Trust Me

No I'm not talking about the banking definition of trust; I'm talking about a belief in reliability, truth, and strength of someone or something.  Trust involves faith in another to be loyal and sincere.   We trust our friends to be non-judgmental and to keep our secrets, and when it comes to our lovers, trust can include devotion to love one above all others.  It’s pretty evident that trust is the foundation of good health, in addition to hearty relationships.

But trust shouldn’t end with family and friends.  We should be able to trust our neighbors, the media, or the EPA, FBI, CIA, Congress, as well as the office of the President, but we don’t.  That trust has been broken.  Instead of seeing the best of others, we seem to be fixated on the dark side; stuck in a broken system of mistrust. 

I spent five years as an environmental activist, and I can tell you that I did not trust the EPA for nothing.  I even met people who represented the EPA, who seemed very concerned and well educated, but I knew money talked and hands were out palms up.  The EPA wasn’t ruling in favor of a healthy human environment, they were supporting a long outdated fossil fuels industry that has been proven to be detrimental to human health.  And today, with a new administration, there’s talk of demolishing the Environmental Protection Agency all together. 

I had to ask myself is this a good thing or a bad thing?  I mean really, if the EPA wasn’t doing their job in the first place, why bother keeping the agency around? 

Of course I do not think this is a good thing, but as I see all this crazy whipping around an unstable government, I see our Court System working as it was intended.  Our system of checks and balances is still in place.  I see twenty times the people protesting for our Earth Mother in the past four months than I had in the past seven years, here in Pensacola.  But most of all, I realize that my lack of trust and assumptions of the EPA (government) was contributing to the ciaos we see today.  Never has this been so clear as when I attended a pipeline march/rally on February 12th.

As I stood in protest, a young woman rose before the crowd to speak.  Her heart swelled with each spoken word. It didn’t take long for her voice to begin breaking up, as she bravely tried to fight the tears.  I use the word brave, because that is what it takes to open your heart to others, especially when you’re in the spotlight of a hundred pairs of stranger eyes.  That’s trust!

People are not governments.  People are individual persons.  The problem is not one of a government, but of us individuals; you and me.  Our lack of trust leaves no room for love to grow.  It is not boarder fences we need to be concerned with, but instead it is the fences we build around our hearts we need to fear.  We have to quit shutting each other out and embrace each other instead; we have to matter to each other.  Your fight for justice is my fight for justice.  When we stand together, we can change the world.  Trust me.

 

 

 

RUNNING WITH A GUN & DEALING WITH THE LAW

When I lived in California in the mid to late 80’s, I use to carry a gun, due to the massive highway shootings at that time.  When I relocated to Columbus, Ohio, I came across  drivers so rude that I had to quit carrying my weapon, because I was too scared I was going to shoot someone out of anger.  It happens all the time!  I was becoming one of those people I was originally trying to protect myself from to begin with.  

Enter the law, the universal law of attraction.  No one can outrun the law of attraction.  Just like no one can deny the law of gravity.  It is what it is.  Simply put, what you think, you in turn manifest.  Like a magnet to metal, except you are the magnet, and the thought is the metal. 

When Jesus said, “Live by the sword, die by the sword,” he was speaking about the law of attraction.  The late great Muhammad Ali understood; he said, “What you are thinking about, you are becoming.” 

Let me break it down for you.  When you carry a weapon for protection, your thoughts are saying, “Hey, I need this gun for protection.”  Therefore you are manifesting a need to be protected.  In turn, in order to feel protected, there is a need for someone to threaten you.  So the universe (God, Jesus, Buddha, whatever you call him/her), which will provide for all our needs, will oblige your request.

 

Which brings me to the subject of fear, fear is what prompted me to carry a gun in the first place.  Fear driven emotions cause us to do stupid things, like supporting a war for nothing more than to take control of a nation’s resources (Iraq/Oil); the government used the fear of weapons of mass destruction to gain American support to invade Iraq.  As a result, TSA was a fear driven decision, and so was the National Defense Authorization Act that allows any American citizen to be detained indefinitely, and we waived our constitutional freedoms due to our fear of terrorism.  What one fears, one destroys. 

 

Muhammad Ali understood the concept of fear when he said, “It isn’t the mountains ahead to climb that wear you out; it’s the pebble in your shoe.”  When Ali was referring to the pebble, he was speaking of fear; the fear we tell ourselves when we say we can’t do it, or it’s too hard, I’ll never be able to finish; feeding those negative thoughts, instead of nourishing positive thoughts of accomplishment.

 

This is not an argument for gun control.  But this is a statement as to why we as a nation find ourselves confronted with all of these gun assaults in our schools (places of higher learning) and now in our nightclubs, where we go to have fun and let loose of our worries for a moment.  And not in just any nightclub, but a “gay” nightclub; like rainbow people are a threat.  But apparently to the shooter they were a threat. 

 

Why would he fear gay people?  Most likely he was dealing with issues regarding his own sexuality, and he feared he might be gay.  A lot of people who are dealing with stepping out of the closet deal with anger, it’s a fact.  I know, because I am a lesbian – been there, done that.   

 

For God sakes, our children are growing up scared of the world.  Instead of pumping more fear into them, we should be nourishing them with love and all those other positive attributes, like confidence, bravery and honor.  Teach them to stand tall, without fearing for their lives or what others may think of them. 

 

Whenever you find yourself getting angry ask yourself, “What am I afraid of?”  Realize your fear, but don’t allow your fear to own you.  Change the manner in which you think.  Instead of walking out of your house with a gun strapped to your side, walk out with a smile on your face, and an attitude of helping others in need. 

 

Try some daily affirmations like, “I have no fear, just love,” or “Everyone I meet is friendly and supportive,” or “I am confident and will not allow the judgment of others to bring me down,” or “I can climb that mountain.”  These affirmations work.  You won’t know until you try. 

 

Change the way you think and you will change what it is that you are attracting to you.  Live a peaceful life and you will find peace.  If you’re judgmental of others, they will judge you.  Or live in fear and attract fear.  It’s up to you.

THROUGH A CHILDS EYES – Keeping It Simple

When I was about eight years old, my mom and dad decided to send me and my two siblings to Catholic school.  I wasn’t too happy with this change of schools.  I had to make new friends, and I had to wear a dress.  Because the school was approximately three miles away, I now had to ride a bus to school and back as well. 

On the first day riding the bus home, my mom decided to wait for me at the bus stop.  As I bounced off the bus, I pointed to a brown skinned boy and declared with excitement, “Look mom, that’s my new boyfriend!” 

Without missing a beat, as I was waiving goodbye to Robert, my mother grabbed my other hand and began to escort me home.  She said, “Kim, white people and black people don’t date each other.  He can’t be your boyfriend.”

I looked up to her and said, “What do you mean? 

“They just don’t.  That’s the way it is,” as my mom tried to explain.

“But doesn’t Jesus say we're all the same?”

My mother snapped back, “Doesn’t Jesus say to listen to your parents?”

Of course the answer to that question is yes.  But somewhere deep inside, I knew she was wrong, because of what Jesus said . . . “they are yellow, black and white, they are precious in His sight, Jesus loves the little children of the world.” 

Go figure, you send your kid to a Catholic school, and they are taught that we all bleed the same, and Jesus loves everyone. 

We were not taught that there were exceptions to these rules.  Jesus didn’t say, only white people can love white people. 

Then a couple years later, when my parents divorced, I was told by the Church that my mom and dad could no longer partake in communion, which made about as much sense as condemning interracial relationships.   Jesus never laid out any rules regarding the holy act of communion.

Negativity will affect your spiritual well being.

We learn fear from our parents and our elders.  For my mother, it was a fear of being poor.  She grew up in a poor family, and set out with the purpose of disassociating herself from anything related to poverty, including race.

Even church’s incorporate the fear of its leaders - “Well, the bible doesn’t really say that divorcee’s can’t participate in communion, but I think because it is a holy reconciliation with Jesus, that it would only be appropriate.” 

That statement is nothing more than an assumption.  These leaders tend to forget that Jesus preached about forgiveness, the absence of judging people, and loving others as we would love Him.

The U.S. government uses fear to control “We the people,” as well. Fear of losing American jobs; they use the fear of terrorism to fuel the wars in the Middle East, for oil and the access to lay pipelines. 

By the time we grow up, we’re so full of fear that we no longer see the truth for what it really is.  But the truth will reveal itself when we begin to ask questions from the heart.  The heart is a symbol of love.  Jesus is often depicted as having a sacred heart (of love).  When Peter went to Jesus’ defense, with a sword in his hand, Jesus scolded Peter (Matthew 26:52).  Love, love, love . . . that’s what Jesus taught. 

It is pretty much a “Keep it simple stupid” philosophy.  There really is nothing tricky about it.  Love and have fun. Respect others and help them out when they’re needy.  Look at life through a child’s eyes, before you were taught how to hate, or be prideful and envious.  And question everything, just like a kid!

If you are feeling negative in any way, ask yourself, “What is it I fear?”  Own up to it and eliminate that fear from your life.   Un-complicate your existence; shed those chains and return your heart to a time of innocence & Love ~