WHAT IS THE BEST RESPONSE TO
TERRORISM?
I was out of town when the most recent Terror attacks occurred in CA.
I heard on the Television that many people had an immediate response that prayer does not work; that we must do more. Actually, there is truth in this statement. I am a Unity Minister of over 30 years and we teach practical Christianity. Prayer in practical Christianity teaches that one must do more than just sit silently in prayer; we must put feet on our prayers and take action in accordance with what guidance we have received in prayer. Now sometimes, one’s highest guidance may be to be still and not take immediate action but in many if not most cases, there is something our bodies must do in alignment with the guidance we received in prayer. That is, we can’t just say a prayer and then expect that something magically will change. It is we who are changed in prayer and often the change will lead to action, albeit faith guided action.
A response that a young musician in Paris took on November 14th, the day after the terror attacks in Paris, was to literally bring his upright piano to a place right outside the Bataclan Concert Hall, where the most deaths occurred and to play John Lennon’s famous song, IMAGINE. Many people responded to this as they did to the thought of praying. They said things like this:
“HOW HOPELESS IS THIS, THIS IS THE SIGN OF THE DECADENCE OF THE WEST, IS THAT A RESPONSE TO TERRORISM: MUSIC?”
Of course Music is a good response to terrorism. Music enables us to connect with our heart; music also has the ability to connect our minds and our hearts together. Music is another way to inspire correct action; just as prayer can and should lead to correct action.
So, the best response to terrorism is first to be willing to connect with God, self and others and in this gathering we become willing to seek the right answer. The right response is always available and it will always have to do with love. The type of love I am talking about here is the type that truly does lead to healing and compassion and restores oneness. This type of love helps us go beyond our reptilian brain(the lizard brain) that continually seeks to divide us in to groups and call one group bad and one group good.
This type of love flows from our higher brain, the Wizard brain, which enables us to know that in order to survive as a species, we must learn to get along with one another or we will all perish.
Jesus taught about seeking the right answer when he said: “Where 2 or more are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them”. Jesus knew, as other great spiritual leaders also know and teach that if we seek oneness with one another, love is there, and in this, we will find a new way.
Unity teaches that as we gather together in a consciousness of love and truth and compassion, we will always know what to do. We humans have the ability to do the right thing. So, the right response to terrorism is to gather with like minded people who are willing to pray, to connect with heart and mind, and to put feet on our prayers. This is the only response to terrorism that will ever truly stop terrorism.