Holding Light for the World

And that was his response!

"Love you and thanks for holding light for the world!"

This morning; the day after another mass shooting in the United States of America, I finally got on facebook; really not wanting to read all the comments, the rants, the opinions, etc. I just didn't want to see people take sides on the gun issue. No, I purposely stayed away from the social network yesterday as the news unfolded about the 20 children and 6 adults who were slaughtered in their elementary school. Yes, I watched the news which was worse I am sure, but I just couldn't watch and listen and read the accusations of this young man being "autistic" and whether that meant all autistic kids were killers; I just couldn't watch and listen and read the comments that people kill people not guns or how taking God out of the schools has caused Satan to run rampant. I just couldn't do it.

So this morning when I finally went on facebook, I began to have my fears confirmed and as a result I tried my best to come up with a status post that would be both insightful and yet say what was in my heart. I think I wrote and deleted about 10 of these posts. Initially, I was ranting about how easy it is to get guns and how hard to access mental health services. Then I began honoring the wonderful teachers and police and other first responders. I pulled in how patriarchal societies lend themselves to a culture full of hate and violence. But none got posted.

You see, it's not about any of that! But I just couldn't put the words to what I was feeling in my heart as once again we are bombarded by the media attention to another tragedy full of questions and no answers. What pushed this 20 year old young man to kill his mother and then go to her work and slaughter all those innocent people? What does a women need with 5 guns in her home (one an assault weapon)? Why couldn't he just take his own life if he was so tormented? Questions and no answers and no solutions to these terrifying events we seem to be made aware of on almost a daily basis now.

And there it was.

I have a very dear friend who frequently speaks very wise words to me. And this morning, he spoke one short sentence that said it all:

"Love you and thanks for holding light for the world!"

So, I went for a walk and let this sentence seep within my very soul. And I began to cry.

That is what is missing and slowly going away in the human race. We have lost the knowledge and the willingness to hold light for the world. We are so into what's in it for me, that we have lost our way in the wilderness because we have forgotten our real purpose as we walk this journey called human existence.

It is so easy to blame all the "evil" in the world on the lack of or the excess of rules and regulations. It is too easy to blame all the "evil" actions of human beings on one religion or another being pushed out of government, schools, football games, high school graduations. It has become common place for human beings to point the finger at everyone else to solve the problems of this "evil" in the world while wondering why when pointing one finger at another there are always 4 pointing back at us. We are the solution.

And so my dear wise friend said it all in one short response at the end of our chat about what is happening in the world and where do we go from here:

My dear wise friend, Riley, said, "Love you and thanks for holding light for the world!"

And that is what I dedicated myself to do on my walk with Goddess! I dedicated myself to holding that Love, Light and Joy for a world struggling in the Wilderness to remember that they are to do the same! What would it look like if our purpose and agenda every waking day of our life was to do just that!

Most people would laugh at me, but most do anyway. I have been laughed at all my life for my "pie in the sky" "rainbow colored glasses" glass is half full not half empty" view of life! But it has served me well; as I worked with dysfunctional and wounded families for 30 years as a social worker, as I parented my children and as I survived my own abusive marriage.

But lately I have let that Light begin to dim as I too have watched the darkness of the world seem to overcome any light still there. I have wearied of standing by and watching what is happening in the country I live in; mixed up priorities; selfish decisions or the lack of decisions at all; turf issues; hatred; abuse, neglect of all creation; and violence escalating to a degree I never thought possible.

"Love you and thanks for holding light for the world."

"Love you"
"Thanks for holding light for the world."

My friend holds that light too as do many of my lovely friends. But on this day, He made sure he spoke those words to me to remind me that I do indeed still hold that light and I am loved! He made sure that he reflected back to me what he sees and I have been forgetting.

And so, I say to you:

"Love you and thanks for holding light for the world."

Now pass it on!

Blessed be!