Tuesday 19 January 2010

Haiti

In my work I often meet people whose beliefs or the situation they find themselves in, are in direct conflict with my own beliefs. My job is to "get my ego the heck out of here" and work intuitively to receive guidance and information that will help them make the right choices for themselves.

On a personal level however, I have strong opinions and a very strong belief system which I tend to keep to myself unless asked, or provoked. It was the latter that caused me to write this post.

There is a relatively new age way of thinking which appears to have grown in popularity over the last decade; in that we each of us chose our own lives prior to birth.

My intuitive hackles have always risen quite unspiritually whenever I have been confronted with this particular concept, especially as it is generally pronounced in a very condescending way, directed at another party who is in the midst of some major challenges.

First and foremost I'd really like to know: Who said?
Who said that this is the way things are?

If we are completely and totally honest we will admit that absolutely nothing that is the basis of any belief system or religion on this earth can be 100% proven. That is not to say that it may not be true. And that is not to say that we don't have the right to believe it. But we have no irrefutable proof. To callously proclaim this kind of dogma to someone who was traumatically sexually abused as a child for example, is at the very least utterly irresponsible and at the most, downright cruel.

This week I heard this same dogma applied to the victims of the earthquake in Haiti. I cannot begin to express my horror at the inhumanity of anyone who can calmly sit back at this time and pronounce "oh well, they chose to come into that life."

I can't wrap my head around that way of thinking. From where I'm standing, all this serves to do is make the person devoid of responsibility to feel anything, respond in any way, or heaven forbid, help another human being. Which is ironic based on the fact that this dogma stems from us taking responsibility for what happens to us in our lives. Their life? Their choice? Not ours to interfere with? Now isn't that just handy? This dogma isn't about responsibility. It's a total cop-out!!!

I don't have any answers. I don't remotely profess to know how this whole thing we call life works. I am lucky enough to be able to work intuitively for others when they ask me to and get guidance and information for them that is always supportive and encouraging. What I do know is that I have never, ever received any information that involved guilt and judgment.

I don't believe that I came into this world being meanly tricked by being forced to chose ghastly experiences for myself. That's pretty sick if you really think about it! I do believe that whoever or whatever created me did so with unconditional love. And I often can't help but wonder what part of the word "unconditional" is it that we still have so much trouble believing?

What happened to humanity? What happened to compassion? What happened to simply acknowledging a person's, a nation's pain? What happened to just giving a damn?

An earthquake hit Haiti. Thousands have been killed. Thousands more are without food or water, and little or no aid a week after the fact, despite what the mass media will have us believe.

Light a candle tonight to show that these people matter. Because they do. They didn't chose what happened to them. But something did. An unfathomable tragedy of epic proportions which is still unfolding. And each and every one of us can take responsibility. Can do something.

We can, at the very, very least, care.