Sometimes I wake up saddened by the situation of the world. Different places to my mind, such as Syria, Egypt, Sudan, the Philippines, and even on our own home front of Chicago. We have forgotten that despite our many differences, we are one people. I feel that the root cause of this estrangement is our tendency to stray from each other, as we have drifted away from the Love Source within ourselves.

Many of us live without a real intimate relationship with the Universal Love within us. Our violent and destructive history as a race has been a painful learning process of growing and evolving. One of the most important lessons, maybe the most important one, is to realize our union with the Infinite Consciousness that lives within our hearts. It has many names - the "I Am," the Eternal Self, the Divine Soul, the One Mind, God, the Creator, etc. When we don't take time to cultivate an intimate relationship with the Source of Love within our being, life becomes confusing and frustrating.

We tend to seek a sense of gratification and validation from external sources in an effort to receive a sense of strength and connection. Doing that, we are operating from our defensive tendencies rather than from our Expanded Self. All the unnecessary strife and destruction originates from fear and defensiveness. Heartfelt sense of unity and compassion cannot be present in the face of defensiveness. When we project our fears onto others and see them as the enemy, we are driven to be defensive. We get attached to "being right," having power over others, controlling life, people, and situations...