The Death of Bin Laden

I'm always looking for the spiritual aspect in every situation. This path I've chosen urges me to seek the higher response and/or reaction....even when someone who wore the face of evil dies. What can we learn here? Did I cheer when my daughter sent me a text to turn on the news? Did I let out a sigh of relief? Does this news make me happy? No. There are enough folks right this moment using plenty of expletives to describe this man, and feeling pretty darn proud to be an American this night. I will refrain from adding my voice to the loudness of this country's moment in history. If history has shown us anything it has been pretty clear that when one tyrant has met their demise, another will rise up. When 9/11 happened I had to ask myself what part I played in that event, and by that I mean in my own individual life. What did I do, or continue to do that may contribute to the terror of people in my life? A strong word to use, but I believe the big terrible things that happen in life are some type of outcropping from our individual lives, the choices we make, the resentments and anger we carry get projected onto the bigger screen sometimes. So I would ask myself.....had I ever scared someone with my anger, or destroyed the hopes and dreams of someone else? In one form or another I would have to answer, yes, at times in the past I have acted out of my own pettiness, we all have. Pretty tough questions, but really, I have wondered at the times in my own small world when I acted hatefully, either knowingly or unknowingly. Ever think how we are viewed by third world countries, and what is it about the US that inspires such revenge? Are we viewed and judged by our excesses? Our stupid preoccupation with celebrity, fashion, anti-aging? Do we appear like we're the enemy? Does the shady side of our Government command respect, or loathing? While I didn't fly a plane into the World Trade Center, I had to ask myself, how many times have I torn someone down out of my own attempt to feel better about myself? How many times have I committed an act of self-terrorism.....attacking myself, the part I didn't like and tried to destroy? Again, while no where near the scope of such an attack as 9/11, (again, these are just my musings) I still need to go within and see where I can bring the situation home. Anyway, my mind runs with questions like these when something of this magnitude happens, a way of making sense, I guess, or rather a way to grow and self-reflect.

So tonight, let the death of this man make me a gentler woman. Let this blow for world peace (doubting it will ever be really achieved though on the outside) be a cue to make peace in my own life with whomever I need to make amends with. Let me not celebrate the death of a such a man, but rather let me celebrate the renewal of my own efforts to live in peace. Simple minded thinking, you say? Maybe, but simple makes sense to me. Looking for the lesson in something and distilling the largeness of the world down to something I can relate to in my life is how I grow. I do not celebrate the death of any man or woman, no matter what they did in this life, but I look to the greater lesson here and take responsibility for my own actions, and I will try, once again, to endeavor to practice peace, quietness, forgiveness, self-reflection....and hopefully when I awake tomorrow our world will be a little safer. But then again, if there isn't an inner shift in how we deal with each other, and other countries, there will be yet another tyrant to rise up among us unchecked, once again. Let our work then be to live in balance, in compassion with one another, and in open-mindedness for individual change. Let our collective lives be one of self-responsibility and kindness. Someday it will reach critical mass.....and then the world will become a gentler place in which to live.

But it begins within....and it's a quiet thing.

Until next time....blessings (and peace) upon your heart.

Cindy