Two 100-0 Votes in the U.S. Senate
Issue 87
Let’s talk about intention-setting. In many ways, the act of setting — and cultivating — shiny, clear intentions is the crux of conscious living. Said another way, it’s the crux of living intentionally, on purpose. It’s part of co-creating with Source, the energy that creates worlds, a reality in which we actually want to live. A significant, simple, but often overlooked component of this process is what I call magnification, which works like this: One who has always struggled financially and who is actively cultivating an intention for a life of financial freedom — to always have an abundance of dollars on hand for anything desired at any time — sees a quarter on the ground as he goes hither and yon. His only bank account is in the red but, still, because he is in
the process of actively co-creating his intention, he exclaims: Holy shit! My intention is in motion! It’s happening! He picks up the quarter and puts it in his pocket. He conjures, on purpose, feelings of expansion and ease and relief which, for him, are part of financial freedom. I am richer now than I was two seconds ago! The Universe keeps surprising me! This is the way things work! Money is easy! Money finds me wherever I am! He invests his precious time and energy in what he wants and when something shows up that aligns with it even a little bit, he pounces. He understands that, in this case, the quarter is simply an excuse to fortify and fuel his intention. He appreciates that it is both a lot of doing and no doing at all, all at the same time. He knows how the game is played.
Care to stroll with me, then, over to the U.S. Senate? I think I saw a “quarter” glistening there in the springtime sun, ten or so days ago and, yep, here it is. It’s in the form of two bills passed with unanimous roll-call votes — that’s 100-0 to you and me. They occurred. They happened. (Corresponding votes in the House were nearly unanimous.) One bill revokes “most favored nation” status from Russia and Belarus; the other bans imports of oil, liquefied gas, and coal from Russia. Why these votes now? We’ll get to that in a bit. But first, please indulge this conscious politics practitioner, who happens to be on team #functionalgovernment, as I pause for some magnification: See?! It’s possible! Even in these oh so polarizing times, every single U.S. senator can agree on something! Twice! That means Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA); it means Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-HI) and Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) — and 96 others all supporting, well, at this point, I don’t even care what they’re supporting — I’m just luxuriating in knowing that agreement among them can happen. Polarization is not static! Impossible becomes possible all the time! More and more of this, Universe! Please! Feel the unity! And on and on.
To be sure, unanimous votes on everything in Congress is not the intention. The intention is functional government and these votes give us a glimmer of that. Thus, we magnify the votes because, like the quarter, we use what shows up. It’s how energy works. It’s how the law of attraction works. It’s how conscious practice works. Something we didn’t think was possible is suddenly possible. We choose on purpose to maximize and magnify what we like. So there’s that.
Now let’s talk about choice because it applies to these votes, too. Choices abound is the idea and being conscious of what we’re choosing is the practice. This always teaches us something about who we are and what we value. I’ve got just one perspective but we Americans — via Congress and these bills — seem to be valuing something about international law writ large and, more specifically, the right and wrong way to prosecute a war. These votes seem to indicate that we are valuing…accountability:
“We have no time to waste and must immediately further punish Vladimir Putin,” said Rep. Richard Neal, D-MA.
“No nation whose military is committing war crimes deserves free trade status with the United States. No vile thug like Putin deserves to stand as an equal with the leaders of the free world. He is a menace and a pariah who has ensured his place in history will be one of everlasting shame,” said Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-NY.
“Thanks to Congress for its partnership and leadership in making Putin a global economic and financial pariah,” tweeted Jake Sullivan, National Security Advisor.
There also seems to be, in these votes, a sense of choosing solidarity with Ukraine, a country striving to be a democratic nation 30 years since the fall of the Soviet Union, of which it was a significant part:
“Messaging is important here and showing action is important. You’ve got the Ukrainians on the battlefield every day. The least we can do is get these bills passed,” said Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD).
“Some lawmakers said that the failure to take final action on the bills was sending the wrong message to allies and to Russia.”
I personally find this interesting given that “democracy or autocracy” is a choice being considered fervently worldwide, including right here at home. Apparently, Republicans are not as all-in for Putin, autocracy, and war crimes as it appeared they were, um, very recently. Good to know, especially in light of midterm elections this year. But again and to be clear, it’s not these votes we are hanging our hats on any more than our friend hung his hat on the quarter he found. Instead, we invest our precious time and energy on cultivating our intention for functional government. We make sure we believe it’s possible. And we magnify the shit out of anything that shows up that’s even remotely in line with it because that’s how conscious practice works.
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Bring it. Bring on the quarters, the harmony, and the appreciation of all intentions showing up as manifestations. Thank you, again, for this bright glimmer of hope in my day.
Interesting how the threat of war can bring apposing elements together.