Amazing Grace
A Gay Opinion 1/10/03
By R. A. Melos
Lately I've been experiencing a unique feeling of contentment at the oddest moments, as if the universe is telling me everything is exactly as it should be at that precise moment in time. I'm exactly where I should be, and all is right with the world. It's a nice feeling, but I know all isn't right with the world.
As I write this, America stands on the brink of war with Iraq, North Korea is boldly ignoring bans on nuclear weapons, and things look very bleak. If America's goals are noble, to rid the world of oppression, cruelty and hate, they are also misplaced. America should start right in its own back yard, ridding the world of hate and cruelty at home before its leaders decide to go casting stones or scud missiles. Actually it should police up its leaders and their bigotry, before taking on the bigotry of other countries.
My own feelings of things being as they should be does not necessarily mean everything is good, only that events are unfolding as they should and I am aware of the timing, experiencing it on a heightened level. Events don't always present themselves so vividly, and all I am doing is recognizing and acknowledging their precision and thus the beauty of the universal energy as it comes together in the creation of the future.
We know there will be war, not because it is inevitable but because it is carrying a necessary lesson that can only be taught through a grand scale of destruction. The lesson is being presented as such because it is the form the vast majority will most comprehend. It is a harsh and ugly lesson.
Yet in its ugliness, the beauty of the precision of the universal energy comes through, if you look for it. Open your mind and heart to the energy, and take it all in, and you will be seeing things from a new perspective.
The more we, as a race, comprehend this lesson the less likely such a lesson will be repeated in our near future. Unfortunately the vast majority may comprehend the lesson, but it doesn't mean what we learned will be put into practice. Only the individual can experience true self-awareness, and only the individual can bring this self-awareness to the group. So while I know things are as they should be, I can only hope others will view the events with open eyes, open minds, and open hearts.
I was blind, but now I see. I only hope it isn't too late, and I know in my heart learning is a continuous process that never truly comes too late. If lessons can't be applied in this life a chance will be given to apply those lessons in another life, as long as we remember the lessons and choose the right paths.
Tolerance, acceptance, all encompassing love and compassion are the paths I wish to pursue. They are no easier paths than any others, and filled with obstacles, which make me turn from the paths, but I have the time to explore them, just as others have the time to explore paths of ignorance, bigotry and hate.
Sometimes the choices are made so clear to us, as in moments of total connection
with the universal energy, to know things are as they should be, and to know
the pain of the past was necessary for the understanding of the present and
the growth of the future.