you do so in full.--SGH)
