Living in a Changing Environment

And so I’d like to offer this idea to you all, which is to consider the last two years a two-year stress test upon your life. This has been a very stressful time. And when environment changes, everything changes. And so you have these two years to look back and consider: What has happened? How have you responded? What are your tendencies when things change, either practically or even emotionally or mentally in your life, or relationally in your life? So this is a chance to understand yourself.

And I have a quick Slido here I’m going to put up and it’s just two parts. I’m curious to know what has gotten…what has proven to be stronger than you thought in your life? And what has proven to be weaker than you thought in your life in these last two years within this stress test that we’ve been in? So I’m going to put this on screen here and maybe we can get a link in the Chat. But what has proven strongest in this two-year period? And as you consider this, think of your Pillars. Think of your health. How has your health been in the last two years? Think about your relationships; what has happened in your relationships in the last two years? Think about your work, your career. How has that gone in the last two years? And then, your spiritual practice; how has that been in the last two years?

And I’m most interested in what you are experiencing in yourself versus what is happening to you. So yes, you might have lost your job or you might have had difficult co-workers or a boss situation, but I’m curious about your experience of work, of relationships, of health.

And as you’re typing, I’ll just share that I think it’s really interesting how it seems like this global pandemic and all of the resulting societal and political and economic events that have taken place have been kind of a force upon our lives and have caused certain things to break, break down, and then certain things to rise up. And I think that’s really interesting, and especially the breaking down. Did something break down because it needed to and this was just impetus; this was releasing you from the bonds of the past such that what needed to happen could happen? Or did something happen that didn’t really need to happen or that was really difficult and it might have happened simply because that was a weak link in the chain of your life that broke?

So we’ve got this great opportunity to experience the force of the Great Waves, this immense powerful force upon our personal lives. So this is interesting [the Slido]: Health and Relationships, but more Health seems to stand out. So here we have a global health crisis, but are we thinking that our health has been the stronger part of us?

Okay, this is good. Now I’m going to ask a different question and that is:
What area of your life has proven the weakest?
And there’s no shame in this. It’s just wonderful proof as to what was weaker than we thought it was in a Great Waves environment. While you’re typing I’m going to read you a passage from the new revelation: Facing the Pandemic and the Great Waves of Change.

A pandemic, as great as it is—and it is great—is but one of the Great Waves of change. It can prepare you for what is to come beyond it, but if you cannot prepare, if you will not prepare, if you will not become educated and adapt yourself to changing circumstances, then you will not fare well in the future.

We are saying these things to you today because there are greater Waves of Change coming to the world. You live in a world that is becoming hotter. You have changed the climate of the world, the chemistry of the atmosphere. When your environment changes, everything changes. When your climate changes, everything changes. When your resources are depleted, everything changes.

So the Great Waves really does call out this environmental context that is shifting under our feet. And we’re being given a taste of what that’s like. So I do think Spiritual practice stands out in this image as something that took a big hit, and Health and Relationships as well.
I’d like to share with you a passage. This is from Wisdom [from the Greater Community], volume I:

It is pointless to try to be safe. It is hopeless. Life will get you sooner or later. Being safe as a main emphasis makes you far more vulnerable because you are far less able to deal with change and circumstances. You do not meet them; you avoid them, and so they overtake you. If you are running from life, it will seem to overtake you. If you are running to life, it will embrace you. —Preparing for the Future

I thought of this passage today because in my experience of the pandemic the more reactive and passive I’ve been in my life, the more I have suffered for it. And the more proactive and intentful I’ve been in these two years, the better my life has gotten, the stronger I felt, the better I’ve slept. Everything seems to work. And I do think this is really an important key to understanding what it means to face the Great Waves.

To face means to turn and face directly, to put yourself in front of. And when we do that, when we run to life, so to speak, life will embrace us; the way opens up. When we turn away, when we seek to shield or to protect ourselves or to pull away from these events, this is where it seems to be overtaking. And I’m sure many of you might resonate with this experience of both feeling overtaken but also in a different approach, feeling like life is opening up before you.

And so I think this is really important for us. It’s so important to be extra proactive in your life, especially when your environment is changing this much as with this global pandemic. Otherwise you might start to feel like everything is just happening to you; you’re just taking hits left, right and center. And so when the environment changes dramatically, it’s important to be going somewhere within that environment. Otherwise those waves, those currents, they’ll just take you way off course. So the more powerful the current, the more powerful your engine needs to be and sense of direction with it.

And the New Message gives us an amazing set of tools here. It gives us the map. It gives us the compass. It shows us what the sails really are that push us forward. And it teaches us how to navigate with sails in this windy ocean, in this turbulent environment. So we’re being given these tools to be the captains of our ships, and it’s really important that we’re engaged in that, I feel.

So one thing Marshall said a few days ago that I thought was important is, “Awareness is not preparation; action is preparation. It is about doing real things in your life and in the world.” And so part of our calling today is to step beyond awareness—reading articles, talking about what’s happening, worrying about what’s happening—to doing something in your life that represents movement. And you know there are times when it’s important to know before you act, and then there are times when you have to act before you can know. And this might be one of those times where you just need to start taking some action in your life so that you can feel a sense of confirmation, a yes or a no regarding that action.

To be passive and to be waiting for knowledge, waiting for something to reach you or to impact you, well, there’s a lot that’s going to impact you if you’re just that receptive and that passive. So this could be a time to know as you go instead of know before you go.

And I also think it’s time to be careful not just with our health and our exposures in the world, but extra careful in our mind and emotions. There’s a Step [152] in Steps to Knowledge: I will not follow (the waves of) fear in the world. Well, there are many other waves as well right now: waves of anger, waves of resentment, waves of distrust, waves of suspicion. And so be careful with your mind. It is a huge part of your vehicle. It is really the vehicle in which you are moving day by day. Because often we’re at home these days or where our lives have shrunken physically, but mentally and emotionally this is our vessel. And so be careful with what you expose yourself to. Be careful with emotions I think at this time, and pick your battles.

The Great Waves are going to spur many, many controversies and other issues in the world. And some of these will be very tangential or secondary to why you’re in the world, but also very compelling and very angering and very provoking. So be careful; pick your battles. Know what has your name on it and don’t just react to everything going on out there.