...and your thoughts have enlightened me to an unspoken lesson I missed while spending time with Suquamish elders as a middle aged adult. I am struggling with words to express this but here goes ...
The reason I loved being around these elders was something that I could not put into words about their acceptance of the "whole" me, even though I was not native (my kids are Yaqui and went to their school). As what they decide WILL be heard in their community, I was reminded that their people had resided in the area where I lived for over 10,000 years, so it was important for younger folks to keep in mind the elders were looking at a FAR bigger picture than what was happening right now when sometimes they seemed so "out of touch". Therefore it was important to respect this when decisions were made that may not have seemed "current". I got the sense that I was also a part of that quilt of time and the whole me was about everything I was ~ not the "bad" part of being white and a part of a culture that had tried to destroy them. This kind of acceptance is something at the age of 60 I am wanting to pass on to my kids their friends, my grandchildren, and their partners, I think.
When I read about the Great Souls coming through to teach us (like Seth) the one thing they say is that there is no "good" or "bad" in the universe. What I gather from them is that suffering is often a vehicle for learning lessons that were agreed upon before our souls come to this dimension. As our souls advance through incarnations we WILL suffer injustice and what we do with the consequences is part of the lessons we have come here to learn. I get the sense that death does not seem the worse thing to happen, since to them it is like taking off an old piece of clothing
In my own struggles with bad things that have happened in my life, I do try to keep in mind things like karma and although I do not believe in predestination, that on some level I wanted these lessons and therefore in some ways "orchestrated" them. I see my own part in this world that, much like planning a trip, I had a road map of sorts, but as with things I have planned in this dimension, unplanned things can happen that thwart me from my destination and during the journey, what sort of responsibility do I have with whomever is affected by it?
My one question that I wonder about when it comes to forgiveness is, much like the fluttering wing of the butterfly setting into motion a hurricane down the road, whatever I set into motion, how far do the "falling dominoes" go that I am responsible? I know that each domino that is falling is a decision someone else made in response, but am I the one who is responsible for the whole thing because I pushed the first domino? For instance while I do not excuse Hitler, I have never heard of any story that he killed anyone himself, and so who is responsible for the decisions made by others to carry out his wishes? What is his (and my) karma going to mean if he (nor I) personally did not harm anyone ourselves? Someone can hold a gun to your head to force you to do something, but it is still YOUR decision to do it rather than die...see what I mean?
Hoo boy your observations have given me A LOT of thought! I want to thank you for that and look forward to whatever you all have to say.
Love, Cat
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