Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Miracles and changing the world

"Miracles are not contrary to nature, but only contrary to what we know about nature." Augustine of Hippo

I believe that we can affect matter, time and space with the power of thought and the assertion of our will...I pray...pretty much constantly. Prayer is thought and the assertion of the will. Whether "God" does it or my own thought and will is of little consequence to me...but I have experienced the power of it in some very practical and often subtle but powerful ways. The seemingly serendipitous coming together of opportunity and resources to some unanticipated (because it seemed impossible) fortunate turn of events.

Raging against systemic injustice is an exercise in futility. The world is not made up capitalists and socialists and communists and fundamentalists and atheists...(these are labels we use to dehumanize those we wish to hate)...it is made up of people...billions of individual people...caught up in the their own cycles of suffering, death and rebirth. I feel the burn of frustration at the intentional evil done in the name of wealth, power, religion etc.

When I quiet my mind and heart I realize that I am very. very small...but I possess tremendous power...I can change my thought process...I can choose to be compassionate in the face of greed...I can love the "unlovable"...I can endure any suffering...I can be joyful even in the depths of my own sorrow (Joy and sorrow are not opposites. Happiness and sorrow are because they are emotions...Joy is a state of being). The only way that systemic injustice will be defeated is through individual acts of justice...and Love. There are no short cuts.

God isn't coming down from the sky to set everything right...we've got to do it. We have the God given power to do it and we have the resources to do it. If we are created in the "image and likeness of God"...then we have the ability and the responsibility to BE Godlike and create a world worthy of a God of Love and Compassion...by being loving and compassionate.

"Great acts are made up of small deeds." Lao Tzu

Much Love...Mitakuye Oyasin!

Michael Iott
Society of Blessed John XXIII