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Power Grabs

A friend recently asked "why do people with all the power keep reaching for more, how much is enough, what could the end game possibly be?".

For lack of a Christian word I blurted out "dukkha".  It is the the word I learned in my Buddhist studies for "reaching".  Buddhist philosophy presents this idea that we are all endlessly reaching for something, anything, more, and that this very reaching is the source of our suffering. 

As I explained this, I connected it to the story of Adam and Eve.  They ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and from that moment on they understood the possibility of evil, and with evil came fear.  Adam was "cursed" to struggle with the land for food.  We went from gathering food as we walked, to farming, storing up for the future.  We needed to store up for the future because we feared we would not have enough.  Our struggle and suffering came from this fear. 

The opposite of fear is not courage, for courage is not the lack of fear, but the ability to face it.  The opposite of fear is Love, and God is Love.  Our separation from God led to fear, and fear to suffering. 

Connecting the idea back I explained that our friends with power and money are always reaching because, like us, they fear too.  Once they had enough for today they wanted enough for tomorrow, then for their lives, then for their children and their children.  When they had enough for all of that they wanted enough to ensure they could live through a collapse.  Then they stored up money as a way of accumulating power and influence.  Dukkha/Reaching always asks more of us.  I don't believe it is some conspiracy we are facing from the 1%, we are simply seeing fear carried out to its obvious conclusion.  What they fear may be different, but their motivation is fear none the less.

The solution to our fear and theirs is the same.  Reconciliation with God brings in Love and love casts out all fear.  Keep loving, keep shining!

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