In these chaotic times, a great deal of electrical energy percolates within the cultural life of our country. This crackling, electrical energy shows up as criticism, divisiveness, and an obsession with polemical arguments. It is a destructive force that turns people against people. This destructive force, which is antithetical to the life-giving force of spiritual energy, grace, and love, turns people against people. As Valentin Tomberg states, “To be against something is sterile and is never capable of engendering a viable tradition or giving birth to a school of spiritual life, while being for something is fertile and is an indispensable condition for all constructive activity.”
Let me put this in the context of the life of Francis of Assisi. Examples abound of the deep corruption of the 13th century Catholic church. The papacy wielded political, financial, and military might, even as the poor were ignored. Large numbers of the clergy lived immoral lives. The Church imposed deadly violence against dissenters and suspected heretics. Yet, Francis did not rail against these flagrant violations of the Gospel. He condemned no one. Rather, he grounded the entirety of his life and the life of the Franciscan movement in the spirit of truth, beauty, and love. The Franciscans became the change they longed to see in the Church and in the world, thus elevating both the Church and medieval Europe toward a higher, more life-giving culture. I am not saying that there is no place for legitimate, respectful debate. But there is little of that happening at the moment. Our public discourse has become largely polemical and destructive.
Of course, every century needs the consciousness of a Francis, a Harriet Tubman, a Gandhi, a Martin Luther King, a Mother Teresa, or an Ellie Wiesel. The truth is that you and I are called to embody the very same energy and spirit that they embodied. We are called to be the leaven in a culture that desperately needs to rise to new levels of loving righteousness. Listen to these beautiful words from Yogananda’s direct disciple Daya Mata:
“Don’t be discouraged by this doom and gloom; it will pass… We begin by trying to spiritualize the senses. Look only to the good, try to think only good. It does not mean that we become Pollyannas; it means we have the will, strength, devotion, and faith within to say: ‘My God, I’m yours. And I will do whatever I can in my little corner of the world to cheer and uplift others—whether they be my family, my neighbors, my community, whomever I can reach. I will do the best I can, even though I myself may be struggling.’ Yogananda often said, ‘Real saints are those who, even in the midst of their own sufferings, bring cheer and healing into the lives of all who come to them.’”
Beloved God,
May I be the change
I want to see
In my country
And in the world.
