I have written in other spaces about my concern that the incoming Trump administration represents the rise of fascism in the US. This raises interesting spiritual questions about how we respond to destructive things happening around us, where is God in dark times and what does this mean about evil?
Has God abandoned us, or is punishing us by allowing this to happen?
If one holds to the view that God created us with free will then that means that those who are not listening to God are always free to stray from what God might intend for us and to do great destruction or evil. That evil affects other people. The price of freedom is a God who is omni-present, but not all powerful.
Where is God in this situation?
God is always present as a source of guidance, comfort, and strength. It is even more important in crisis to turn to God. God cannot however stop the suffering caused by others' application of their free will. Buddhism does have much to say about how we manage suffering.
What does God require of us?
The Bible answers this question of what God requires of us saying:
"To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God." Micah 6:8
I think those spiritual theologies that say we are co-creators of the world we live in and the lives we walk in, also suggest that we are to embrace the highest truth we know and live it. I think in a time where hatred rises up and causes the scapegoating and targeting of some people that means saying no to that. I think in a time where violence rises up it means acting with non-violence. I think in a time where the earth is pillaged, polluted and destroyed it means aligning our life style with an honoring and protecting of the earth (as currently modeled by Native people at Standing Rock). In a time where there is an increasing assault on free speech, on free press, and on civil liberties it means standing up for those and protecting supporting those others who also speak out. In a time where vote suppression and gerrymandering threaten our very democracy it means standing up to fight for democracy. And all of these things mean turning to God for the courage to act for justice. In short, in a universe where people can do destructive or evil things, we are called upon to speak truth, take action and to hold up the Light of Love. To remain silent or passive is to passively allow the evil.
Is there no Light in this Darkness?
Neale Donald Walsh has written quite a bit about how it is only the dark that allows us to know the Light. That the Light longs to be known by us. Perhaps another way of saying this is that we sometime must struggle in order to learn; contrast is one of the ways by which we learn. If one believe in reincarnation then we have come to earth in incarnations intended to maximize our learning, and the encounter with darkness or evil is not a detour or a mistake, it is an opportunity for learning, and opportunity to bring forth light. We are not called to do this alone, it is what community, especially spiritual community is for.
Why is this happening when I don't want it to?
While we may co-create our own personal reality, it is also the case that as a collective humanity, or a society we also create certain shared realities through our shared consciousness. There are lessons we are trying to learn as a collective. It is worth asking: How could it serve the learning of the American people to grapple with the person of Donald Trump and the type of leadership he is bringing? It is easy to point fingers of blame at figures in history like Hitler or Trump who are the apparent center of so much darkness, but that really gets all the rest of us off the hook. We must look at the fear that is always the fertile ground for fascism. We must examine where we have stood in relationship to fear? We must do the spiritual work of looking at the anger, the pull for easy answers, for power, the arrogance, etc that live within us and are mirrored by Trump, rather than simply demonize him.
How do we respond to this spirituality?
Responding to an already negative situation with more anger, violence or fear only magnifies the negative energy. Going numb or in denial also does not serve the Light. Joanna Macy tells the story of the Tibetan Shambala prophecy. The Tibetan's believe that there comes a time of great darkness and chaos when the world as we know it is completely threatened. At that time many souls come to earth for one purpose: to fight for our world as Shambala warriors. They are not intended to fight with normal weapons of violence, but rather with spiritual weapons of wisdom and compassion. Wisdom brings great clarity and vision, but clarity alone does not bring the passion for action. Compassion brings great love which can move people to action, but action alone is not productive without clarity or focus. So they must use wisdom and compassion together to fight for our world. I believe that this is a time when we all must become Shambala warriors.
Is their an opportunity is this experience?
When lived spiritually all experience contain an opportunity. Chaos, danger, conflict, destruction.... all of these things carry in them the seeds of change and the possibilities for transformation. If Hillary Clinton had been elected, most good liberals would have continued to focus little on the situation, even as our planet is threatened by the crisis of climate change, even as racism was literally killing Black people in the streets daily. When evil becomes as blatant and undeniable as it now is, there is a moral imperative put before us all. The addition of the Trump administration to the Climate crisis demands we quite literally transform the current power structure or we will die. So it is time for each of us to reach down to the foundations of our spiritual traditions and see what God calls us to do.
