Ft. Hood tragedy and spirituality
Truly, is there a spiritual explanation for the tragedy that befell those unknowing victims of Ft. Hood? Is there any way to appease everyone and give a logical description of what it takes to commit such acts? And then have everyone agree on it? Probably not, because those who are non-Muslim will say that it only goes to show how confused the religion of Islam is or that they should worship the one true God. Then to those who subscribe to the belief of no religion, all believers are seen as misguided, mislead, and confused.
This tragedy can be viewed on many levels: a disgruntled psychiatrist, an angry soon-to-be-deployed-for-the-first-time major, or an American citizen with complaints about our country, and no way, from any level, does it help any of us understand how someone could do this. Then we read that he is of Jordanian decent, a Muslim, and the enormity of the chasm widens and becomes shocking: we figure he did this because he is Muslim (we is meant as a general term, expressing what much of the nation feels right now).
For many Muslims, everything that America has become is the enemy. For those of us who are non-Muslim, the extent to which the depths of their culture and heritage can reach, exceeds our grasp for understanding on many levels, and only after such tragedies as this does it begin to boil to the surface.
You see, we are different. When we hold on to our differences, it creates distinct separations. When we choose to place ourselves as the minority in crowds who are not of the same religion, nationality, persuasion, etc., we are trying so hard to announce our differences. And when we do this, we call attention to ourselves in a way that says something like, “You guys have it wrong, and I am right.” No one likes that. Yes, thankfully we are very different individuals, but the truth is, if we can truly connect to our source, we find that those “differences” are of no consequence at all.
Religion, to non-religious people, appears to compound the differences by announcing to the world that all of you are wrong and we are right, and only through turning to our God can the world see peace and salvation. And everyone can see that thoughts such as these are making the differences more severe and very little peace can be achieved when everyone believes theirs is the only way.
I won’t claim here to understand or grasp the totality of what Islam is all about, but I do know they subscribe to God (and Mohammad) and they believe that their way is the right way. I won’t claim to understand or grasp the totality of what Christianity is all about, but I do know they subscribe to God (and Jesus) and they believe that their way is the right way. Do we see anything here? Any similarity? Probably not if you are within those groups just mentioned.
From the outside of religion and from the stance of a person who is spiritual, there are more factors at work here besides religion, rank, psychiatric wellness, or occupation. There is a severe split going on between the world we live in, and the world described in the holy books. Within any holy book, there are statements that, if taken literally, will urge people to do things that are immoral, unethical, illegal, and punishable by death. And therein lies just part of the problem: they are not to be taken literally. Oh, and this behavior is certainly unbecoming of an officer. Was he crazy? Perhaps all the time spent counseling others pushed him into a false reality where he actually could take people’s lives and be okay with it. But on a spiritual level? Is there any explanation at all on a spiritual level why he would do something like this? Why anyone would do anything like this?
What if all humans are here to evolve and grow? What if our existence here is to raise awareness and expand consciousness? Is there any chance that this horrific act of violence can fit into either of these? He obviously had some kind of reason for doing this, and in time we will all be inches from our television sets to hear this. But if we are here to evolve and grow, will this urge any of us to be more sensitive to others’ needs? Will it urge us to unite with one another in condemning acts of violence such as this? Will it cause any of us to attempt to look into our own lives to see where we might be out of touch with reality? Perhaps if we are distanced far enough from the tragedy. But what if we aren’t? What if are touched because we know people who know people who were there? Who were injured? Who were murdered? Then what?
Can we pull back from the events and see that when things like this happen anywhere in the world, it reminds us of our own physical mortality? And what of what we believe happens after death? Will we look at that? Will we then choose to live differently? Will we run for cover inside our own sanctuaries and further condemn those who don’t share the same religion stating that they don’t understand us? Or will we try, yet again, to cast off the armor that separates us all, and attempt to embrace? And could this possibly be yet another call to those moderates within any religion to attempt to reach the radicals and explain to them just how bad this makes the whole group seem?
What if all of this is another gut check for America? What if it’s a call to our Armed Forces of all kinds, to have a more strict policy for being a part of this powerful military? What if it’s yet another call to people around the nation to look at just what it takes to achieve citizenship? But what if it’s a simple reminder that the world and the nation have a lot of evolving to do?
It is time for each of us to begin a true journey of soul searching. It is time to urge our brothers and sisters to realize we are all one, and until we can see that what happens there happens to us here, we will not grow. It is time for us to connect with our understanding of what is divine and know that if it ever tells us to commit murder, it is most certainly NOT a voice of the divine, but our own psychoses talking. The universe and God, regardless of what religion one affiliates with, is benevolent. The source of all that is, the divine, represents nothing but love: no condemnation, no judgment. When we are connected to that same eternal love, we feel love, and express love. How will this tragedy change you? How will you grow, evolve, and become more aware, more conscious? Will you retreat into your shell, or will you help move this nation forward as the days wear on?
We truly are one, connected through that which is divine in all of us.
Laurie M. Knight is the author of Journal to the Center of the Soul, a spiritual fiction available through online booksellers. She can be reached at her website, www.WritingbyKnight.com
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