Divided We Fall

Here in the UK we are locked in a terrible display of a political system that is no longer fit for purpose, trying to address the biggest question of our age. Daily we witness puerile attacks designed simply to put down the people sitting opposite. Almost no voice has risen above this ugly clamour as our lawmakers struggle to prove their points at the expense of consensus and co-operation. This, to us, is a result of centuries of the confrontational politics which is on display for all the world to see in pictures of our House of Commons, where people are arranged opposite each other in two main parties. The system seems designed to win over another while using the word democracy as often as possible to justify any poor behaviour.

As usual it is easy for us to point fingers at this lack of effective leadership and this disregard of common purpose and altruism. However, we do need to bring it back to ourselves and engage in a little self-examination. Can we see where we have not trusted and instead withdrawn into power struggle rather than move forward? The essence of trust is that you allow yourself to be vulnerable; you give up control and allow for the world to evolve and hold the confidence and belief that you will deal with whatever happens.

Trust is a powerful healing tool that is essential for us to learn. It is not that we become naive because in naivety we are in denial about the situation, but when we trust we recognise there is a problem and understand we might need to go to some difficult places but in the end, we believe it will work out well. Not only will it work out well, but we have the faith in ourselves that we will rise to whatever challenge we need to face to reach that positive outcome.

If we base our system on confrontation, trust evaporates; when we face something big then the fear becomes too strong. People cannot move forward and they resort to attack, which only increases the conflict.

This situation is a good reminder for us all that we need to forgive ourselves for our lack of courage to move forward, for our fear of vulnerability, which we hide underneath a fight, underneath a place where we are unwilling to give up our righteousness and then make others wrong. Only once we have done this can we then add our minds to moving this situation forward. We are all being called to give up our positions, embrace our vulnerability, apply our thoughts to a positive outcome and close the distance between us all. It is time we started to sit together rather than opposite, or even to sit in a circle embracing our equality and no longer being a hostage to our fears.

With love

Sue and Jeff