The Attack on America - A Call for Higher Consciousness  Chapter 5

"I am very happy to say that I see that as having shifted slightly in the last few weeks.  As I start to write this page on October 7th, I am seeing reactions in the United States - including that of the administration - shifting out of the sweeping, generalized black and white, us vs them, reaction that I was so concerned about when I started writing this.  We are focusing more specifically on the terrorists and their direct supporters as ëthem,í and making some efforts to reach out to, and provide aid for, Afghani people who have suffered so much from the conflicts that have been devastating their country for years."
***
"This is great.  It is definite progress in the maturing of the United States as a country.  The US has made a lot of progress in the last forty years or so - and at an increasing rate in the last 10 to 15 years.  There is still a long ways to go however.  We are a country which has only begun - in the last generation or two - to start changing very ignorant attitudes and behaviors towards women, children, and minorities who are different in race, religion, sexual orientation or whatever.

The polarized thinking of codependence, which is characterized by attempts to overcome toxic shame about being human by reacting out of a black and white belief system - blame them so I don't have to blame me - still empowers a lot of denial and intolerance in this country.  The collective consciousness of America has been / is being dragged - kicking and screaming much of the way - out of the patriarchal, bigoted, self righteous superiority of the dysfunctional and intolerant (fear based) codependent mind set that has so ruled human evolution on this planet."

***
"One of the most brilliant aspects of the twelve step process is the concept of powerlessness.  Even though the twelve steps themselves - in their commonly accepted version - contain shaming black and white language ('defects of character' are actually adapted emotional and behavioral defenses) the Spiritual principles underling the process are ancient Metaphysical Truth.  The twelve steps are a formula for integrating Spirituality into day to day human life - and the concept of powerlessness is brilliantly intuitive, mystical gift from a Loving Great Spirit."
***
"I mentioned in an earlier chapter, that I was shocked to get in touch with a very deep level of Love for the United States of America.  I was shocked because I had built up a thick layer of defenses in my relationship with this country.  I had built a wall of passive-aggressive cynicism and emotionally dishonest indifference around my heart in relationship to the United States.  I did that in codependent reaction to how much my heart has been broken by my country."
***
"After the events of September 11th, an email message with the same kind of shaming statements went around - attributed to not only Marianne Williamson but also to Neale Donald Walsch, James Twyman, James Redfield and Doreen Virtue. . . . . .

A great majority of New Age teachers and writers are still empowering polarity and shame about human emotions by communicating this kind of message.  Please stop and think about what you are doing.  This message is not aligned with Love and ONENESS.  This type of message supports the disease.  PLEASE STOP IT!"

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The Dance of Wounded Souls
Joyously inspirational Spiritual book - Codependence: The Dance of Wounded Souls

Attack on America - A Call for Higher Consciousness

by Robert Burney

So we need to stop shaming ourselves for the behaviors that we adopted to protect and nurture ourselves, at the same time that we are transitioning to behaviors that are less self-abusive.

Notice that I say less self-abusive.  We are talking progress, not perfection here.

If you have an image of what completely healthy behavior is, and you will not allow yourself to accept and Love yourself until you get there, then you are setting conditions under which you decide when you will become Lovable.  You are still buying into a concept of conditional love and by extension, the concept of a Higher Power that is conditionally loving.  You are still trying to earn, and become worthy of not only self-Love, but also God's Love.  That small child inside of you is still trying to earn your parentsí Love and validation.

That is a natural, normal thing for humans beings on this Codependent planet.  Try not to judge and beat yourself up for it.  Try to observe it and say, "Oh, isn't it sad that I am still doing that?  I think I will try to learn some ways that I can change it."

(Text in this color are quotes from Codependence: The Dance of Wounded Souls by Robert Burney)

While I was in college I did a paper on Napoleon's wars in Spain.  I ran across a sentence in a book that said something like "the French exacerbated the Spanish xenophobia."  I, of course, being a person who values words, had to look up both of the long words - and then figure out ways to use them.  I no longer use words to try to impress people.  I focus on trying to communicate as clearly as possible.  So, I was kind of amused when I watched myself use exacerbate several times in part 4 of this web opus.  I used it because it was such a perfect word for what I was trying to convey.

Exacerbate means to greatly increase, severely aggravate, irritate - which in recovery language I would translate as: triggering, or pushing buttons, or gouging old wounds, in particularly powerful ways. 

Xenophobia is dislike or hatred of strangers or foreigners - which of course is caused by fear of differences, fear of that which is unknown, not understood.

The two words are linked together forever in my mind because of the sentence in which I discovered them.  That is another reason why my use of exacerbate was so perfect, because part of the stimulus for me to start writing this piece was the Xenophobia I was seeing in the initial emotional reaction of Americans. . . . . 
 


This page is no longer available on the regular web site.  To view this page, it is now necessary to pay a fee for access to the Dancing in Light section of Joy2MeU.com  On this page are quotes from, and section headings of, the original article.  The page with information on how to subscribe is Dancing in Light.

The United States is the best and the brightest

. . . . . When I talk about the United States of America and it's need to be honest enough and have enough humility to become more conscious and open to growth - I am not saying the US is worse than the rest of the world.  Far from it.

The United States is the best and the brightest.  It is the cradle which nurtured the freedom of individual to seek Spiritual answers.  It is the birth place of twelve step recovery which had a very large part to play in the Spiritual revolution that is the New Age. . . . . .The United States is a leader.  A trail blazer.  A pioneer.  It is a nation founded upon mystical Truth - and dedicated to the right of individuals to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

The Concept of Powerlessness

A little personal inventory

Surrendering to Expanding Consciousness

Enlarging the New Age Paradigm

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October 14, 2001 - I have decided to go ahead and post this page today.  It was actually finished by mid week, but I had hoped to post two chapters at the same time.  The next one hasn't come together to my satisfaction yet, so once again I get to let go of my plan, of my picture of how things are going to work out.  I have enough material written for what appears to be 3 more chapters to this online book.  I have started calling them chapters and this an online book because it was silly to call it an article anymore, and I got tired of calling the individual web pages 'parts.'  It will still only be possible to access the pages through the previous chapter, and when posted will be announced on the New page.  If you want to be notified by email when the New page change, sign up for the Notification service.

Go to Chapter 6:  Attack on America - A Call for Consciousness

Chapters 2 through 11 of Attack on America - A Spiritual Healing Perspective are now only available in the pay to view Dancing in Light component of Joy2MeU.com - or in the Joy2MeU Journal.


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