Speaking Your Truth

by Marie T. Russell

"The meek shall inherit the earth..."

Those of us raised in the Christian faith know this statement well. And for many of us, myself included, it was interpreted to mean that we should bite our tongue, hold our peace, and not rock the boat. We should be meek, gentle, and kind -- and keep quiet.

While of course, it is good to be gentle and kind, Jesus himself was not meek. I remember being rather shocked, as a child, at the image of Jesus creating havoc in the temple by throwing out the money-lenders. He definitely was not meek. He was also not meek when he spoke up about things he felt were wrong -- the people casting stones against sinners, the Pharisees, etc. He was not shy or meek about speaking his truth.

However, we, the students of the Christian church, has been taught to be meek, obedient, and mostly not to question authority. The priests (i.e. those in power) had the answers, and ours was not to question why.

In this time of awakening, we must question everything. Is is true for us? Does it resonate within our being? Does it feel right? Is it in the way of "love thy neighbor as thyself"? For too long, we have been fed pabulum -- we have swallowed the predigested "truth" that has been given to us with nary a word. We have not questioned (except for a few rebels in the pack), or if we have wondered about the "rightness" of things, we have not spoken up... for fear of ridicule, judgment, criticism, rejection, etc. I too have been "guilty" of this...

Yet, for us to become "fully awakened" we must awake to the reality of our life. We must not accept behavior that we feel is unacceptable. For example, let's say someone at your workplace is constantly putting you (or someone else) down, always with a disparaging comment, or mocking attitude. In the past, you may have silently grumbled disliking this person's behavior, yet did not feel it was up to you to interfere. However, if something is taking place in our life, in our reality, then it is our responsibility to participate -- to express the truth as we see it.

However, the key is how we deal with it. We can "sink" to the level of that person, and attack them and put them down. Or we can calmly and lovingly express that the behavior is "below them" -- that we thought they were above such demeaning behavior. The importance is to "condemn" the behavior, not the person. We need to recognize that each one of us are "children of the Divine" and we thus have within us the "blueprint" to be a loving and caring individual. By recognizing that truth in the people around us, we can help them see it as well -- and help them see that their present behavior does not "fit" the divine being they truly are.

There seems to be so many things going on these days that need to be addressed. I compare the situation to a "healing crisis". You may have had a weakness in your body for years, and then at some point, it rises to the surface, and you become ill. Your body has a healing crisis. The situation becomes acute, obvious, and unacceptable. It is the same with the world around us. It seems that things that have been going on for years without our paying much attention to them (because they were not glaringly obvious) have now come to a head -0 somewhat like a pimple, ready to burst. Our world is having a healing crisis -- "illnesses" that were taking place beneath the surface have now come to the fore. We can no longer be blind to them. The canker is obvious and is oozing.

As I watch TV, I am amazed at the amount of "acceptable" lies that are told -- either in advertisements, TV programs, or news shows. Lying used to be unacceptable. As a child I remember hearing about the possibility of getting my mouth washed out with soap if I told a lie. These days, it seems, that not only children, but parents and pundits, are lying left and right. Now, I'm not advocating "the good old days". I know that some lying went on in those days too, but now it has become blatant, as if there is no longer any stigma about being caught lying.

Has our world become one where people can lie and say anything they want to attain their goal? We have come not only to expect, but also accept, lies from politicians, business, lovers, children, etc. It seems that we live in a world where we accept that being told a lie is common. We are lied to about the products we buy, the political platforms we vote for. It seems that lying is not only blatant, it has become part of the weave of our society.

Yet, a "bonus" to this blatant "corruption of morals" is that people are no longer bothering to do a very good job at hiding the fact that they are lying (our politicians are a good example of this -- and so is the advertising media). This makes it easier for us to spot the lies and the corruption.

Yet, if we believe that "the meek shall inherit the earth", we may think that it is not up to us to say anything. Yet if not us, then who? If we are the ones who see the truth, we have the responsibility (response-ability) to speak up about it -- we need to shed the light on the situations around us. Whether it is a workmate who is mishandling funds (i.e. Enron is a good example of this in the extreme), whether it is our government mishandling our "mandate" and using our hard-earned tax dollars for things we don't agree with (more oil drilling rather than focusing on renewable resources, more exploitation of human rights rather than respect for them), whether it is our own hiding behind lies to make our lives more palatable.

While most of us are "over-busy" with our lives -- between working, taking care of our families, and making ends meet -- we need to take responsibility for the world around us. If it is happening in our world, it is happening to us, and we are "responsible" (response-able). We need to stop being meek.

There is a joke that I once saw that said something like "yes the meek shall inherit the earth, but there will be nothing left." If the vultures have sucked up all the life out of the earth, then what will be left for us and for our children? We will have stood by while our earth and our earthly neighbors were raped, pillaged, lied to, taken advantage of, bought off, etc. And we too have been both the victim and the victor.

We need to start "speaking our truth" in our day to day lives. When something is said in your presence that is "out of balance" then it is important to express ourselves -- not with hatred, not with judgment, not even with anger. We need to speak from the Goodness within and ask the source of inspiration within each and everyone of us to help us speak as is needed in each situation.

We can no longer afford to stand back and "let things be". Yes, we have to "accept" that things are the way they are -- this means being honest with ourselves, step out of denial, and see the state of things around us -- in our families, in our neighborhoods, in our cities, in our country, in our world, in our universe. We need to "accept" (face up to) the facts. Then we need to see where we stand, and speak up whenever we can... speak to our friends, discuss what is going on, shed some light on situations that we find are unacceptable -- again whether we are dealing with personal situations (work, home, friendships) or global. We can no longer stand by with our head in the sand. If we do, one day we'll wake up and we'll be completely covered with sand and we'll wonder what happened. This often takes place in relationships -- one person "puts up" with unacceptable behavior, and one day wakes up to see that it has gotten out of hand.

It is time for us to take a stand for those things we believe in -- love, equality, justice, fairness, and respect. Respect for ourselves, for the people in our lives, for the world itself and everyone on it. Each and every one of us is "response-able" -- we are able to respond, we are able to make a difference.

I will close with a story (which you may have heard, but is still a great one)...

Taking his morning walk on the beach, a man sees thousands of starfish washed ashore. The tide is going down and these starfish are stranded on dry land. The man sees, ahead of him, a child bending down, picking up something, and throwing it into the ocean. As he gets near, he sees that the child is picking up starfish, one by one, and throwing them back into the ocean. The man says to the boy "There's so many starfish on the beach. You can't make a difference." The boy looks at the adult and says nothing. He simply bends down and picks up another starfish and throws it back into the ocean. Then the child speaks and says "It made a difference to that one."

We too can make a difference to that "one". One step at a time, one word at a time, one action at a time. Even if our action seems very small to our own eyes, it make will a huge difference for "that one" which is directly affected.

Let us take our ability to respond, to speak, to love, and to make a difference and go out there and change our world, one thought, one word, one action at a time. We are not victims -- unless we choose to be. We are not powerless -- unless we give up our power to act. We are not too late -- unless we give up.

Ask yourSelf what you can do to make a difference in your world... What you are inspired to do may seem small, it may seem monumental. But if you act on your inner voice's guidance, you will feel rewarded beyond words. You will feel "on track" with your purpose. Speaking our truth is part of living out our life purpose -- each time we hold back, we are holding ourselves back from becoming who we truly are and living out the purpose for which we came to earth... whatever that purpose is for each and everyone of us. For some it may be to make a difference in only one life ("it made a difference to that one"), for others our touch may reach many... Only you can hear your inner calling... listen to it... You can make a difference -- for that one, and that one, and ultimately for all of us.

May we all walk together in a world of peace and love. Those concepts, peace and love, are not outdated at all! They did not "belong" to the sixties. They belong to each and everyone of us. Starting in our hearts, our homes, and moving out into the world around us.

Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me.

Let there be love on earth and let it begin with me.

And so it is!
 

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