GREAT Morning Beloved!

THE WISDOM OF YODA

We are winding down with summer, unfortunately or fortunately….however you look at it – and also with our summer series on the Lessons learned from Science Fiction and Fantasy in all its forms.
I have especially loved this journey because this is one of my interests. Too bad we didn’t come across a dragon or two…then we really would have had some fun!

This week we explore the Wisdom of Yoda. Let’s look a bit at wisdom.
The dictionary defines wisdom as knowledge and good judgment based on experience; being wise.
Wise implies having knowledge and understanding of people and of what is true and right in life and conduct; and showing sound judgment in applying such knowledge.

In ‘The Twelve Powers of Man’, Charles Fillmore writes that, “Wisdom includes judgment, discrimination, intuition, and all the departments of mind that come under the head of knowing.”
Wisdom is making wise choices. The spiritual power most often associated with wisdom is love. In fact, the apostle assigned to the power of Wisdom is James, the brother of John, the apostle representing Love.
The combination of wisdom and love is a clear example of the connecting of head and heart. Wisdom without love can become academic. Love without wisdom can become co-dependent; and we end up making unwise choices.

James Trapp, former President and CEO of Unity Worldwide Ministries once said, “There is information that informs and then there is information that transforms.”
Together, wisdom and love help us to move beyond ourselves, beyond what we thought we were capable of. Wisdom and love help us to see beyond appearances.

Which brings us to the wisdom of Yoda
Luke was being trained by Yoda in the ways of the Force.
The WAYS of the Force…..it seems mystical, doesn’t i? It’s more than a feeling, the Force is a life-style.

There are so many wonderful lessons to be learned from Luke’s relationship with Yoda.
First, we learn, along with Luke, that wisdom doesn’t always look like we think it will. Luke is looking for a great Jedi master in The Empire Strikes Back and impatiently demands that Yoda take him to his new teacher. It never even occurs to Luke that this little green troll is, in fact, that master.
How often we assume that wisdom will come in a pretty package and tell us what we want to hear.

Yoda’s training of Luke is comprehensive. He not only focuses on teaching him about the metaphysical nature of the Universe and the Force, he also trains Luke’s physical body and encourages him to look into his heart for answers.
Yoda was truly a holistic teacher, recognizing the connection between body, mind and spirit and supporting Luke to grow and develop his skills in all three areas.
Yoda teaches Luke that the cave he fears to enter holds the treasure that he seeks. While in Luke’s case there was a literal cave, we all have our own metaphorical caves that we are afraid to enter, right?
I believe Eleanor Roosevelt said, “Do one thing every day that you are afraid of.”
If you think that is impossible, the Queen of Hearts in Alice in Wonderland said, “Why, sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.”

We need to face our fears.

Yoda taught Luke that he needed to unlearn what he had learned. Luke needed to say – “I don’t know”.
Again, how true this is for all of us!

Luke’s head was so full of what he thought he knew that he couldn’t take in what Yoda was trying to teach him. He had a preconception about what his Jedi master would look like and had to let go of that in order recognize Yoda.
He thought being a Jedi meant fighting great battles in great wars. Yoda laughed at this idea, and at Luke… “Ohhh! Great warrior! Wars not make one great!”

Yoda uses his own appearance to teach Luke some valuable lessons. In one exchange, Yoda admonishes Luke to see beyond appearances, to recognize that might doesn’t make right and bigger isn’t always better.

In an important scene of the movie, “The Empire Strikes Back”, Yoda is encouraging Luke to lift his fighter out of the swamp. Luke tries, and gives up, complaining that it can’t be done!
Yoda: Always with you it cannot be done. Hear you nothing that I say?
Luke: Master moving stones around is one thing, this (the ship) is totally different.
Yoda: No, no different. Only different in your mind. You must unlearn what you have learned.
Luke: Alright, I’ll give it a try.
Yoda: No, try not. Do or do not. There is no try.

When Luke has failed to lift his ship out of the water, he complains that the ship is too big.
Yoda explains, “Size matters not. Look at me, judge me by size do you, hmmm? And well you should not, for my ally is the force, and a powerful ally it is. Life creates it, makes it grow. Its energy surrounds us and binds us. Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter. You must feel the force around you, here! Between you, me, the tree, the rock! Yes, everywhere! Even between the land and the ship.”
Luke: You want the impossible.
Yoda then lifts the ship out of the water with a wave of his hand…
Luke: I don’t believe it.
Yoda: And that is why you fail.
This is our challenge also, is it not?

Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter We are spiritual beings having a human experience. Who knew Yoda was Unity! Truth is truth and wisdom is wisdom, regardless of the source.
In this exchange, Yoda is trying to teach Luke about the holographic nature of the Universe. Yoda knew that moving the rocks and moving the ship were the same thing. He knew that doing the smallest thing with intention and focus can make the biggest of shifts.
Where can this principle fit in your life?

Yoda teaches about being positive about what you can do, no negativity.
Yoda also urged Luke to take his training, his destiny, seriously.
He told Luke, “A Jedi must have the deepest commitment, the most serious mind” and admonished him that if he took the quick and easy path, he would become an agent of evil.

One of Yoda’s greatest challenges in training Luke was dealing with his youthful impulsiveness, his wanting to know everything right now!
Again, how true this is of us as human beings. So often we want to go from A to Z, without going through the steps, through the journey, that it takes to get there.
And enjoying the journey along the way.
One of the questions many people ask is how to tell the difference between our Inner Voice of Wisdom and what we often call monkey mind… especially when our monkey mind seems so persuasive!
Here are some clues…. Monkey Mind is right, righteous, rigid, defensive, cynical, no possibility, others are wrong, humorless, self-interested, and basically concerned with survival. There is always fear that something could go wrong. There is a closing around the heart, a sense that you won’t make it. If you feel “I have to get this done right away,” it’s Monkey Mind.
Remind you just a little bit of the Luke that first came to Yoda?

Our Inner wisdom, on the other hand, is open, possibility, compassionate, and spaciousness. It is characterized by generosity of spirit, gentle humor, and opening around heart.
Remind you a little bit of Yoda?

Yoda taught Luke that “You will know the good from the bad (or wisdom from monkey mind) when you are calm, at peace.”

Luke was consumed with a sense of urgency, of wanting to do everything right now and therefore wasn’t able to hear his inner voice of wisdom.
Yoda, like all the great masters, taught that we have to become quiet to hear that still small voice of Wisdom that we all have…. that still small voice that helps us to make wise decisions.

Yoda also taught Luke that he had to choose which side of the force he would serve. He warned Luke that the Dark Side was very seductive… “Beware of the dark side. Anger…fear…aggression. The dark side of the Force are they. Easily they flow, quick to join you in a fight. Once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny, consume you it will…”
Once we start down the path of making decisions based on fear, consume us it will… so what are we choosing?

You remember the great little story about a Cherokee grandfather and his grandchildren…
An elder Cherokee was teaching his grandchildren about life. He said to them, “A fight is going on inside me. It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves.
One wolf represents fear, anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.
The other stands for joy, peace, love, hope, sharing, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, friendship, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith.
This same fight is going on inside you, and inside every other person, too.”
The children thought about it for a minute and then one child asked his grandfather, “Which wolf will win?” The old Cherokee simply replied, “The one you feed.”
What wolf are we feeding? “Choose this day who you will serve.”

We know that Heaven and Hell are not actual physical places, but states of mind that we create.
Are our choices creating Heaven or Hell? Are we using the Force for good and standing for peace, love, hope, joy and truth, or are we walking down the dark side of fear, anger, sorrow, greed and regret?

Matthew Fox wrote, “When we are joyous and full of heart, we are emanating wisdom. Wisdom is not in the head but in the heart and gut where compassion is felt.”
I think Yoda would agree

Here are a few more Yoda wisdom tidbits:
“Hmm! Adventure. Hmmpf! Excitement. A Jedi craves not these things.” A Jedi lives to serve and protect, not to seek out danger and risk, unless it’s in the name of the Force.
Sometimes we look for excitement instead of wisdom, can’t we have both?

“Ready are you? What know you of ready?” As Yoda tells young Luke, most of us think we’re ready before we really are, as we’re always looking for shortcuts or an easy way out.

Sound familiar? Oh youth….

“All his life has he looked away…to the future, to the horizon. Never his mind on where he was. Hmm? On what he was doing.” Yoda tries to tell Luke about the dedication that a Jedi must possess. The philosophy here is about dedication to an ideal.

Personal responsibility. You are choosing what is important in your life, what drives your integrity

“Twilight is upon me, and soon night must fall. That is the way of things.” This is part of Yoda’s death speech to Luke. We must accept that we will come to an end one day.

We must make the best of the DASH between our birth date and date of our transition. Mine will be 10/1/1949 – ?

HOW will you fill your DASH?

Great Morning Beloved!

The Prime Directive

So today we will explore one of Star Trek’s most fundamental teachings, the basis for how they do things in the universe – The Prime Directive.

In the book, “All I Really Need to Know I Learned from Watching Star Trek” by Dave Marinaccio, we learn about ‘The Prime Directive’.

The Prime Directive is central to everything in Star Trek. It is a non-interference directive coming from the highest authority in the Federation and may be the most important idea in the series.

The Prime Directive prohibits the captain and crew from interfering in the internal affairs of any of the planets they visit. It insinuates that any peoples have the right to construct their societies in any manner they wish.
Of course, we can understand the need for this directive. Cultural bias may influence the way the crew interprets what they are seeing. Therefore, its best to not interfere.

This rule protects the people of the planet but also the crew. Noninterference keeps the crew from getting into the middle of a private fight. They don’t have to pick sides.

All that being said, if you have watched any of especially the Classic Star Trek, you know that Captain Kirk didn’t follow the Prime Directive very well. “Episode after episode after episode, Kirk does what he believes is right.”
Kirk does observe the Prime Directive when it fits his purposes.
Kirks actions show that he would enforce the spirit of the law above the letter of the law. Does that sound familiar? Check out Matthew 5 for starters if it doesn’t.

The Prime Directive was instituted to protect people. When it goes against that premise, he would ignore it. People are more important than rules.

“A person who understands a rule knows when to break it, they know the intent of the law.”

This brings to mind something else…we can’t legislate morality. That should sound familiar too, to those of us who remember the struggle through the years for equal rights and opportunity. I believe I recall that statement being spoken in the 60’s and 70’s and probably again today.

The Prime Directive is an example of what is called in ethical circles Cultural Relativism. According to James Rachels, a contemporary American ethicist, cultural relativism is a theory that makes six basic claims:

1. Different societies have different moral codes.

2. There is no objective standard that can be used to judge one societal code better than another.

3. The moral code of our own society has no special status; it is merely one among many.

4. There is no “universal truth” in ethics – that is, there are no moral truths that hold for all peoples at all times.

5. The moral code of a society determines what is right within that society; that is, if the moral code of a society says that a certain action is right, then that action is right, at least within that society.

6. It is mere arrogance for us to try to judge the conduct of other peoples. We should adopt an attitude of tolerance toward the practices of other cultures.

There’s a wonderful Next Generation episode that illustrates what it looks like when we reject these claims, called “The Cost of Living.”

The U.S.S. Enterprise heads toward the Moselina system. As they travel, ships counselor, Deanna Troi’s mother Lwaxana transports aboard with an unusual announcement — she is planning to get married on the Enterprise to a man that she has never met. Deanna finds the news disturbing, but Lwaxana laughs at her “motherly” concern.
At the same time, Troi has been counseling Worf and his son Alexander, who have been clashing over the boy’s responsibilities. Soon, Lwaxana meets Alexander and takes a liking to him. She persuades him to skip his appointment with Counselor Troi and accompany her to the holodeck instead. There, she takes him for a visit to a colony of artists, poets and free thinkers, and to a mudbath. Troi and Worf, meanwhile, are searching for the missing boy.

An angry Deanna asks her mother to stop interfering with Alexander’s upbringing. The subject changes to Lwaxana’s upcoming wedding, and Troi is shocked to learn that her independent-thinking mother plans to forgo the Betazoid custom of getting married in the nude and wear a wedding dress provided by her bridegroom instead.

Later, Lwaxana’s intended, Minister Campio, transports aboard along with his pompous Protocol Master. Lwaxana is a bit taken aback by just how stuffy her husband-to-be is, since the compatibility profile that matched them did not alert her to how major their differences are. She becomes bored with the complicated wedding plans and heads back to the holodeck with Alexander, much to everyone’s dismay.

Lwaxana’s nuptials begin only to come to an abrupt halt, however, when she walks down the aisle naked according to her traditions, sending her stuffy bridegroom and his Protocol Master scurrying for home. Troi is pleased that her mother stuck to her guns, and later brings Worf to join Lwaxana and Alexander for a last trip to the mudbath.
So let’s look at this episode in relation to the six claims of cultural relativism.

1. Different societies have different moral codes. We see clearly at least 3 sets of moral codes – the Betazoids unique custom whereby the bride appears nude at the wedding; the Kostolains’ rigid adherence to protocol, procedure and ceremony; and the colony of free spirits in Lwaxana’s holodeck program.

2. There is no objective standard by which to judge one society’s code better than another But we try, don’t we? After all, our way must be the best way. We see this clearly in the Protocol Master’s attempts to impose the Kostolain way upon Lwaxana. From the moment Campio, the bridegroom to be, meets Lwaxana, Erko, the Protocol Master is dictating how their interactions will proceed. From no kissing, to not even calling Campio by his first name, there is no consideration for Lwaxana in their interactions. It is the Kostolain way or no way.

3. The moral code of our own society has no special status; it is merely one among many. This shows up most clearly in this episode in the interactions between Worf, Deanna and Worf’s son, Alexander. In Klingon society, children are expected to obey without question. So when Deanna proposes that Worf and Alexander enter into a parent-child contract, as a way to encourage Alexander to do his chores without hassle, Worf bristles. Worf resists the idea, because it goes against the grain of what he was taught as a child, and what he understands to be custom. However as Deanna explains to him in this episode, there’s more than one way to raise a child. If you want to foster a happy, healthy mutually beneficial relationship with your child – or simply teach him how to pick up after himself – and what you’re doing right now prevents you from attaining that goal, then perhaps you ought to try something else. (Remember the definition of insanity?)

4. There are no moral truths that hold for all peoples at all times. This shows up in all the relationships in this episode, and also in Lwaxana’s realization, with a little help from Alexander, that while her marriage to Campio may prevent loneliness, it doesn’t necessarily promise happiness.

5. The moral code of a society determines what is right within that society. This cuts to the basic conflict within this episode. Interestingly, while Deanna is not happy that her mother is marrying a man she has never met, she is equally, if not more upset that her mother will be wearing a wedding dress at the ceremony, completely breaking with Betazoid custom. Equally as interesting is that even the colony of free spirits have a moral code – as Lwaxana explains, “Only those whose hearts are joyous may enter the colony of free spirits.”

6. It is arrogant to try to judge the conduct of other peoples. We should adopt an attitude of tolerance toward the practices of other cultures. Lwaxana makes this point in a big way in the climactic wedding sequence, when she shows up at her ceremony completely naked, horrifying Campio and Erko, and clearly delighting everyone else! We also see a shift in Worf in the final scene, as we watch he, Deanna, Lwaxana and Alexander in a mudbath together, surrounded by free spirits.

So let’s get back to the Prime Directive. How does it relate to this episode? Clearly, the Kostolains would not have a Prime Directive. They truly believe that their way is the ONLY way, and would have no problem imposing that way on to any culture they encounter, as they did with Lwaxana. To them, there is nothing more important than the rules. Rules first, people second.

Remember what we heard earlier? “What, then, is the lesson here? A great one. People are more important than rules. Enforce the spirit of the law above the letter of the law. The Prime Directive was instituted to protect people. When the directive gets in the way of protecting people, ignore it.”

This is contrary to the very purpose of the federation – to seek out new peoples and new civilizations, to boldly go where no one has gone before. It’s difficult, if not impossible, to boldly go anywhere when we’re consumed with following, and imposing the rules.

How does this apply to us? We might say we’re very open to new ideas, to new ways of doing things. We follow the spirit of the law, not the letter. We’re New Thought, we’re Interfaith, we’re “liberal.” Just ask anybody how free-spirited we are.

Really? Do you ever believe that the way you do something is better than the way other people do it? Do you ever look at other families, or businesses, or organizations, and think, “They’re doing that wrong?” Do you look at other faith traditions and think, “How could they believe that?” Do you look at other Christian denominations and think, “How could they believe that?”

The Prime Directive asks us to respect ALL other ways of being. Or as Wade Davis observed, “The world in which you were born is just one model of reality. Other cultures are not failed attempts at being you: they are unique manifestations of the human spirit.”

Gene Roddenberry himself summed it up in an interview in 1968, “By the 23rd century, we will have learned to take a delight in the essential differences between men and cultures. We will learn that differences and attitudes are a delight, part of life’s exciting variety, not something to fear.”

Honoring all paths isn’t easy. Contrary to those who think we don’t believe in anything, what we believe in is actually difficult to practice. A spirituality based totally on loving one another, honoring one another’s path, even when we don’t understand it… a spirituality without hard and fast “rules”, without rigid do’s and don’ts is actually much harder to practice than a religion where everything is clearly defined for us.

A major difference between Unity and Traditional Christianity is our free thinking. We set out Principles and let you go. We give you ideas, thoughts to ponder and allow you to put them into practice in your life….or not.
This path, although more challenging to travel, is much more satisfying. And while I recognize it’s not for everyone, it is my path. So, here’s to mud baths on the holodeck, Betazoid weddings, taking delight in our differences and all of us being allowed to love and live as we were born to

Great Morning Beloved!!

The Tao of Star Trek

Why are we discussing Star Trek and its many versions still? Dr. Johanna Vanderpol says it this way: “Star Trek explores what it’s like to be human. It creates a positive vision of humanity. It explores what it means to honor and respect another person.”

This week we enter Deep Space 9, a space station situated in front of a worm whole, in an effort to keep it open to all and not in the hands of some nefarious group of profit minded world citizens.

The Federation of Planets oversees the station, with a range of support personnel from various worlds as members of the maintaining force. It’s an interesting mix of peoples and creatures, many very different than our world inhabitants.

One of those is a Trill, a creature that must live within a host. The Trill lives for centuries as long as its host doesn’t do anything that would harm it. When the host is about to die, a new host is found. And thus, the host has access to all the memories of its Trill over centuries.

In the episode titled, “Equilibrium,” the current host of the Trill named Dax is having hallucinations about a mysterious cloaked figure wearing a mask. A check-up reveals that the connection between Dax and Jadzia, it’s humanoid host, is growing weaker. Commander Sisko and Doctor Bashir return with Jadzia Dax to the planet, Trill to find out from the host doctors what is going on.

There they uncover a conspiracy to conceal that Dax had at one time been placed in an unstable host, that eventually had a breakdown and committed murder. Not only has the Commission in charge tried to suppress the memory of the murderous host, but the entire establishment has tried to wipe the entire incident out of its history. They were willing to let Jadzia AND Dax die rather than face the truth.

Maybe it’s true, we’re only as sick as our secrets….

Captain Sisko and Dr. Bashir fight for Dax’s right to remember and integrate the memories of that past lifetime. And in a beautiful scene, Jadzia literally embraces the memories of the past host, and is restored to balance and wholeness once again.

Very reminiscent of the Start Trek episode two weeks ago with the 2 Captain Kirks. Again, we see how our shadow side must be incorporated for good health and well-being.

Jadzia Dax states: “If you want to know who you are, it’s important to know who you’ve been.”
Think about that for a minute…..

There is an interesting use of masks in this episode, and Dax’s journey to resurfacing the past begins with the taking off the mask of the character in her hallucination.

My friend Laurie has a wonderful play about all the masks we use to hide behind through our various encounters through life and often, through a single day! Think about the masks you wear throughout your day…

This is a Lesson on the masks we wear, but also on the rights of ‘other’ forms of life…be it animals, insects (what is the purpose of mosquitoes?) and plants, or a Trill named Dax.

And how about the lives of those we consider ‘other’? Different from US…different skin, different beliefs, different loves, different language and customs?

All the Star Trek incarnations look at life and its many variations and the shows and movies give us a chance to consider what we consider ‘life’ and how we react and respond to life that is ‘different.’

And in Science Fiction and Fantasy, you really can’t get much ‘different than what we see on screen and read in print.

A Trill that must live within a Host. How about Groot in Guardians of the Galaxy…pretty much looks and acts like a talking tree.

And there WERE talking (and walking) trees in The Lord of the Ring trilogy!

In Star Trek: Voyager, we get a glimpse of what it is like to be prey to a species that is taught from birth to be hunters. Their whole life is predicated on finding challenging ‘prey’…and in the episodes “Hunter’ and “Prey”, two of Voyager’s crew are captured by a race whose culture is based upon the thrill of the hunt.

Here we get to experience through the characters of Tuvok and Seven of Nine what it’s like to be prey and then treated like animals trussed up ready for slaughter.

Eventually, Captain Janeway must determine how to save her crew and still show compassion and lenience to this ‘different race.

And it gives a look at what it might feel like if we were stalked by something that considered us prey…. not a comfortable feeling.

In another episode involving a different life form, some members of the crew are suffering from extreme unexplained medical problems.

After several crew members are seen in various stages of these unexplained symptoms from aging by decades to headaches to sexual attraction and many more, the Doctor detects a microscopic tag on one of the DNA cells responding to nearby signals in the ship. They find out that Voyager has been invaded by a mysterious species cloaked so they inflict these symptoms undetected.

These intruders have implanted invisible devices recording their findings as if the crew were subjects in a series of experiments.

This episode explores, from a third-party perspective and views the events in a manner similar to the medical experiments we humans perform on lab rats or other animals. And this entity has the ability to silence those that come close to the truth giving us a taste of the animals’ situation who have no voice.

How does that feel? Uncomfortable?

When the experiments are discovered, the Captain wishes to fight back she is warned that the ‘intruders’ are in control and if she resists, the crew will be exterminated.

The alien callously responds that their experiments are for medical research and could be of benefit to everyone in the galaxy. The alien leader draws parallels to research done by humans on living rodents and primates.
But in exchange for their ‘service’, the lead researcher agrees to share whatever data they gather with the Federation.

Of course, Captain Janeway finds a way to give the aliens a taste of their own medicine by conducting an experiment of her own, which forced them to leave.

Now, think, how did you feel about what science does to unaware animals as you were hearing about this episode? Maybe made you think, if you haven’t already let those thoughts enter your consciousness, about what is often done in the name of science.….and remember too, this is 1997.

Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry was nicknamed The Big Bird of the Galaxy as his philosophy about the use of animals changed over the years to the point that he was leaning toward vegetarianism.

He is quoted as saying, “I look forward to the day when we would have our juicy T-bone without having to kill the animal.”

That day came on Star Trek with the ‘replicator’ – a magical device that would produce whatever item you wished for breakfast, lunch, dinner or snack by just asking for it.

I could use one of those.

There are many other stories in the Star Trek vault that led us to think about what we were doing to our co-inhabitants on earth. And, how we treat ‘others’. We have mentioned ‘others’ many times already this year, during this series and during the ‘Ten Words’ series, especially.

It took Unity several years before they allowed African Americans to stay at Unity Village…an act the leaders regretted to this day.

But the Fillmore’s were vegetarian and offered the first vegetarian restaurant of their time in Kansas City. When you go to the Village dining room today, many offerings are vegetarian, sometimes more vegetarian than not.
They had a farm for years at Unity Village that was organic, again, unusual for their time.

Eventually the Unity family placed their beliefs in line with their actions. They promote vegetarian meals but leave it open to their guests. Everyone is welcome on campus at Unity Village and I know of no Unity churches or Centers that are not open and accepting congregations.

Martin Luther King Jr. reminds us, “We must develop and maintain the capacity to forgive. He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love. There is some good in the worst of us and some evil in the best of us. When we discover this, we are less prone to hate our enemies.”

Jesus reminded us to love our enemies. And what IS an enemy? The dictionary states: one that is antagonistic to another; especially: one seeking to injure, overthrow, or confound an opponent; something harmful or deadly.

Do we have to have enemies? Of course not.

Abraham Lincoln asked, “Do I not destroy my enemies when I make them my friends?”

Of course, we do!

Can you think of someone who you had an adversary relationship with only to now call them your friend or at least be able to be pleasant with them? People you didn’t know well or at all and now can call them acquaintance in the very least.

“That’s love, you see. It is redemptive, and this is why Jesus says love your enemies. There’s something about love that builds up and is creative. There is something about hate that tears down and is destructive. So, love your enemies.”
-Martin Luther King Jr.

Whenever you are confronted with an opponent, conquer him with love. You may never know what results come of your actions, but if you do nothing, there will be no results. Gandhi

We are reminded what we learned in the beginning of this series from Gene Roddenberry, Star Trek creator, “Star Trek was an attempt to say that humanity will reach maturity and wisdom on the day that it begins to not just tolerate but take a special delight in differences in ideas and differences in lifeforms.”

It’s simply a spiritual principle, we are all created equal by our Creator, God.

I saw this on FB this week and wanted to share it with you….
“Until we have met the monsters in ourselves, we keep trying to slay them in the outer world. And we find that we cannot.
For all darkness in the world stems from darkness in the heart.
And it is there that we must do our work.” Marianne Williamson