UNITE THROUGH LIGHT IS WHAT I SEE AS THE NEW CHALLENGE WE FACE as a nation, even as the human race. The darkness has prevailed only because it has been given power, the power of fear. The absence of light and love is darkness and fear. There are choices. We are all faced with a personal choice. Do you choose to fight out of fear and add to the darkness, or accept light and embrace love? Compassion is a huge gift that we can give to each other. Compassion involves forgiveness. It is the forgiveness part that can be challenging in light of all the tragedy. If you step out your back door, what would you choose to face? Loving neighbors or a battlefield? It is your choice. Kindness starts with one act of compassion. It is an act born out of love and kindness. It is an act of light. Like the movie, Pay it Forward, one act of kindness and light grows and multiplies in a tremendous wave of action. It is a revelation giving us an insight to the next step.

Shining a light into a dark room brings us a sense of safety and security, knowing that if we can see where we are and where we are going, then it's not so scary. Fear of the dark is a childhood memory that reaches in through the nooks and crannies of our psyche reminding us of all our fears. The shadows in the dark, the dark rooms and closets, even the memories of make-believe monsters under the bed, can creep into our collective unconscious when faced with an unknown attacker. It is a root fear, one unconsciously triggered, but it's time to shine the flashlight into that dark. We can unite through light. We can collectively turn on the flashlight. We can spread light through our hearts, willing ourselves to open to the love we have inside. That love combined with forgiveness is compassion. Bringing a new light into the dark, this is our challenge. It's a gift to bring to our inner sense of self; a feeling of light and love can open us to feel good inside. Our hearts feel better and that makes us feel like good people. It is a good feeling inside. It is our connection to our inner truth and sense of inner love that can combine together with others to create a new level of humanity, one based in love, not fear.

What do you wish for? What is your vision of humanity? We each have the ability to create our visions; it is a matter of intention, focus, desire, receptivity and manifestation. Each of these steps involves an open heart. Let us begin with intention. What outcome are you looking for? That outcome is your intention. If you would like a peaceful nation, or even global peace, then that is your intention. This process holds true no matter what level you are working from. This is just as beneficial on a personal scale with a personal outcome, be it a relationship or career change, etc. Begin by holding that intention, that thought, in your mind's eye daily in meditation or even while grocery shopping or driving the car. It can be something you think about often throughout the day. This is the power that you are giving to fuel your intention. The power of your thought is the fuel.

Conscious awareness is the focus. This is the time you give every day to your intention. I always find that it works well to use post-it notes with my intention stated on them. I suggest this often to clients. By using post-it notes in several key points in your home, car, office, workplace, etc., the reminder is always there to draw your focus back to your intention. You will find that all these steps work together to achieve your goal.

Next, each time, add your original desire to your focus on the intention. This may sound confusing, but it simply means feeling the outcome as if it has already happened. This desire encompasses all your feelings including the excitement for having achieved the outcome. For example, focus on global peace and feel within every fiber of your being what it feels like to live in the world like that. How do you feel when you wake up in the morning? What types of shows are on television? What is on the news? What is it like to go to the grocery store? It is about feeling as though you are already living in the desired outcome.

Being willing to receive your vision is the next stage, for without this, the desired outcome can remain elusive. It's as though an invisible barrier is erected when our subconscious is unwilling to receive. This can be the simple source of fear, unworthiness, or a belief that it's impossible. So many of us are held back with that term "impossible." It reminds me of one song in Rogers & Hammerstein's classic tale of Cinderella, that says, "It's possible. Impossible things are happening everyday." Why do we always leap to the conclusion that something we desire is out of our reach and impossible before we even give it a chance? Does global peace need to remain "impossible" or "unfathomable?" Or can we dare to dream that big? We have the power and ability to change our reality every minute of every day. We make choices thousands of times a day, from what color socks to wear or what to have for dinner, to, do I go to war or do I choose to hate those people I haven't even met yet?

To the Palestinians that are celebrating and burning US flags, we Americans are a faceless horde that are easy targets to blame because they don't know us personally. It's easy for the terrorists to destroy large buildings full of nameless people they have never met. How easy is it for you to hurt or even kill someone you have met and had a chance to know personally? How impersonal is this jihad, or holy war, that the terrorists hide behind? It is an act of segregation and judgment stating that those who are not like us must die. It sounds a bit too reminiscent of our nation's recent history of racial segregation in which Martin Luther King stated, "I have a dream." His dream of unity and freedom for all was a cry to recognize that we are all one race! We are the human race! When and how did we collectively forget that? Why pit yourselves against another? What purpose does it hold? What reward is in it?

President Bush stated in his September 20, 2001 speech to the nation that the terrorists were against the unified, civilized world. I would look upon the word civilized as a fitting statement. In our civilization, we recognize a unified landmass, a unified people. The word civilization implies a level of evolution in which we act neighborly with our neighbors. For all of us living on this planet, acting globally and only thinking locally is the largest danger that exists. In order to act as a globe, we must continually think as a global society. That means acting and thinking as one - the human race. In arrogant attempts to separate through religion, government, etc., fear and judgment have had a lush breeding ground. Hatred grows in the bacteria-ridden separation. It grows so big so fast, that it overtakes those that created it. Is that your vision of the world you live in? Is it what you choose? Or do you choose a society unified, acting with the compassion and acceptance of humanitarianism? Does your vision include a world where everyone values each other and their right to their lives and opinions and freedoms? Remember, you have the ability to choose your vision. Acting upon that vision means having the courage to fuel that vision as your intention.

Using these steps: intention, focus, desire, receptivity and manifestation, you can achieve your vision. When millions of people hold the same intention, and fuel it by sending energy and prayers and thoughts into the same desired outcome, we collectively have the ability to change the world. It all starts with you. This is the manifestation. One act of kindness, one light shining in the darkness only gets bigger and brighter when more flashlights are added to the beam. It reminds me of the scene in the movie Ghostbusters, when the four members of the Ghostbusters team are standing on the top of the building using beams of light to extinguish the dark entity. Singly, the beams had little effect. It was only when they showed their individual courage, and then collectively took the risk to join the beams of light together to create an even more powerful beam, did they defeat the darkness. We can unite through light to change the world. We can create global peace. We can radiate light through opening our hearts and starting right now, in our day-to-day activities. Light not only the candle in the window, but also a candle in your heart and in the heart of everyone you come into contact with every day. Light dispels the darkness!

© 2002 Jodie Foster

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jodie Foster, a healing artist, psychic / intuitive, teacher and lecturer, has worked in the holistic field for 15 years. Jodie assists you in bringing conscious focus to the events in your life to enhance your experiences. Her intuitive ability, combined with energetic sensitivity and aura reading brings Jodie directly into the core of your issues. Addressing the core and allowing the changes to ripple outward to affect all areas of your life, perpetuates a rapid healing process. Many healing modalities address one symptom after another, working only from the outside in. Jodie's ability to go into the heart of the matter and teach you how to change your thought process, your habits and patterned behaviors creates a new level of self-empowerment. Jodie has a unique way of helping you see your life from a new perspective, including your ability to make changes and own your power. She is available for consultations by phone at (207) 646-1268, or contact Jodie via her website at www.illuminationsnetwork.com or email at livinmypassion@hotmail.com.