  Spiritual
This week: Edited by: Sophy  
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Hi, I'm Sophy ~ your Spiritual Newsletter Editor this week.
The Rev. Scotty McLennan, author of the book Finding Your Religion, compares humanity's innate need for spiritual searching to climbing a mountain. In his view, we are all endeavoring to climb the same figurative mountain in our search for the divine, we just may take different ways to get there. In other words, there is one "God," but many paths.
I honor whatever path or paths you have chosen to climb that mountain in your quest for the Sacred.  |
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Finding The Sacred in the Midst of Tragedy
For the purpose of this article, when I use the term "the Sacred," I am referring generally to the God, Goddess, Great Spirit, or whatever spiritual entity you refer to by name (or not) based on your religious preference -- that Sacred Mystery in whom we live and move and have our being.
Virginia Tech Professor and poet Nikki Giovanni, at a Memorial Service last Monday, said "We are sad today, and we will be sad for quite a while. We are not moving on, we are embracing our mourning. ... We do not understand this tragedy. We know we did nothing to deserve it, but neither does a child in Africa dying of AIDS, neither do the invisible children walking the night away to avoid being captured by the rogue army, neither does the baby elephant watching his community being devastated for ivory, neither does the Mexican child looking for fresh water, neither does the Appalachian infant killed in the middle of the night in his crib in the home his father built with his own hands being run over by a boulder because the land was destabilized. No one deserves a tragedy."
No one deserves a tragedy. But tragedies do occur, and when they do, one of the first questions people ask is "where was God when this happened?" For some it's natural to assume that the Sacred was not present at Virginia Tech last week, because how could a "God" whom most of us perceive as a loving presence, be anywhere near or part of such devastation? Thus some believe that the Sacred must turn away from us during tragedies. Others believe that such horrific tragedies are somehow part of "God's will" -- but what happened at VA Tech last week was the gunman's will, not God's. And still others, including myself, believe that the Sacred is always present with us, and most especially so during the most difficult and painful times of our lives, as well as in their aftermath.
What happened at Virginia Tech is only the most recent of tragedies that have happened in the world since the beginning of time. Thus I believe that the Sacred is present in Iraq today, where so much destruction and death has taken place in recent days, weeks, months, and years -- just as the Sacred was present during the plagues of the Middle Ages and in the Nazi concentration camps of the last century. And I believe that the Sacred was and is present in Darfur, Afghanistan, Bosnia, Serbia, and Rwanda, as well as in that Amish schoolhouse last Fall. I believe that the Sacred is present in any of an infinite list of human tragedies that have resulted in practically unimaginable suffering and distress over the millennia. Because for me it's not really a matter of whether the Sacred is present in tragedy, but whether you and I, all of us, are present in the Sacred. And to me, it makes all the difference in the world to think of it that way.
When we are present in the Sacred, we are moved to acts of loving compassion toward those who have been affected whenever tragedy strikes. So while the tragedy at Virginia Tech last week was an extreme and brutal example of "man's inhumanity to man" (sic) in terms of the actual person who did the shooting, the responses that started pouring in almost immediately afterward, from all over the world, are what give me that assurance of the Sacred presence, and allow me to retain my faith in humanity in the face of such seemingly horrible evidence to the contrary. It is in that compassionate response that I am able to find myself dwelling in the Sacred, and thus the Sacred itself dwelling in the midst of tragedy.
I recognize Sacred presence in the wake of a tragedy like the shootings at Virginia Tech by looking at the responses of those who feel drawn to support and help the victims from around the world. I also caught a glimpse of the Sacred in the professors and students who protected others by putting their own lives on the line, and in some cases, losing theirs in the process. And I see Sacred meaning in the response of many thousands of people who've already sent their prayers and support to the campus, as well in the flags flying at half-mast, and in the statement "We are all Hokies now," that was repeated throughout the past week. And that is ultimately what gives me hope for the future.
I also found glimpses of the Sacred in the responses around Writing.com last week -- in the handles, costumicons, blog entries, poems, essays, and images created all over the site. When others suffer and die, especially in such a senseless way, it seems that we writers are compelled to try and make sense of it through our writing, as a way of not only offering support and tribute to the victims, but also as a way to sort through what we are feeling. Whether or not you wrote something in response to the shootings at Virginia Tech last week, I am sure many of you can relate to the "need" to write something, anything, in the aftermath of such a tragedy. You'll find some of those items from the site below.
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Here are a few items from around the site relating directly to the tragedy at Virginia Tech. Some are spiritual in nature, others are commentary -- all are evidence of the global community of love and support in the hours and days after the shooting.
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#1249121 by Not Available. |
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Poem I wrote when I was thinking about VA Tech shooting--sorry if the iambic meter's off
#1251738 by Emanon  |
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Have an opinion on what you've read here today? Then send the Editor feedback! Find an item that you think would be perfect for showcasing here? Submit it for consideration in the newsletter!
https://www.Writing.Com/go/nl_form
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Thanks again for the feedback! In addition to commenting on specific newsletters, I welcome ideas for future newsletter themes, as well as submissions of relevant spiritual items.
From elizm446
Great NL, Sophy! What a wonderful take on the Golden Rule. It's so cool to see how it's mentioned in other religions. I've always taken the time to learn different religions and will continue to do so. However I'm much too lazy to write about it.
Thanks elizm446! Glad you liked it, and I am glad that you take the time to learn about various religions. I think you'll find, like I have, that they have more in common then most think.
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From kundanchhabra
The Platinum Rule: Treat others like THEY want to be treated.
Sometimes, the Golden Rule is useful, and sometimes, the Platinum Rule is useful instead - so, in the end, it's best to be still and let the Source within guide us rather rely on rules and regulations. Thank you for such an excellent, beautiful newsletter that reminds us to see the Oneness.
Thank for sharing the Platium Rule with us, kundanchhabra. I like very much how it is worded -- taking a positive approach to how we should behave toward one another. And I agree about being guided by the Source within.
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From D. Cavanaugh
Dear Sophy,
I was very pleased that you had come across my poem "For Friends to See" and even more pleased that you selected it for your newsletter. I enjoyed reading the newsletter and other poems you had as Editor's Picks. Thank you very much for getting the word out. You must have a great heart searching for the good in everyone, and helping them find it as well.
D. Cavanaugh
Glad you were pleased to have your poem featured, D. Cavanaugh -- I hope you got some good response from it. And I am glad you enjoyed the newsletter.
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That's all for this month - see you next time!  |
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Spiritual: April 25, 2007 Issue [#1672]
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