In a Time of Chaotic Politics, Where Is God?

No doubt we live in a chaotic world. Do you remember the days of the Waltons, and even The Brady Bunch? The all-American image was portrayed as wholesome. Morals were upheld. We had compassion for the common mistakes that were a part of being human. We learned lessons which helped us mature into responsible, polite, caring human beings.

Fast forward forty years. Turn on the television to reality TV! The fighting, killing, violence, hatred. I’m not so naïve as to believe these things weren’t happening back then just because they weren’t on television. And I realize some of the mainstream scenes were out of balance.

The difference is that back then drama was a means to an end. We didn’t sensationalize the drama in and of itself.

To some extent it has been healthy to use media expose injustice and bring light to darkness. But we seem to thrive on the drama itself, as if it somehow makes us more alive, more real, more special.

As spiritual beings on the human journey, we have an innate drive to find meaning and fulfill purpose in the world. But are we as a collective consciousness so lost that we seek to satisfy that longing amidst such twisted chaos?

All you have to do is tune into news coverage of the debates and elections today. It is evident that we revere chaos and drama in what sells in the news, especially the reports of our political circus.

I hesitate to bring more attention to Donald Trump, but his platform is a good example of just how far we have strayed from our wholesome values, even though the politicians claim to want to make America great again.

The righteous anger, stereotyping minorities into the worse possible depictions, rallying people to turn away from each other out of fear and prejudice – is this what makes America great?

Every time I hear that Trump has won a primary election, I am shocked. Can it really be that a majority of voters align with hatred, prejudice and fear? Is that what our all-American values have come to? Is this what we revere?

Is that what we, as spiritual beings on this human journey, have made into our gods?

God is not some distant being to be worshipped only for the hour a week spent in a church. And religion isn’t just a list of rules to be practiced in Sunday school.

Each of us holds the essence of God in our hearts. Our religion is defined by how we relate to that essence within and how we hold it in the world and in relationship with each other.

There are two basic tenets of Sufism, which are at the heart of most, if not all, religions.

(#1) Live each moment as if you are face to face with God, because certainly even if you are not seeing Him, He is seeing you.

The face of God is in everything that exists, inside of us and outside. As my teacher and guide said, “It is closer to you than your own jugular vein.” Part of our journey is seeking that face in everyone and everything in every moment of every day.

This includes our politicians and the people who are supporting them and those who are sensationalizing the chaos – and even me, who sits on the sidelines shaking my head in disbelief.

This face of God is also in your spouse, your neighbors, your cat and the ant crawling on your front porch – and even in the weeds growing in your garden and the objects that appear to have no life at all.

(#2) To truly know God, you must love for your brother what you love for yourself.

Who owns this planet? Who made its resources? Who invented life?

Do we really think that God intends for us to claim His glory as our own? To separate from each other, exclude each other and judge each other?

God is a presence of unity – there is only One. We are all breathed into existence through one breath, all made of the same substance.

The poet Rumi wrote, “You are not a drop in the ocean. You are the ocean in a drop.”

Can you imagine if all of the drops of the ocean decided to fight each other? To separate from each other out of fear and prejudice? To claim territory for its own and not its fellow drops? That seems preposterous, right? Impossible!

Why do we fight each other? We are no different.

And yet, in a world of duality, we are meant to find unity through separation. In order to find the purpose and to know the love within, we have to forget what has been there all along – unconditional love which has no separation – no conditions. Think about what it means to be unconditional.

I pray those who seek truth and true freedom in their lives know that the truth lies within the unity. I pray that we all see that the duality – the seeming separation – is put before us to help us know the reality of God within. I pray we will choose the essence of love within and not make gods of the characters in the media.

May the bright lights of the television screen be the flashing neon signs that illuminate the doorways to truth – the unconditional love and unity within each of our hearts.

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