It has been stated that out of the suffering strong souls emerge. As the world witnesses these current events, may it change the way we look at the world's suffering.
For many centuries spiritual leaders have taught us that we are one family and that the solution to all of our problems is to live in unity, peace, love and cooperation. Christ gave special emphasis to these values and encouraged his followers to think of God as their mutual Father and all persons as their brothers and sisters.

Although some efforts have been made in that direction, such as the United Nations, the European Union and other - mostly economic - forms of cooperation, we are still quite far from a world in which all feel that they are brothers and sisters in the same family.

This lack of unity has deep and widespread negative repercussions on all aspects of our lives. It creates a reality in which we care for ourselves and those we consider ours and are indifferent to what happens to all others. This is not an effective system, because whatever happens to anyone eventually has repercussions on us all. When others are not happy, healthy and do not have enough to live respectfully, that in the long run, eventually negatively affects our personal reality.

Only in unity and cooperation can we create the systems of education, transportation, health and economics that ensure our wellbeing on this planet. Otherwise, humanity is like a body in which too much blood is moving to one part of the body and little or no blood to another area of the body. Both parts of the body suffer. When material wealth accumulates in one part of the world and not in others, it is only natural that we will have anger, hate and terrorism; especially when the rich continue to use the poor to get richer. This problem has become even more acute now because of television and Internet, because those who do not have can see how others live and experience even greater feelings of resentment. They wonder, "How can they have and waste so much when they see that we have nothing? How can they not help us?"

Only when all the cells in a body cooperate, share and work for the general good of the whole body can those cells themselves are well. The health of each cell depends on the health of the body and the health of the body on the cooperation and selflessness of each cell. If a cell decided to care only for itself and not perform its functions for the body, it would be considered cancerous and an enemy to the body. Only through unity and cooperation of all cells can the body be well and only when the body is well, can the cells receive what they need from it.

In the same way each human is like a cell in the body of humanity whose purpose is to seek what is simultaneously the highest good for him or herself and also the whole. The body of humanity will recover from its serious illness of alienation, discontent, war, poverty, famine, homelessness, drug abuse, and injustice when all humans realize that only by caring for the whole can we actually create what we personally need.

It all has to do with our circle of identification and circle of action. Each of us has a circle with which we identify and are interested in the wellness those in that circle. Some people's circle does not even include their own selves. They do not care about themselves and do not care for their health or happiness. They are self-sabotaging or self-punishing.

Most people's circle of identification includes their spouse, parents, children and siblings. Beyond that circle they are less interested in how others are faring. When we grow emotionally, mentally and spiritually, our circle expands to include fellow workers, people from the same area, race, country and religion and then beyond that to all beings regardless of nationality race or religion. Eventually our circle of identification expands to include all animals, insects and plants - as expressions of divine consciousness - with which we are one.

Christ spoke about this in his parable about the man who would arrive in God's presence and God would tell him, "You did not care for me when I was poor, without clothing, in jail or ill." and the man would ask surprised; "when were you in any of those conditions?" And God answered, "Whenever any of my children was in those states, it was I."

It is imperative that we realize that there is actually one divine consciousness in this universe and that it is expressing itself through all beings, including ourselves. The same divine consciousness that is at the center of our being is at the center of all other beings, regardless of religion, sex, race or nationality. Thus in reality every person we see is actually the divine itself expressing itself in through the unique form and personality of that being. The same is true for all beings.

Imagine a light flowing out from one center through many millions of holes in a sphere surrounding that light. Imagine that each hole has a different film image printed on it so that as the light passes through it, the light takes the form of that image. Those many millions of images then appear on a spherical screen around the sphere giving the appearance of millions of different forms appearing on the screen. All images, however, are in reality different expressions of that one light. They have one source of being and their being depends on their continual projection from that source. If that stops, they cease to exist. Their existence is continually dependent on that one source.

Our bodies and minds are those images that appear on the screen and appear to be separate from each other. But, in fact, we all have one common divine source. That does mean not that these beings are aware of that fact or behave in accordance with their inner divine nature. They may be insensitive, greedy and violent. But in the center of their being, they are divine consciousness - the same one that is expressing itself through us.

Our circle of action is usually smaller than our circle of identification. There are groups of people we care about but are not willing to share our time, money and energy with. Our interest does not result in action, sharing or sacrifice. It is essential for our personal, social and planetary wellbeing that we expand our circle of interest and our circle of action. Only in this way, will we be able to create the material, emotional and spiritual abundance for all - which we all deserve.

This can happen only when we let go of political, national and religious differences and desire for all to have what they need. It is important to let go of our fear of those who belong to other religious and national groupings and realize that they too are our brothers and sisters here on this planetary spaceship moving through the universe. We need to care equally for all Americans, Iraqis, Iranians, Israelis, Palestinians, Somalians, Greeks, Turks, Christians, Moslems, Jews, Hindus and Buddhists. As souls we have no race, nationality, religion or gender. We are beyond all these. These are labels we wear for the duration of our life here on earth. We need to overcome these and care equally for all.

This oneness of our being has been verified on many levels. Spiritual teachings clearly indicate that there is one divine consciousness expressing itself through all beings. We are one spirit. On a physical level, we are physically literally one with all around us. It is only our mind that creates the illusion of separateness, and the resulting fear and self-centeredness. Cooperation between countries, religions, political systems and all varieties of people is the solution to all of our problems. .....Love, Light and Blessings, Christina