This morning at about 8:30 am, Rome time, I saw the results of the US election. I would say that I was shocked but not surprised – my inner voice had for some time been saying that there was a far greater level of support for Donald Trump and conservative policies than was being voiced in the public arenas to which I was attuned.
So how to respond? How to feel? What to do?
As I ate breakfast, I glanced at a couple of social media sites and a few news outlets. That didn’t help.
I felt a great sadness, and, at the same time, I felt that there is a wide swath of the US that I simply do not understand, and without understanding I would be unable to move forward in relation to them, and to myself. I was not in a place to think about specifics – what was likely to happen or not happen with all the branches of government being regressive as opposed to progressive or gridlocked for the next few years. I knew instinctively that I had to process my feelings first.
So, I went on a walkabout in Rome. This is a city that has survived many an incompetent and narcissistic leader. And it is still here. There are remains from thousands of years ago as well as still standing and useful buildings from six hundred or more years ago. Despite all the conflicts, avarice, inquisitions, fascists, communists, and others who have held sway here, the city still stands, vibrant and filled with life.
My walkabout led me past the Spanish Steps, the Villa Medici, the Piazza del Popolo, the Pantheon, the Piazza Vittoriano, the Trevi Fountain, and more. I stopped in every church that I passed, I lost count how many (there are a LOT of churches in Rome), and meditated for five or ten minutes in each.
Some of that time I had my eyes closed, and some I had them open to see the wonders of art in these amazing places. I saw the high percentage of artworks that depicted suffering, pain, and sadness; and yet, the general feeling of the churches and basilicas was of inspiration. I found solace in these buildings despite having left much of what is taught in them behind in my life.
I came back to my hotel room and looked at some quotes by Ernest Holmes that have inspired me. Here are a few:
“The thing simmers itself down to this. Can we, in the midst of negative conditions, accept a greater good? If we can we shall be complying with the Law of Life. We shall be giving Life a chance to work for us.” ~ Ernest Holmes
“Cease weeping over the mistakes of yesterday and steadfastly holding the face of the great and divine Reality, walk in that Light wherein there is no darkness.” ~ Ernest Holmes
“I cleanse the windows of my mind, that I may become a mirror reflecting inspiration from the Most High.” ~ Ernest Holmes
“(One’s) mind should swing from inspiration to action, from contemplation to accomplishment, from prayer to performance.” ~ Ernest Holmes
“SELF-HEALING MUST COME FIRST OF ALL.” ~ Ernest Holmes
“Crying out to Life, beseeching It to be good, has no effect whatsoever upon It; It already is good. Asking It to give you life produces no good results; It has already incarnated Itself in you, as you. But inward awareness unifies the intellect with Life and binds the personal man back to the Universal Presence. This is what is meant by spiritual understanding and realization.” ~ Ernest Holmes, The Art of Life
THE HIGHEST ATTITUDE OF MIND. “The highest attitude of mind, from which all else springs, is one of perfect calm and absolute trust in the Spirit. The one who can with perfect confidence look into the future and with perfect ease of mind rest in the present, and who never looks backward, but who has learned to be still in his own soul and wait upon the Spirit, he is the one who will the most completely demonstrate the supremacy of spiritual thought over all so-called material resistance. ‘Be still and know that I Am God.’” Ernest Holmes, Creative Mind
And this quote from Florence Scovel Shinn that I used as the title of this post:
“I am not moved by appearances; therefore, appearances move.”
My suggestion to all who read this is to get in touch with your feelings about this election and its meaning in your life. Ask yourself what is causing any feelings that arise and further, ask if your mind is focused on the ultimate Truth of your being, or on the fear that comes from believing that others have dominion over your experience.
Ours is not to wish that what has appeared had not. Ours is to make our way through the current expressions of external reality toward something greater. And to do so with love, clarity, and compassion.
Once that is clear, you are read to decide how you will be with the new external reality and what, if any, actions you may take.
Do your spiritual practices as often and as deeply as needed to allow yourself to move through whatever is stopping your from embracing Life within and without.
I am still processing all of this and will be for some time. My flight back to the U.S. is scheduled for tomorrow, after nearly six months in Europe and the Middle East. I look forward to being a healing presence wherever possible.
Love and Light to all.
Copyright 2016 – Jim Lockard
New Thought Evolutionary 
Beautiful, Jim. Thank you for being there for us this morning. I was looking for your post.
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I am reading your words of comfort and wisdom, just as I also listened to Marianne Williamson’s video response, and I am in full resonance with what you both are saying…..AND as an Integral person, I am able to also embrace other perspectives as well. One of these perspectives suggest that it is entirely appropriate to embrace LIFE by also allowing myself to hospice that which is dying at the same time. Maybe it is the death of a dream, or the death of a democracy…or maybe the dying patient will make a miraculous recovery. But, I am open to whatever is unfolding, and much of it isn’t pretty. I remember the decade or so I spent in caregiving my mother, father and husband as they were each approaching death, and I am so grateful for those years of time spent in some pretty dark places, for it has greatly enriched my life now. But, I also remember the days and nights of fear, dread, and pain. It was a time of great uncertainty encompassed within the ultimate certainly of death. Which basically, is where we all are at anyway, all the time. A certain death, among the uncertainty of how, when where and what exactly to expect. So, I am willing to let go of any expectations now in these very uncertain times. I do know at my deepest core that I am fully supported, and LOVE is all that there is…All the rest is illusion. AND in this illusion,of 3 D existence, of which I chose to incarnate at this particular time in history…. Life will go on or maybe it won;t. Unlike the Fall of the Roman Empire…we likely do not have thousands of years left to recreate new empires, as Mother Earth, may not be so forgiving as to allow the human species to keep on its’ destructive ways, SHE is perfectly able to go on without us as a humanity. So, as I continue my daily practices, I will also include among them the very rich exercise of going into the darkness in order to fully experience both sides of Life’s Reality and to die before I die…so FEAR is no longer needed. I will face the fears courageously, step over the threshold of this initiation and come out the other side even stronger still. No need to spiritually bypass this one….SHE’s got it covered. I am strong, I am Woman….even though we will not have our first woman president, we all are now called to embrace our Divine Feminine….Her arms are wide enough to hold all the tears, fears, and grief. I Fall into GRACE. So Mote It Be~~,
I will continue to also be with you as we process this together…We are not alone~~……
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Thank you, Dr. Jim. You always know the perfect thing to say. 💜
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Thank you, Jim, beautifully said. I got into bed last night and started with “This Thing Called You.” A range of emotions and a tension of opposites that I know to be Truth. It became clear that this is an opportunity.
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Thank you Jim!
Blessings…Eileen
Rev. Eileen O. Brownell, MS Christ Light Ministries Expressing kindness, joy and humor centered in Christ 530-342-6300 153 Picholine Way Chico, CA 95928
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Friendly universe. It takes a Trump to shatter things before the rebuilding can happen. Maybe a civil war? Maybe unstructured chaos and violence. This is the momentum that has been building and needs to unravel before we can get to awareness. I think (I didn’t vote for him). we need this, I know we need this because it is happening. Change can’t happen until we recognize we need change. The universe will escalate and escalate until we are so uncomfortable we have no choice to change. Friendly universe. It is just showing us our unconscious behavior that is holding us back. It a friendly universe. Thank you universe for unlodging our hidden blocks to a higher consciousness. This is an example of what I don’t want to be and I will find anything in myself that resembles what is happening and walk the other direction. Thank you Trump for helping me find the gratitude in you becoming president by you reflecting all the behaviors and thought processes that lead me away from who I want to be. This will be four year example of change for me to make sure there is nothing in me that resembles this angry and fearful mentality plaguing us in our country. All sides are angry at each other. Thank you for showing me that we all are scared and we all show this fear with blame and anger. We all want to feel supported and understood. We all voted the way we thought was best within our thought processes. I see that every person is trying to make things better in whatever way they believe us for the best. I don’t need to agree with people’s political opinions to respect and trust we all make the best decisions we can within our worldview. Higher conscious lessons are given from multiple teachers. We are currently being shown that anger and fear does not point to the direction of love, compassion, and peace. Thank you Trump for these lessons.
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Thank you from the bottom of my heart! I will do my work!
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Jim,
I always so appreciate the insight I find reading your blog but never quite so much as this morning with all the loving wisdom that it greeted me with.
Yesterday at 6AM long before any results came in, I posted this invitation on several FB groups.
Today’s spiritual practice inspired by Byron Katie and The Work:
“Write down 3 genuine reasons why if the candidate you oppose wins, it would be a good thing.”
24 hours later with numerous responses mostly from people in “The Work” I am finding humanity, connection and sanctuary in their willingness to do “The Work”. One of those is Jeni who posted above. And I’m realizing how much work there is to do. Thank you and as Jeni said above “Thank you Mr Trump for these lessons.” For those curious about “The Work” you can get more info at http://www.thework.org
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Here is my response to my invitation above which was posted on FB.
1. I get to look at my own arrogance.
2. I get to listen better to those who say how angry they are at the government.
3. I get to experience fear and know first hand what supporters of the opposition experienced. I get to have more compassion for their fears.
4. I get to explore my own shadow issues on war, white privilege, arrogance, ego and self aggrandizement.
5. I get to truly appreciate people in The Work who understood the power of this post inviting us to practice.
6. I got to experience grief to the point of tears and realize how much attachment I had to the outcome.
7. I like others am finding sanctuary in our humanity in my groups that share compassionate hearts..
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Thank you, Jim. Your comments feel very comforting to me.
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Thank you. A walk about Rome would be a perfect salve. 🙂
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Thank you, Jim. I, too, was looking forward to your blog regarding the U.S. presidential election. Today I had a long conversation with a beautiful man who served with the Marines doing battle for this country in Afghanistan. His is still serving his country through his good works with children here at home coaching basketball, his wife serves, too, as a nurse. When we all realize that service is our highest and best calling in life, we can’t help but accept what looks like a set-back. He, too, is a man of great faith in our movement. It suddenly occurred to me that SOMETHING GOOD WILL ARISE OUT OF THIS! Change, yes. A new world, a much improved world, perhaps. I’ve always loved the adage, “The Universe is plotting to do you Good”. In Zen we know that the God-Self of each of us sits in smiling repose while our maniacal room mate wrings its hands in frustration. Yes, something GOOD is coming. Just wait and see. Love you and what you do.
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As always, Thank you, Jim.
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I have been, like many of us in New Thought, in mourning over the election result. I mourn with the progressive-minded people that had a stake in this election turning out differently than it has. Your posts have been greatly encouraging along with some other material from Martha Beck which suggests we look at our own arrogance, pride, and even disdain for people who are angry and afraid and who voted their anger and fear. What I realize is that, but for a state of mind that allows me to see a bigger picture for my life, I could be these people, and have been. I’ve spent a lot of time healing the very anger and fear and powerlessness these people are feeling. It manifested in a terrible menu of choices, and then I had to choose which one was the least awful. What I also realize is that it’s important to grieve and be with those emotions. I didn’t do this in 2001 when George W. Bush became president, and it caused a lot of suffering for me. I went through a terrible dark night of the soul for about 18 months as my un-awareness kept tripping me up. I decided not this time. I decided I would face the pain and mourn and not allow my power to be taken from me. So far, the result has been that yesterday was the best I’d felt in a week. Prior to that, I was so distraught that I was looking at real estate in Nova Scotia!
What stands out for me at this point is that if we have proven the power of this teaching on the merits, then an election result that I don’t agree with must not be allowed to plunge me back into fear and anger and powerlessness. I can make it through this and thrive. My question now is, how do we help these people and how do we mitigate (if not neutralize) the fallout that could hurt a lot of people? They shouldn’t suffer just because they don’t know what we know.
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Thank you for your thoughtful comment, Ken.
And it is interesting how many of us suffer, despite knowing what we know. My next post will address that issue – how to understand and use our Power.
Love and Light,
Jim
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