Eclectic quotations accumulating in Hell's Kitchen, NY, USA.

20040527

"Dear Friends,

All over the AP wires last night were reports that Al-Qaida is in the country, planning to 'hit us hard' sometime this summer.

I'm sure all of us who read the report had the same reaction of revulsion and fear. On a purely human level, it's terrifying to even begin to contemplate what that might mean.

But I'm reminded of the first sentence in A Course in Miracles, that 'There is no order of difficulty in miracles.' The Course teaches that the effects of love are maximal, and natural in the presence of love. If and when we find our spiritual center, a miracle will automatically occur.

Finding our spiritual center as a nation means we atone for our own errors and apologize for our own transgressions - against the Native Americans, the Vietnamese, etc. It means we ask God to forgive us as a nation for having so much, and giving so comparatively little away to those who have less. It means we ask God to forgive us for our sins, come into our hearts and turn us into the nation He would have us be.

Thought is the level of cause, while the world is the level of effects. Our greatest power to change the world is our power to think about it differently. Our greatest hope lies not in our military might, but in our power to change our consciousness.

This is the eleventh hour, that is true, but it is not yet midnight. As enough of us humble ourselves and ask God's forgiveness, expressing our willingness to both forgive and serve at a profound new level, then we will have our miracle. And before it is too late.

Dear God,
Please save America
In this, our hour of danger.
Forgive us for
our selfish,
our greed,
our transgressions against others,
our lack of love.
Return our nation
To the thoughts of righteousness,
That we might live Your light once more.
Deliver us
From danger
Now and forever
Please make us new
and keep us safe.
Thank you, God.
Amen"

-- Marianne Williamson, in an e-mail, and posted on Marianne.com