{"id":319,"date":"2008-05-30T06:16:15","date_gmt":"2008-05-30T06:16:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/conversationswithgod\/2008\/05\/things-i-dont-understand.html"},"modified":"2008-05-30T06:16:15","modified_gmt":"2008-05-30T06:16:15","slug":"things-i-dont-understand","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/conversationswithgod\/2008\/05\/things-i-dont-understand.html","title":{"rendered":"Things I don’t understand"},"content":{"rendered":"

There are some things in life I just don’t understand. For instance, I just don’t understand a regime such as the one in Myanmar that would wait one minute, much less days and days and days, to accept international assistance in dealing with a nationwide calamity such as the cyclone that hit there.
\nTo me it is amazing that our global system of governance (each country governs itself, and no world body can intervene in the way any particular government — democracy or autocracy or theocracy or outright dictatorship — conducts its internal affairs. This is called the doctrine of the Sovereignty of States, and it holds that no nation or group of nations…not even an entire outraged world…can step in when a particular nation’s government is acting insanely or cruelly or oppressively toward its people.
\nIn other words, the people of the world are at the mercy of their rulers. And when their rulers have an absolute lock on power (North Korea comes to mind. And Zimbabwe. And, of course, Myanmar. Among others) that’s the end of that. The people can be starving to death, or they can be obliterated by force (as in Darfur) and there is nothing that any international body can do about it. We all just stand by and watch. Tsk-tsking, shaking our heads, sadly commenting…but just watching nonetheless.
\nOn a planet of sentient beings who called themselves evolved, would a new kind of governing ethic require intervention? What stops the people of the earth, do you think, from empowering such a global body to step in in situations such as these and stop the suffering and the oppression?
\nConversations with God<\/em> has much to say about this. It says that in cultures where Highly Evolved Beings co-exist, these kinds of situations would be unheard of. Do you know that over 400 children die every hour <\/em>on the earth from starvation? Yes, yes, we hear these horrific statistics so often that we have become immune to them.
\nThere is a lyric line in the old Broadway musical 1776<\/em> in which John Adams sings, “Is anybody there? Does anybody care? Does anybody see what I see?” I played that role for two seasons on the outdoor stage at the Annapolis Summer Garden Theatre. Every night when I would sing that song, I would almost come to tears. They said that I made the character of John Adams really come to life. But it wasn’t John Adams I was thinking about. It was the state of the world. It was the nature of life as we are living it, as we are co-creating it.
\nI think of those lyrics to this day. That is why I have undertaken to begin a gentle but genuine spiritual revolution on the earth. I want to invite all of humanity to think of God in a new way. To think of life in a new way. To think of each other in a new way. I know that if we ever do so, despots will never again rule an oppressed people — because despotism itself will become impossible. We will never again see on the news that a country’s leaders have refused international aid at a time of nationwide disaster. We will never again read about a Food Crisis that is engulfing the world.
\nThings I don’t understand: Why is it taking so long for humanity to see that how we are “doing life” is not working? When will we see that a simple, fundamental shift in our thinking is all that it would take to create a newer world — a world of peace and harmony, happiness and joy for all?
\nAre we ready to change our thinking? And where is God in all of this? What is God’s role? And what does God want? We’ll explore this in the days ahead. For now, make it a wonderful weekend. Extend your help to all those in need of whom you hear. And work in your own particular and wonderful way to make this a better world.
\nAnd speaking of working in your own wonderful way, I received a notice the other day that I want to pass along to you about the Love Tour 2008 about to get underway, created and sponsored by Humanity’s Team. You can learn more about the tour and what it hopes to accomplish by going to www.HTLovetour2008.org
\nIf, in your heart, you are in resonance with this idea and wish to support Humanity’s Team, please go to the website and learn more about this activity. Below is the schedule of cities to be visited.
\nHumanity\u2019s Team Love Tour 2008 Stops:
\nJune 1 st. Atlanta, Georgia
\nJune 4 th. Montgomery, Alabama
\nJune 6 th. Greenville, Missisippi
\nJune 8 th. Dallas, Texas
\nJune 10 th. San Marcos, Texas
\nJune 14 th. Chambers, Arizona
\nJune 18 th. Sedona, Arizona
\nJune 21 st. San Francisco, California
\nJune 28 th. Eugene, Oregon
\nJuly 4 th. Clinton, Washington
\nJuly 6.th Vancouver, British Columbia
\nJuly 9 th. Boise, Idaho
\nJuly 13 th. Salt Lake City, Utah
\nJuly 19 th. Boulder, Colorado
\nJuly 26 th. Kansas City, Missouri
\nJuly 28 th. Atlanta, Georgia<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There are some things in life I just don’t understand. For instance, I just don’t understand a regime such as the one in Myanmar that would wait one minute, much less days and days and days, to accept international assistance in dealing with a nationwide calamity such as the cyclone that hit there. To me…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":112,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-319","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-news-and-the-new-spirituality"],"yoast_head":"\nThings I don't understand - Conversations with God<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, nofollow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Things I don't understand - Conversations with God\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"There are some things in life I just don’t understand. 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