This past Saturday afternoon, I wrote a message to send to my son in a peaceful meditative state. After I finished, I decided to turn on the television to get an update on an upcoming professional playoff basketball game. Before I turned to the station I wanted, I saw the news report of the shooting that had just taken place at a supermarket outside of Buffalo, New York. Ten people died, and three others were injured. Most of the victims were African Americans who the perpetrator specifically targeted while live-streaming the attack on social media. While such events seem to have become commonplace, it still jars our human sensibilities when such events happen–at least they ought to.
On Sunday, a minister in the Buffalo area talked about the loss experienced by several of his congregants. Those congregants had friends or relatives who died in the shooting. He shared about a young woman who stood next to a teacher as she was gunned down, a church member who lost their uncle, and another who lost a long-time friend. The friends and relatives are hurting. They are angry. They ask, "Why is this happening - again?!" They didn't just direct their anger toward the man who committed this act out of racial animus. They pointed their upset at the larger society that created the environment for a tragedy like this to happen.
We're seeing the out-picturing of ailments in consciousness that go beyond an individual; it is an ailment that reflects a blight on the collective consciousness. If we intend to live as the higher order of beings we are meant to be, we must transform that blight. I plan to write more extensively on the spiritual implications and solutions to events such as these. In the meantime, let us surround the family, friends, and the Buffalo community with prayers of compassion and comfort. Toward that end, I invite you to join in and embody these words:
Divine Spirit,
We surrender to your presence.
We send comfort and healing to those with broken hearts.
We stay grounded and centered in Spirit.
Each day and every moment of the day, we are infused with your love.
Our actions create a better, more peaceful, and harmonious world and align with your Divine Energy.
Our minds and hearts always come from a place of purity and truth.
We remember the truth of our being that we are all offspring of love.
Behind the illusions of fear and separation, we see, affirm, and live from the realization we are divine expressions of perfect love.
We co-create a safe and more beautiful world as we see this truth.
We remember we are all born as original blessings.
We are instruments of the Divine.
We are healed.
We are whole.
We are blessed.
We remove anything that blocks or hinders this truth.
And so it is.
Peace and Blessings,
James