[amc] Mr. Bush: I'm Coming for You with Love
- From: "Ray Gingerich" <RGingerich@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "Austin Center for Peace & Justice" <acpj@xxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 28 Feb 2003 21:51:58 -0600
Mr. Bush: I'm Coming for You with Love
by Robert Rabbin
Dear Mr. Bush,
Today is February 17th. Yesterday I attended the peace rally at the
Civic Center in San Francisco, along with about 250,000 other people, as
diverse a group of human beings as could be found anywhere in the world.
I wish you could have been there.
You were, as you might suspect, a central topic of conversation. Your
picture was on wide display, though not always in the most flattering of
ways. Had you been there, you would have heard many people denounce you
for your foreign policy (and for your domestic policies as well). I do
not denounce you.
You would have heard many people express their anger and outrage towards
you and your administration. I am not angry nor outraged.
You would have heard people criticize and condemn you for your
implacable stand for war with Iraq. I do not criticize or condemn you.
Had you been there, you might have felt that many people even hated you.
But I do not hate you-even though you stand alone-belligerent and
defiant-against the United Nations, against the will and good judgement
of the people of the United States, against the will and good judgement
of the people of all other nations in the world, against prudence,
against reason, against every sacred impulse to preserve life, against
the united voices of religious leaders who are the emissaries of
wisdom...even though you stand alone against all of this I do not hate
you.
I love you and I thank you, for you have shown me who is truly
responsible and culpable for the current state of affairs. It is not
you, nor your administration. Though it would be easy to make a case
against you for bullying the world toward World War III, for threatening
all prospects of a peaceful and prosperous future for not just our
nation but for all nations, I will not do so.
You are not to blame. I am. Not you. Me. This is what you have shown me,
and for this I love you and thank you. You have awakened me to my own
responsibility for these gathering storm clouds of misery and calamity.
Here is what you have taught me: When I should have been awake, I was
asleep. When I should have been involved, I was apathetic. When I should
have been paying attention, I was distracted. When I should have been
concerned, I was disinterested. When I should have spoken up, I was
silent. When I should have been active, I was passive. When I should
have stood tall, I crouched meekly. This is what you have taught me.
You have also reminded me of the core teaching of all spiritual
traditions and paths: We are all One being, connected and
interdependent, sharing the same soul of light and love. From this view,
the truth of which is confirmed by my personal experience, you are my
own self. How can I blame you? When I look at you, at see myself.
It is not a self I want to see, but there it is. When I see myself in
you, I become ashamed, even fearful, for I see how easily I could forget
everything I have learned in 30 years of spiritual study and practice.
You remind me of who I was, one who had lost his living connection to
love. And I am reminded of how without love there is no empathy; and
without empathy, there is no feeling; and without feeling, one could
plan to send 800 cruise missiles into the cribs and carriages of young
children whose names and faces do not exist except as pinpoints on a
map, how one could want to launch a horror the likes of which have never
been seen on this Earth, how one could simply push away all good and
wise counsel with the brutal hand of military might married to arrogance
and ignorance, how one could justify unleashing a firestorm of death on
a country, half of whose population is under 15 years of age. Though
your motives are clear and indisputable-revenge, imperialism, and
profit-these are not the true cause. The true cause is that I have
forgotten to live what I know; I have forgotten to love the world in
real and telling ways. And now I live as you. And though I speak to you,
I am speaking to myself.
You have helped me remember that I am to live what I know, that I am to
love the world in real and telling ways. You have helped me awaken from
my apathy with a ferocious passion for life. You have touched something
deep within me, you have aroused something that is almost fearsome to
behold-it is the power of love, too long forgotten and betrayed. But not
now, and I pray not ever again, will I forget or betray love.
And with this awakened and aroused passionate power of love I intend to
stop you. So, I want you to know that I am coming for you, now that you
have shown me that you are a part of my own self still steeped in
forgetfulness and ignorance. I am coming for you, but not with anger or
hate or blame. I am coming for you with love. I am going to bring you
back into my greater Self, the one that could never, ever-not in a
billion years-think up the things you have thought up. I am coming for
you.
One more thing. Do not underestimate the power of love. Do not add this
mistake to the long and growing list of mistakes you have already made.
Do not think love is weak, or passive, or fearful.Love created the
universe. Love is a power louder than missiles, more powerful than fear,
more conquering than hate. Love cannot be stopped, but you can be. And
you will be, because I am coming to stop you with love.
C 2003/Robert Rabbin/All rights reserved
Robert Rabbin is a life-long mystic, author, and catalyst for clarity
who recently descended from the mountain peaks of transcendence. He
lives down here now, but with the view from above. Robert's mission is
to gather the world's mystics into a radical force for social reform.
For further details and contact information, please visit
www.robrabbin.com.
_____
Robert's new book, "Igniting the Soul at Work: A Mandate for Mystics,"
is now available through bookstores and Amazon.com.
(ISBN 1571742719; Hampton Roads, 2002, 143 pages,
$15.95)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Every community needs a group of angelic troublemakers."
Bayard Rustin, nonviolent activist and social reformer
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ROBERT RABBIN
Mill Valley, CA 94941-1928 USA
robrabbin@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
(415) 705-0807
http://www.robrabbin.com
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