What good may emerge from the crisis of 9-11?

Patterns of hope identified in messages circulating on the Net,
between September 11 and 16, 2001, and connected by

by George Pór

Introduction
1. Drawn together
2. We must first understand
3. Love or fear
4. We can't end violence with more violence
5. Consciousness and compassion
6. Dedication
7. Links to inner resources
8. Opportunities for helpful action

Introduction

I feel deeply touched and inspired by many wise voices spreading on the Net. There's an amazing story emerging from the quotes below. It's the story of a new spirit coming into being, in response to the tragedy of September 11.

The quotes are coming from the zillions of email I received in the last 5 days, including a compilation of messages sent by my friend Arian Ward who has a webpage of thoughts and resources related to tragedy.

Together, they provide healing and guidance, and point to the possibility that extraordinary responses to the current, extraordinary crisis may emerge from the self-organizing collective consciousness of concerned citizens.

Thank God our time is now when wrong
comes up to face us everywhere,
never to leave us till we take
the longest stride of soul humans ever took.

(Christopher Fry quoted by Margaret Wheatley, in "Dancing the Dark: Coming Back Together in Difficult Times," an address delivered to the Shambala Institute's Authentic Leadership community)

TOP

1. Drawn together

These unspeakable acts dramatically draw most of us together in our shock and disbelief. (Peggy Holman)

Let our hearts-minds reach out to each other...breath together...and pray together ))) (Joel & Michelle Levey)

We do believe there is hope in this situation as there is in any situation no matter how devastating and insurmountable it seems. We believe this hope lies in Community -- cultivating and nurturing the sense of belonging and connection that connects us as human beings beyond our immediate families. (Arian Ward)

As stress waves are generated, people's emotions pick up the incoherent energy and the emotional after-effects keep reverberating. To help ease the collective anxiety, we all need to go deeper in the heart and connect with the hearts of others. Creating a heart-field environment helps to balance the emotions and protect you and others from fear, anger, judgments and blame. (Doc Childre)

Please join me in compassionate conversation with as many people as possible - not instructing others in how to respond but in listening and feeling together and discovering what our responses might be. May we flood our streets with love rather than fear. (Vicki Robin)

TOP

2. We must first understand

We need to deal with the underlying causes of this hatred and violence or we will only perpetuate this vicious cycle and work right into the hands of those who want something to hate and fight against. We must show the world and those who so despise our country that we are more than just a super-bully with big muscles who can beat up anyone we want to anytime we want to. We must show we are a nation of love and compassion. Did the Bible say that our love and compassion should only be extended to those who agree with us and act just like us? To love and care, we must first understand. (concerned citizens to President Bush)

How we understand this event governs how we will respond... (Vicki Robin)

What about those who celebrate it? Who are they? What is it that moves them to joy as the rest of us are moved to tears? (Peggy Holman)

When violence becomes so prevalent throughout the planet, it's too easy to simply talk of "deranged minds." We need to ask ourselves, "What is it in the way that we are living, organizing our societies, and treating each other that makes violence seem plausible to so many people?" (Rabbi Michael Lerner)

We may tell ourselves that the suffering of refugees and the oppressed have nothing to do with us--that that's a different story that is going on somewhere else. But we live in one world, increasingly interconnected with everyone, and the forces that lead people to feel outrage, anger and desperation eventually impact on our own daily lives. (Rabbi Michael Lerner)

Let us seek not to pinpoint blame, but to pinpoint cause. Unless we take this time to look at the cause of our experience, we will never remove ourselves from the experiences it creates. Instead, we will forever live in fear of retribution from those within the human family who feel aggrieved, and, likewise, seek retribution from them.