This Can’t Be Happening Again!

None knows the weight of another’s burden. George Herbert

Overhearing the expression, “I can’t breathe” by a television commentator last week as I walked into the room brought to my mind an incident that had taken place in another city involving a black man killed at the hands of a white police officer several years ago, and I silently wondered about these words.  I quickly learned that this expression referred to a similar incident the night before in a city fewer than ten miles from where I live, involving a white police officer killing a black man by putting pressure on his neck with his knee for more than eight minutes, even though the man had been handcuffed from behind.

My first reaction was, “This can’t be happening again!”  The thought of this recent incident, coupled with restrictions dealing with the Covid pandemic, was momentarily incomprehensible, but as we now know, much more was to come. There have been ongoing protests and demonstrations here, in many other cities, and abroad, against this present brutal murder, as well as racial discrimination in general everywhere, through expressions of frustration, anger, confusion, defiance, and outright violence against persons and property.

Why do such incidents continue to happen, almost with a degree of regularity?   This is not an isolated case; such happenings have been going on for years, even centuries.  Of course, I do not presume to know the answers, but since I have been studying the Lemurian Philosophy, I understand more than I did before, such as the Law of Action and Reaction, and the Law of Correspondence.  I learned that there are no accidents in life.

As an African-American raised in the Deep South at a time when racial discrimination was a social norm, I am familiar with acts of harassment and racial discrimination, as well as other forms of discrimination and hatreds not of a racial nature, but based on other apparent or perceived differences.

I know what being on the receiving end of racial discrimination feels like. It makes one feel small, insecure, incapable, lonely, unhappy. I have also been on the receiving end of love, acceptance, and appreciation, such as expressed to me by the Lemurian Fellowship. It makes one feel alive, joyous, hopeful, capable in ways that convince me that this is the way life should be lived, in understanding and in harmony.

Through my understanding of the Lemurian Philosophy, I am learning that there is a purpose for being in embodiment, which involves practical and balanced ways to help myself make essential spiritual progress and to control my environment.  The other part of this purpose is to learn ways of living in harmony with others, in spite of apparent and supposed differences. This is in alignment with Christ’s admonishment  to love God with all our heart, and our neighbor as ourselves.

I learned that we cannot mistreat other fellow humans with impunity. We cannot assume a superiority over another for superficial reasons because in another lifetime, we could be the oppressed ones seeking to learn from the errors of our mistakes in dealing with those we oppressed. Nor can we expect or make demands of another to do for us what we can do for ourselves because it is our responsibility to use our minds to accomplish whatever we desire in life and not depend on another for this.  It is a universal truth that for every action, there is a reaction, so it will be to our advantage to act kindly to all because we do not know when we will sorely need this kindness in return.

Looking back at the critical situation about the brutal murder mentioned earlier, I think how different everything would have been if everyone had followed the Golden Rule, to treat everyone the way one would want to be treated.  For example, there would not have been a summons for the police, no brutal treatment, no demonstrations or violent protests, no remorse of any kind.

Since there are no accidents in life, I pray that some good will come from this very unfortunate circumstance.  My hope is that this will spur a transition to more purposeful goals, resulting in better understanding and greater harmony among all of us.  Then, the loss, pain, misunderstanding and suffering of this situation will be of greater value.  We must develop more constructive ways of relating to others.  There is a saying that history has a way of repeating itself.  However, I hope, at least this time, this will be a beginning for something better, and not having to say, “This can’t be happening again!”

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