This Skill Will Help You Navigate the Shift in Consciousness - Even When the Subject is War

Issue 115

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If this is your first read, welcome to The Conscious Politics Op-Ed (formerly The Conscious Politics Sunday Newsletter), currently being published whenever possible.

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Perhaps you’ve heard: a shift in human consciousness is underway and we are living in the midst of it. It’s old news that the old consciousness continues to assert itself — quite shamelessly, often violently, and rather relentlessy — from its deathbed. Patriarchy, force, separation, war, win-at-all-costs, and subjugation are a few examples of what’s being clung to and what’s dying off. There’s no telling how much longer it will cling and, apparently, it’s not our job to kill it. For we have far more interesting things to do because, of course, an entirely new consciousness is being born, too. Its hallmarks include but are not limited to unity, compassion, peace, vibrant physical health, joy, equity, authenticity, transparency, environmental stewardship and so much more. When it takes firmer hold, we humans will be living entirely different lives here on Earth, our home.

We can help the new consciousness take firmer hold with some deliberate practice, which is ostensibly what we’re all about, right? As it happens, this was one of the topics in last week’s Conscious Politics Free Monthly Training: navigating everyday life while living in the midst of consciousnesses coming and going. Let’s use the war in Gaza as a foil today because, why not? I’ll share some of what it looks like to me when I don my conscious practice lens trusting that you, dear reader, will see what any or all of it looks like to you when you don yours.

First up — for all of us — is alignment with intention/desire. For me that is peace on Earth for all peoples for all time. It’s shorthand but it’s enough to remind me of the breadth and depth of what it means to me and, critically, I know full well what it feels like (listen to inspiration.) The skill we are building, the thing that will help us navigate the swirl of energies on a minute-by-minute, hour-by-hour, day-by-day basis is discernment. Are we able to discern, at any given moment, what is in front of us? Is it the old, dying consciousness, the new, being-born consciousness, or something in between?

This is infinitely easier when it’s all one or the other. For example, when the Israeli prime minister talks about “destroying Hamas” (everything is energy and energy cannot be created or destroyed) and absolutely insists, as policy, on denying millions of human beings their right to self-determination (absence of compassion) and believes that vengeance is his (beliefs matter; I believe he’s wrong), the icky feeling (yes, feeling) in my stomach is how I know that something’s off; it’s how I know I’m out of alignment. It’s how I discern that I’m not in the right place for me. Period.

Conversely, when I do nothing more than peruse the website of, say, the Peace Alliance, I experience resonance/alignment with intention. They say peacebuilding is “a conscious action toward solving systemic issues that create conflict” and they advocate for “building peace for everyone.” Ahhh. That just feels right to me; I feel at-home. The words and ideas feel warm and inviting. I feel connected to like-minded, like-spirited people and I feel peace. I discern that my precious time and energy is far better spent with the Peace Alliance than the prime minister of Israel because of how I feel. Good to know.

The skill we are building, the thing that will help us navigate the swirl on a minute-by-minute, hour-by-hour, day-by-day basis is discernment. Are we able to discern, at any given moment, what is in front of us?

Then there’s the mushy, convoluted swirl wherein people talk about war and peace all at the same time. We have a right to defend ourselves! So do we! This isn’t defense! Yes, it is! It’s our money! We’re following the law! Destroy the enemy! Ceasefire! Your leaders are scum! Your leaders lie! We need more weapons! We are the adults in the room! We will not negotiate anything with you! We are far better at war than you are! We are military geniuses! Humanitarian aid! Crimes against humanity! We’re taking you to court! Who cares?! Ceasefire! We’re fighting for peace! Safety and security! More weapons! You can kill them, but not them! We lead through strength! It’s genocide! It’s NOT genocide! Yes it is, say it! No, I won’t! You hate yourself. No, I hate you. Here, sign this resolution. Fuck you, sign this resolution. Immediate ceasefire now! Destroy them! I’m protesting! I’m not voting! Ceasefire! Good gawd almighty, people. Every single person/entity contributing to this morass is unwittingly perpetuating war because, well, let’s just say there’s a world of difference between attempting to make war less bad and making war obsolete.

People who accept war as an option and endeavor to wage it less badly are not my first choice to recruit for the project of peace on Earth for all peoples for all time. I can discern, with a very blah feeling, that there’s no there there, that it’s not worth investing my precious time and energy in all of that. Yet I’m always on the lookout for where to invest it and what do you know? I think I may see some new consciousness in the swirl of so much talk about war and peace, a signal in the noise perhaps.

It’s the consciousness of Young America, yet again, the under-40/35/30 cohort of our fellow citizens. They seem far more appalled than older generations by how U.S. foreign aid — in the form of money and weapons — can be so readily used to inflict untold harm on innocent people. They seem far less willing to accept war as an option, at least I hope they are. Their energies have been consistent and persistent for the duration of this war to date. They seem far more inclined to see human beings as human beings and to see beyond tribes and borders. I don’t really know for sure, but if what I’m surmising is true, I feel hopeful. Maybe even excited. And, thus, I take another step in that direction because of that feeling.

But where there is a rub for me, where I fall out of alignment with this cohort, is when I see their anger, vitriol, and ire about what’s happening in Gaza and America’s role in it directed at specific politicians, officeholders, groups, governments, and institutions. On the one hand, it seems like that’s all there is to do and an argument can be made. But inspiration tells me otherwise. It says we cannot browbeat the old consciousness into cultivating the new. It says there’s a better use of our collective time and energy. It says that if we want peace on Earth for all peoples for all time we must start an entirely new conversation — one that is about peacebuilding, not one that is about making war less bad.

All of which seems to buttress my ever-hardening hypothesis that Conscious Politics needs Young America and Young America needs Conscious Politics.

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