Politics and Love by John Cali

Last week, as most of you know, we had some technical problems with our mailing list. The result was the link to our blog post, The Politics of Tragedy, wrongly redirected you to an earlier post titled Love.

Briefly, The Politics of Tragedy talked about how US President Obama and Mitt Romney, his opponent in the upcoming presidential election, temporarily put aside their bitter, personal, negative attacks on each other in the wake of the mass murders in Aurora, Colorado.

As the president said, the murders reminded us “of all the ways that we are united.”

Why, I wonder, does it take such an event to remind us of our oneness? Why does love have such a low priority in our lives?

Was the “bad” link for that blog post the mistake it appeared to be? Or was it Spirit reminding us of what really matters?

Spirit

Love and politics do not seem to go together very well, do they? Especially the harsh, hostile brand of politics the United States is experiencing now.

We have defined love as the choice to see the divinity in all beings. To truly love you cannot be selective. You cannot love only those of a certain nationality, only those who agree with you, only those who support you, etc.

When we say “all” beings, we mean all that is, even what you might call “inanimate” things. And we certainly include all humans, animals, plants. Most of all, we include you. Until you fully love yourself, you cannot truly love another.

Either God, or divine energy, exists in all creation or in none of it. As we said, you cannot be selective.

When you get selective you have problems. When you create the hateful energy, the polarization you see so much of today, you also create an environment where such events as the Colorado murders can more easily happen.

Every deed you do and every thought you think have profound ripple effects, not only on you and your immediate surroundings, but on the entire world, the entire universe. You never act or think in isolation. You cannot — because you are all connected, you are all one.

Until you accept that, not just in the wake of human tragedies such as Colorado, but in your daily lives, you will not have the peace, the love, the unity you say you want.

Every hateful thought you think contributes to the wounding of your world. Every loving thought you think contributes to the healing of your world.

Your thoughts, your words, you deeds can either kill or heal. That is how much power you each have. Use your power wisely. Use it in the name of love.

Love is all there is. The rest is illusion.

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What are your thoughts about the harshly adversarial presidential campaign? Is that negativity adding to the hostile environment and energy that makes murder possible? Please share with us below.

We welcome your comments and thoughtful opinions, whether you agree or disagree with us. Please keep your comments polite and relevant to the topic of this article. If needed, we’ll edit for clarity. Also, we’ll delete anything we consider inappropriate.

14 Responses

  1. Pat

    John – enjoyed your post and Spirit’s comforting, wise words on how to process these types of things. I try to take this direction though not always successful and try to understand the difficulty for others facing it head on.

    I wrote an article as a personal response to this event in Aurora, Colorado called “Calling All Angels” (http://plaintalkandordinarywisdom.com/?p=349) with the hope it would redirect and help in sending out love and comfort to those families involved in my home state Colorado.

    If you would like to pass it onto your readers, I would be honored.

    Thank you

    • John Cali

      Thank you very much, Pat. As you said, those facing these situations head-on often find it hard. I have the greatest compassion for them.

      Thank you also for the wonderful post — it’s heartfelt and deeply moving. I’ll repeat the link here, for those who may miss your comments.
      http://plaintalkandordinarywisdom.com/?p=349

      Love,
      John

      • Pat

        Thank you John for passing along the link to my post “Calling All Angels” – I hope it will bring some comfort and love though at such a large price.

  2. anny

    I could not agree with you and Spirit more.

    I do not know much about the presidential campaigns but even the little bits that reach us here in Europe make clear that this kind of behaviour can lead to nothing but misery for all concerned. Not that things are that much different over here. I do not even watch the news anymore as I cannot stand the vibrations of it all.

    I hope that this last wake up call has woken people up at last!

    Love,

    Anny

    • John Cali

      Thank you, Anny. Like you, I no longer pay much attention to the news — only enough so I know what’s going on in our world. 🙂

      Love,
      John

  3. Shirley McLain

    Today I think our political system is a disgrace as well as a lot of our society. We as a people have created this monster by some humans needs to see the sensational and to draw attention to themselves. Until everyone learns to walk in love, I’m afraid this is the by products we will be living with. Our children are raised with violence in the home. If it’s not their parents, it’s video games, or worse yet the television.

  4. Stephanie

    I too rarely watch the news … but am aware of current events.
    I really like Deborah’s comment/question …
    and I love Judith’s suggestion that political ads should only be about what the candidates are FOR … and their future intentions … not bashing of their opponent.

    Although this will never happen … If … in an election NO one voted … might THAT send a message to politicians that ‘we the people’ want a CHANGE in the system ….? I would like to see a NO-party system … so people would vote for the person and his/her ideas .. without creating a division over party lines .. therefore getting little to nothing accomplished …

    Aaaaahhh.. in a perfect world …. in my very own parallel Universe .. perhaps … ha ha

  5. deborah

    Very good. I wonder what politics would be like if there was love in it instead of character bashing.

  6. Judith Anderson

    Dear John,

    I agree so strongly with Spirit on this, and yet I find it always a challenge when faced with people and ideas that seem unenlightened to me, still speaking words of hatred and division, yet I recognize that in engaging with them I am putting myself back into that.

    I try to simply state in a civil manner where I stand without making it into an argument, to make it clear that there is another approach. This does not always work as intended.

    I strongly dislike all the negative advertising, and yet they each claim that as the other is doing it, they must as well. I wonder about that. It also seems that a large chunk of such ads are paid for not by the candidates but by rich special interests who can lie about whatever they want to with no consequences nor accountability.

    I would like political ads that are about what the individual candidates are FOR and what their intentions for the future are.

    Perhaps I need some posters of politicians I dislike and to hang them by my mirror so when I am telling myself how wonderful and loved I am, I can send that to people I strongly dislike as well and see what may change. It certainly cannot hurt.

    Yes, Love is all, the rest is illusion.

    ~Judith Anderson

    • John Cali

      Thank you very much, Judith.

      Like you, I generally do not engage with close-minded people (including some of my own family). I usually say nothing unless asked a question. Then I briefly state my opinion, and let it go, simply allowing them their opinions and path. But I refuse to get drawn into the negativity.

      I like your idea of sending people love, whether we agree with them or not. In fact, I do that every morning in my daily meditations.

      John

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