The Glory & Grief of being an American

[Leslie Meehan]

My WiseUSA intention is...
to surrender to healing of my brokenness
of being split in two between the glory and grief of being an American
and to offer my healing to my earth family

this intention arose from our first WiseUSA deep listening council teleconference call - wow! what a powerful healing experience in half an hour! I was blown away realizing how profound this community process is for me personally in facing & accepting my own hopes & fears about my life in America.

I'm sharing my journal notes about the call below, taking a chance to see if people like to see detailed personal reflections like this and if so, whether these notes should be in an attachment instead of making a long post. I welcome your feedback! and would love to hear your intentions & experiences.
namaste, Leslie

Leslie's Journal from 8/1 WiseUSA Deep Listening Teleconference

sitting with the reflection of the US within me…

I started crying as I started feeling split in two
felt like my upper chakras were expanding in joy, in glory
and my lower chakras were buried in grief

what a shock - what intense glory and grief is reflected within me
mental note: The Glory & the Grief of the Reflection of the US within me
I’m pleasantly surprised to feel the glory - I was afraid I’d only feel grief

the grief that I can sense living the most in me comes from:
creating the war in Iraq - all the death & destruction
being a “rich American” when so many others don’t have enough food to eat
or a roof over their heads
the pain my country has caused others - top three cultures I see are
native Americans, black Americans, and the bombed Japanese
an image of a black man holding & looking through prison bars,
where so many of my black brothers live

the glory I sense is
countless points of light glowing all across the land
an overwhelming awe at the hundreds of thousands of good people
doing their best to make a difference
Al Gore - leading the climate change healing
both Obama & McCain shining bright, working so hard & caring so much
Gandhi is here! and Martin Luther King - looking for Mother Teresa but can’t see
Jesus, always there

the people, oh all the people, my dear American family
and the place - images of my favorite places all around the country

as I spoke, my energy shifted to a gently aching heart,
and after I listened to my friends, even my heartache disappeared by the end.

When we started this process, Joseph said that our commitment to WiseUSA would take
us in places that we never imagined going

I ended feeling so grateful that this journey will give me the opportunity to heal
the broken USAmerican within me and therefore in those around me.

[Cor]

Looking at the USA from outside in I think the system is really changing dramaticly now that the old order of loaning and consuming (the biggest ecological footstep of all nations) is bankrupt beyond any doubt. Out of the ashes the phoenix will rise, I am sure. But how? I think no one can tell yet. You say "...both Obama and McCain shining bright....": but from what I understand both of them have little knowledge and expertise regarding economics and finance! So how can they rule a country that has to deal with bankrupcy?
Cor.