Sacred Activism: The Inception – Part-1
by Rev. Jenna Wexler
How a Vision of ‘Sacred Action’ Began
Amidst a long summer drought in the late 1990’s, a DC weather person joked that ‘the Mid-Atlantic region needed ‘three hurricanes to replenish our water table’. In a flash, this idea was virally adopted in an area of 10 million people. In that same flash, the mass consciousness of 10 million people unwittingly invited three hurricanes worth of damage into their lives.
As a Science of Mind student, I opted-out of this mass hypnosis by writing a ‘rainmaker’ affirmative prayer that I shared with other students and friends. It included a declaration that: Should a hurricane come up the coast, it would park itself off-shore and bless the area with steady, gentle, harmless rains. Despite the statistical odds, this prayer was powerful as several hurricanes did come up the coast that summer—and then paused off-shore, blessing us with days of harmless, steady, gentle rains.
After “911” occurred, I noticed the minute by minute harvesting and fueling of our nation’s ripe anger and fear to justify a new war. I often wondered what might have happened if there had been a resonant field of focused consciousness groups ‘holding’ a higher truth for the US and the world.
Then, during my Practitioner studies in 2002, the Baltimore/Washington, DC area was terrorized by a “Beltway Sniper”. Another Religious Science minister and I were invited to an interfaith meeting where we were asked to lead a ‘prayer pod’ for this threat … because, as the host noted, “Religious Scientists really know how to pray powerfully.”
Living in a Troubled World
When something happens in the world that troubles our hearts and minds, our instinctive reaction is to ask, “What can I do [to help]?” We yearn to do more than write a check; yet, as individuals, we are left without clear options.
Typically, we lack a personal means and a loving community through which we can be open, heard and our thoughts and feelings honored. We typically lack a means and community in which we can process our powerful and raging thoughts and feelings, release them and transform our troubled thoughts, emotions, and fears. And then all too soon, the next day’s news flips us into a new situation and wounding — chronically leaving us frustrated and disempowered in a world of serial threats.
Let’s be honest with ourselves … we live in a culture that celebrates violence, embraces various forms of prejudice and inequalities, sanctions widespread pollution, and questions the need for sustainable and beneficial change supporting the wellbeing of all life on Earth. In so many ways we each have deep concerns about the long-range impacts this poses for ourselves, our children and our planet.
In 2014, the Centers for Spiritual Living (CSL) embraced the mission of “A world that works for everyone”. This is a powerful mission and it poses this question: “What can WE do – here and now (together)” to start acting in ways that will help create this?
In my next post, I’ll share my explorations since 2002 and how we can pioneer together.
Photo by NASA Visible Earth
