Turn the other cheek
Cascading decisions that change lives
This is the sixth in a series of inspired articles which were channelled in the days following the attack by Hamas on Israel in October and the response by the IDF in the weeks that followed.
I have set up this publication just for the purpose of sharing this perspective. I make no claims as to its Source and I refrain from editing it, over and above making it readable.
I, like the majority of the world, am reliant on news stories for information. In that sense the starting point for this inspiration is what I read and see around me, and that will inevitably shape at least part of the response.
Equally, any reader will be influenced by their life experience and personal beliefs, and that is how it should be. I believe that by sharing our perspectives, hopes, fears, and dreams we will come to know each other better and our humanity will shine through. Surely, this is the road to peace?
‘Another day of sweeping heartbreak from your mind and reaching to the Light. Another day of wiping the tears from your face and the feeling of helplessness that constricts your solar plexus.
‘It is as if you are pinioned and yet not fully buried beneath the dust and the ashes that last week were people’s homes, neighbourhoods, shops, and schools. Communities destroyed, hopes, futures, and ambitions ignited in flames, some will turn to ash and others will smoulder and ignite again in the years to come.
‘You will likely not see it yourself, beloved one, but in the years to come people will be photographed with an emptiness behind their eyes that, were you to look closer, would bear the imprint of these few days. This one, life-changing event, the result of cascading decisions based on fear or anger, will scar their futures and the futures of those they come into contact with.
‘All around your world you see these outbreaks of unexplainable violence, but nothing is unexplainable if your vision is long enough.
‘Now, do not misunderstand me, explainable does not mean acceptable, it means a failure of Love and when Love fails it fails first the perpetrator and then the victims. As much, as we discussed yesterday, there are karmic and soul purpose explanations, they do not remove the self responsibility for the choice of enactment.
‘The reality is though that in order for revenge to be transmuted the flow of Love has to be reestablished, and that has to happen first within the individual feeling revengeful. Now, this does require an inbuilt relationship with Love, both personal love and universal Love so that the initial impulse is restrained.
‘This is most easily achieved in solitude, having silenced the clamour of external voices, it is only here that you can seek the solace of your soul and ask for help and guidance. This is not instantaneous, the receipt of the Light of Love will be, but it takes time for the personality to absorb it and assimilate it.
‘When Yeshua said, ‘Turn the other cheek,’ He was not necessarily advocating no response at all, but that any response should a considered one and lead to a greater understanding.
‘If violence is met with violence, it curtails any possibility of increasing understanding. If disgust is met with disgust, it does not lead to compassion but more disgust. But, if the recipient can turn inwards and upwards, then a more measured response becomes possible.
‘There is very little attention given in your media to the feelings of those involved in perpetuating violence, and that is understandable, but how do the deep feelings of regret, shame, self-hatred, or fear ever get resolved?
Does anyone really believe that having beheaded another human being, or raped a terrified woman, that you are not a changed individual? That you remain free of self recrimination or self-justification that imprisons the soul in shame?
‘Perhaps if there was a universal desire to unpick the motivations in the clear light of day, and a greater acceptance of the strength of forgiveness, the outcome of these terrible events would different.
‘They could, when the dust has settled, lead to a greater collective understanding and a smaller chance of repetition. After all, countries are keen enough to share their weapons, why not the consequential heart-searching, the life – changing, even life ending, legacy of shame and denial?
What happens on the battlefield, or within a violent act, does not stay there, it lives on for generations until it is brought into the Light of Love. Peace with you.’
© ZD Finn 2023
The full set of articles by ZD Finn on ‘Above the Clamour’ are now available as a free download on zdfinn.com.
These inspirations will eventually form part of ‘The Library of Lives,’ a series of inspired journals published by ZD Finn.
More information can be found on zdfinn.com and some of the terms and my use of capitals are explained in the Lexicon created by @zdfinn on Medium.
Finn runs a healing and meditation practice in London, and offers mentoring to those seeking to strengthen their own soul connection.
