Common Threads Beyond Culture Redux
I first wrote Common Threads Beyond Culture in 2013 devastated by the mass killings in Syria, unable to sit still without doing something. No matter a small thing, all I could do was write about what’s possible instead…because I witnessed it.
When news came from Ukraine — mounting genocide, innocent victims, senseless destruction, atrocities — how could I even find words to express my horror and sense of helplessness in the face of such evil? Can you? The courage and tenacity of the Ukrainian people will stand for all time.
Once I heard of Russian soldiers who voluntarily surrendered or refused to fight…and Russian citizens leaving their homeland, I felt a sense of hope for humanity. Whether the stories are true or not, I want to think so…because they drew me back to a week I spent in Russia when people were real, their hearts were open and differences were set aside. I’m compelled to share my experiences again and let them be prayers toward peace and healing.
I traveled to St. Petersburg, Russia in 2005 where I had the privilege of presenting workshops and acting as a panel member on a roundtable discussion at the 13th Annual Conference on Conflict Resolution. The theme was “Engaging the Other.” The conference cosponsors were the Harmony Institute of St. Petersburg and Common Bond Institute located in Michigan, along with a whole list of multinational endorsers. Aside from Russia and the US, there were participants and presenters from Israel, Serbia, South Africa, Palestinian Authority and a number of other countries.
The roundtable was entitled “The Other as Both Humankind’s Oldest, Most Resilient Foe and Our Shared Identity.” My workshop session introduced the “Re-Membering Process,” a model of spiritual evolution I developed years ago, and the guidance of intent. In the parallel youth conference, I taught teens how to clean their energy body and that of others, something completely new to them. They were an exuberant bunch.
Intuitive guidance sealed my participation in that conference. I didn’t give it much thought beforehand. But I followed a compulsion that told me it was important to go. Quickly I realized it was impacting me in a way I couldn’t articulate and certainly hadn’t expected. I had to sit with it for a time and allow the meaning to come in bits and pieces.
First, I recognized that fifteen or twenty years ago [from 2005] that conference couldn’t have happened. I was in Moscow in the mid-1980s as a tourist when things were shaky between the US and what was then the USSR. The atmosphere at that time was uncomfortable, to say the least.
But at the conference years later? People whose nations were current enemies, or foes in the recent past, were sitting side by side learning, dialoguing and having some fun along the way. They were a progressive group of people who looked well beyond the politics of their respective countries.
Next, I realized the contrast between my focus — individual spiritual alignment in order to make a difference — and the other workshops. Those dealt with the traumas and ravages of war, extreme social strife and disease. I will admit to feeling like an imposter. Clearly my own life was removed from such things. I’ve had my challenges but nothing like what those presenters were discussing. I began to wonder…how could what I have to share offer any value in those countries experiencing such high degrees of discord and tragedy?
My workshop was on the third day. I told the group, almost all Russians for that session, I knew the “Re-Membering Process”* to be true in my own culture. But I didn’t know if it would be valid for them. I invited feedback. As I led them through the phases of spiritual evolution I’d identified, the issues tending to arise and a path of progression, a lot of heads nodded in agreement.
A number of people shared their stories. But one woman’s story in particular was quite moving. She came from an area of Russia that had a long history of hostilities. She said her grandparents had been killed and her father was jailed for many years. She gave examples of her own suffering in those times. Through tears, she stated the “Re-Membering Process” was true for nations as well as individuals. It gave her hope as she could identify her own progression and that of her country. Later when I led a guided imagery — meant to take the group into the elemental space of intent alive within themselves— she experienced an energetic opening never having done so before. Others reported the same.
I am indebted to those intrepid conference participants. They are responsible for cementing a deeper understanding for me. There is indeed a common thread that runs through us all. We want the same things. Some of us find ourselves in horrific situations in which we feel helpless and hopeless. Yet there is a resident resilience in the human spirit that whispers to us: Something else exists.
Dialoguing alone won’t do it. To leave those times behind — whether the conflict is internal or external, micro or macro — we must open the possibility of global spiritual evolution and collaboration. We must viscerally connect to it. As we step into Core Essence and remain even somewhat aligned there, we positively affect ourselves but also others. Such results can then ripple across the lands.
Recalling the Russians in my workshops, I wonder if any of them left their homeland or recognize the truth of their leaders’ subterfuge and war crimes? Some of those young Russian teens could well be soldiers today. I wonder where they stand and how they fare. I wonder if they all remember a time when we sat together as one…discussing dreams, confessing fears…and appreciating our shared humanity.
*The “Re-Membering Process” is thoroughly described in my book Standing Stark: The Willingness to Engage, which you can read for free in serial chapter format published in the publication Illumination on Medium.
