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June 2022
SOUL News
Heartbroken. Devastated. Outraged. Hopeless.
Unfathomable Grief and Despair.

What so many of us have been feeling this past week after
yet another mass school shooting in the United States.
19 children and 3 adults are dead, many more injured and traumatized,
and a community and all of us are shattered. Again.
This tragedy is continuously on my mind, heavy on my heart.

My heart goes out to the families and community of Uvalde, Texas.
And to all of our children who are terrified to go to school.

So far in the USA there have been over 220 mass shootings this year.
It's the guns. We are a nation obsessed with guns and power.
And I'm tired of us thinking we are powerless to impact change.

We are brilliant beings of Light.
We must take action for stricter gun regulations now.
While I respect the Spiritual journey greatly, there is no doubt that this is ours to address, heal and change. We can certainly call on the Light,
and infuse it in everything we do, but we must also open
our hearts and mouths, and move our hands and feet.

These are children for goodness sakes.
We are here to stand up boldly in our hearts, and take action to stop
these predictable and preventable mass murders from happening.

I created a simple list of things you can do HERE.
Suggestions to get involved and support powerful nationwide
movements for gun safety and regulations that are already happening.
Please give of your time and money, your voice and heart.
And VOTE in every local, state and federal election
as if our children's lives depend on it. Because they do.

Yesterday, I had a profound healing experience.
In a coaching group, we had to do a partner exercise using
the Ho'oponopono practice.

Ho'oponopono is an ancient Hawaiian practice of Forgiveness
and Reconciliation, involving saying and feeling into the phrases:

I am Sorry.
Please Forgive Me.
Thank you.
I Love You.

Find out more about this practice here
(Google it and watch the video below too)

Needless to say...
I DID NOT WANT TO DO THIS EXERCISE AT ALL!

I was angry and heartbroken. The last thing I wanted to do was jump over a Spiritual Bypass to get to half-hearted compassion. I was angry with crazy gun lovers and greedy politicians who block gun regulations. I was angry at our whole corrupt system and those who deny this and blindly support it.

Having done Ho'oponopono before, I quickly ran through the phrases
in my mind, and the thought of doing this simple thing made me angrier.
I voiced my resistance openly to the group, which helped me find the willingness to do the exercise. So off we went to work with our partners.

My partner knew me from other exercises we had done together.
At one point when I was rambling on about how horrible the situation is and how we aren't changing laws, she reminded me of my deep love for children...

And. I. Just. Lost. It.
Tears came tumbling down, and my heart burst open.
In softness I flowed easily into feeling the phrases
saying them to the children again and again:

I AM SORRY
PLEASE FORGIVE ME
THANK YOU
I LOVE YOU

To our precious babies who gave up their lives so we could
continue collectively Awakening to what really matters:

I AM SORRY
PLEASE FORGIVE ME
THANK YOU
I LOVE YOU

To children living in trauma and fear about going to school everyday
because we have refused to take action after each massacre:

I AM SORRY
PLEASE FORGIVE ME
THANK YOU
I LOVE YOU

I feel the responsibility deep in my bones to live Divine Mother energy.
I feel Divine Mother's heart breaking along with ours.
Mama Bear is fierce when people come after her cubs.
I am feeling this fire now and I hope you are too.
We are being broken open to change our ways.

May our broken-openness fuel us to dive deep and rise high in loving action.
May we use this fire to create meaningful real changes,
to begin truly caring for ourselves and one another,
to return to what is essential and beloved...
to and for our precious children.

I am Sorry
Please Forgive me
Thank You
I Love You

Teri Jo
Ho'oponopono with Dr. Hew Len (9 minutes)
A spirituality that is only private and self-absorbed, one devoid of an authentic political and social consciousness, does little to halt the suicidal juggernaut of history. On the other hand, an activism that is not purified by profound spiritual and psychological self-awareness and rooted in divine truth, wisdom, and compassion will only perpetuate the problem it is trying to solve, however righteous its intentions. When, however, the deepest and most grounded spiritual vision is married to a practical and pragmatic drive to transform all existing political, economic and social institutions, a holy force - the power of wisdom and love in action - is born. This force I define as Sacred Activism. ~Andrew Harvey
Coach Steve Kerr on the Uvalde Shooting (3 minutes)
We don't have to engage in grand, heroic actions to participate
in the process of change. Small acts, when multiplied by millions
of people, can transform the world.
~Howard Zinn 
What We Can Do - Marianne Williamson (5 minutes)
Inspirational SOUL of the Month
March For Our Lives is a youth-led movement to end the epidemic of gun violence in our country. It was started in 2018 by students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida where a mass shooting occurred and 17 people lost their lives, 17 more were injured, and a community was changed forever. These students' courage and willingness to do something to create change is powerful and inspiring. Sadly, they have had to face hatred, cruelty, death threats, and many political blocks on their road to getting gun policies changed. But they are not giving up. THANK YOU!

I attended an emergency call they hosted the day after the Uvalde Massacre. It was powerful and moving. They are organized, clear and strong in their mission. They are doing a March on Washington June 11, 2022. This will coincide with over 300 March for Our Lives marches around the USA that day. They need our support, especially with financial donations as they are offering scholarships to young people to go to Washington for their voices to be heard.

While it breaks my heart to know children have had to take the reigns on this significant issue, I can't think of a better group of wise, deeply compassionate and mighty souls than our youth of today. Please support them. And send Light for their safety and support in these important March for Our Lives events.
Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can
change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has. 
~Margaret Mead 
What Courage Looks Like (1 minute)
Each time we stand up for an ideal, or act to improve the lot of others,
or strike out against injustice, we send forth a tiny ripple of hope,
and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy
and daring, those ripples build a current that can sweep down
the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance. 
~ Robert F. Kennedy 
What Are We Doing? (5 minutes)
When you do nothing, you feel overwhelmed and powerless.
But when you get involved, you feel the sense of hope and accomplishment that comes from knowing you are working to make things better. 
~ Pauline R. Kezer
Emma Gonzalez 'March for Our Lives' (7 minutes)
Sacred Activism is the fusion of the mystic's passion for God with the
activist's passion for justice, creating a third fire, which is the burning
sacred heart that longs to help, preserve, and nurture every living thing.
~Andrew Harvey
Hymn for the Hurting

Everything hurts,
Our hearts shadowed and strange,
Minds made muddied and mute.
We carry tragedy, terrifying and true.
And yet none of it is new;
We knew it as home,
As horror,
As heritage.
Even our children
Cannot be children,
Cannot be.
Everything hurts.
It’s a hard time to be alive,
And even harder to stay that way.
We’re burdened to live out these days,
While at the same time, blessed to outlive them.
This alarm is how we know
We must be altered —
That we must differ or die,
That we must triumph or try.
Thus while hate cannot be terminated,
It can be transformed
Into a love that lets us live.
May we not just grieve, but give:
May we not just ache, but act;
May our signed right to bear arms
Never blind our sight from shared harm;
May we choose our children over chaos.
May another innocent never be lost.
Maybe everything hurts,
Our hearts shadowed & strange.
But only when everything hurts
May everything change.

~Amanda Gorman
The world as we knew it is already gone. The point now is to inhabit a
bigger, unifying living myth in which the words ‘we are all in this together’
have genuine heartfelt meaning.
~Michael Meade
11 Year Old, Naomi Wadler's Speech (4 minutes)
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SONG: 'Be Alright' by Ariana Grande
The most important question in the world is,
'Why is the child crying?' 
~ Alice Walker