Need for Redirection

That's correct the beginning letters of this blog title spells fear. But this blog is not about fear, but rather about freedom from and overcoming fear.

Ever since 9/11, our country has lived under a grey cloud of fear. We were continuously fed news of impending terrorist attacks. That fear has shown itself in various ways. We are suspicious of strangers especially if they have an accent or look a certain way. We are suspicious of our very neighbors.  We criminalize immigrants and individuals with different skin colors quite easily. We incarcerate even children and youth, especially if their skin color is not white.

There is a trend in self preservation which is highly concerning. There are people buying bunkers to survive a catastrophe... Well, I suppose those who can afford it might do so.  There is nothing wrong with that. But the mentality behind it is concerning.

Many of these individuals go through any lengths to protect themselves and their families by installing weapons which will harm others who innocently might come near those bunkers. Their mentality is that everyone else is a criminal or a threat and needs to be shot. Woe to those who might ever have to seek help.

I have heard about a falloff of a willingness to help persons who are less fortunate. Food banks are struggling to get enough food to meet needs. The problem is, need is rising. The economic downturn has increased the anxiety in many people. Seventy year-olds are hanging on to jobs while the younger generation and new graduates can't find jobs because they don't have the experience employers require. However, it is quite insane to require 5 year experience from a college graduate.  These young people have school loans to pay back. Fifty plus year-olds who are unemployed can't find jobs because they are “too old” even though they have still 15 or 20 years in them. At the same time we want to change the retirement age to 70. Persons who were homeless or have a mental illness don't even stand a chance.

The bottom line has locked us into a pattern of greed. Greed is based on fear of not having enough. It is the bottom line which gives us the idea that private prisons are a great idea, that universities and colleges can charge whatever they want without even the slightest commitment to helping students find a job. It is the bottom line which causes television stations to bring irresponsible programming, or lobbyists to try to get their way with our government. It is the bottom line which causes a company to exploit its workers at minimum wage while expecting to be able to call that worker into work at any time of day or night without paying on call fees. That bottom line causes for profit hospitals to kick sick persons out because they don't have insurance, or deprive persons in need of the privilege of therapy. At the same time, facilities find ways to give therapy to persons who have plenty of money even if they are not in need of therapy (As a former nursing home activity director, I have been present during such discussions).  It is the mindset of insurance companies who find loopholes not to pay hospital or doctor fees. Greed is at the bottom of the mindset in genetic engineering gone awry, as can be seen with Monsanto, a company who is at war with organic farmers.

 The trend to live for ourselves is truly concerning. The greed and trend to live for "me and myself" shows itself in horrendous crimes of drug cartels, especially that of human trafficking, but also in other day to day corruption. The mental attitude behind it is: "I am superior to those others who are weak and inferior, and I can exploit them." Exploitation in various fields is rampant in our time. An exploitative mindset is a very destructive force.

The only way to overcome this trend is to consciously chose to change our minds.

I myself am working on establishing a car ministry in my town for persons who cannot afford to repair their car. Without a car you can't go to work. Without a job you can't pay your bills. And in many places there is no adequate public transportation. However, when the plea went out to mechanics to donate a few hours to repair cars of less fortunate, I found in a town of about 400,000 and plenty of mechanics, so far only two mechanics who are willing to consider donating time.

Without community support, persons have trouble to survive. Those who belong to a church might be doing better in that, but not always. 

The only way to live a wholesome life for everyone is to change our mindset so that we can live as benevolent community.

We have a choice. We can free ourselves from our fears, we can choose to emerge from our imprisonment in our paranoia  and our judgments, and we can redirect our minds to new thought patterns.

THOUGHT LEADS TO ACTION. New thought leads to new action.

This is what this blog is about.

© 2012 Angelika Mitchell