I love what you wrote. I feel people have to make a choice between war and living a life led by their soul. We are experiencing planetary soul loss everywhere in our modern day world . For anyone who says money is more important than life lost their soul. So we see it in every arena of life including the Epstein files.
Responding to your message: "Movements to divest from corporations that support the war machine are effective as they can shift the pattern and channel support to those who are committed to serve birth versus death. " Can Shift Network provide some interviews with those who are knowledgeable about "divesting" options, etc? That would be helpful information for our community and support what you are reporting here. Thank you.
Thank you Stephen, for your letter, it makes the most sense, and as the situation is now involving more and more countries it, and is getting more out of hand. We need people of integrity to stand up and save our world 🌍 which is the only one we have. Many blessings Janetta
Hi Stephen, I couldn't agree with you more. Your words remind me of several other vocal advocates for democracy that I follow, including Robert Reich, Heather Cox Richardson, AOC, Elizabeth Warren, Jasmine Crockett, James Talarico and of course, Bernie Sanders.
What I think we all hope is that enough people are finally waking up to how profoundly urgent this situation is, how long it's been metastasizing and as you pointed out, how widespread the problem is.
I offer the example of words written by Aaron Sorkin and spoken through his character, Will McAvoy, a fictional news anchor in the "Greater Fool" episode of "The Newsroom" that aired on August 26th, 2012. 14 years ago, long before Trumplethinskin's first successful presidential campaign. They sound *very* much like yours:
"Ideological purity. Compromise as weakness. A fundamentalist belief in scriptural literalism. Denying science. Unmoved by facts. Undeterred by new information. A hostile fear of progress. A demonization of education. A need to control women's bodies. Severe xenophobia. Tribal mentality. Intolerance of dissent. Pathological hatred of the U.S. government. They can call themselves the Tea Party. They can call themselves conservatives. And they can even call themselves Republicans, though Republicans certainly shouldn't. But we should call them what they are - The American Taliban."
Thank you, Stephen. I have always felt your channeling to be true and pointedly on the mark. I stand in that field. I have also felt, since the beginning of this, that this moment is something we must live through, so that people in our country see, directly, what it is like when a despot takes power. So many people voted for him. They did not know. Now, it is impossible to ignore, as we live through this time.
For many years I have been working with what feels to me like the cultural medicine that is needed in exactly the moment you describe.
I have written a book, to be published on April 13, called "The Heart of Sacred Listening: Transform Your Relationships, Your Work, and Your Life." In it I explore something that sits underneath many of the distortions you are naming.
We are living through a profound breakdown of listening.
When listening collapses, fear rushes in to organize the system. From fear comes dominance, control, and the very patterns of power and predation you are pointing to here.
But when listening deepens — real listening, listening with what the Rule of St. Benedict calls “the ear of the heart” — perception begins to shift. Enemies can appear as teachers. Defensiveness softens. The impulse to dominate gives way to the impulse to understand.
In my experience working with leaders and organizations over many decades, cultural healing rarely begins with ideology. It begins with the restoration of this deeper capacity to listen.
Your reflection names the shadow we must face.
Sacred Listening is one of the practices that allows us to face it without becoming it.
Thank you for opening the space for this conversation. and for continuing it.
At some point soon, I have the feeling that Epstein and Trump's relationship to that passage will be in the news again.
I love what you wrote. I feel people have to make a choice between war and living a life led by their soul. We are experiencing planetary soul loss everywhere in our modern day world . For anyone who says money is more important than life lost their soul. So we see it in every arena of life including the Epstein files.
Responding to your message: "Movements to divest from corporations that support the war machine are effective as they can shift the pattern and channel support to those who are committed to serve birth versus death. " Can Shift Network provide some interviews with those who are knowledgeable about "divesting" options, etc? That would be helpful information for our community and support what you are reporting here. Thank you.
Thank you Stephen, for your letter, it makes the most sense, and as the situation is now involving more and more countries it, and is getting more out of hand. We need people of integrity to stand up and save our world 🌍 which is the only one we have. Many blessings Janetta
Hi Stephen, I couldn't agree with you more. Your words remind me of several other vocal advocates for democracy that I follow, including Robert Reich, Heather Cox Richardson, AOC, Elizabeth Warren, Jasmine Crockett, James Talarico and of course, Bernie Sanders.
What I think we all hope is that enough people are finally waking up to how profoundly urgent this situation is, how long it's been metastasizing and as you pointed out, how widespread the problem is.
I offer the example of words written by Aaron Sorkin and spoken through his character, Will McAvoy, a fictional news anchor in the "Greater Fool" episode of "The Newsroom" that aired on August 26th, 2012. 14 years ago, long before Trumplethinskin's first successful presidential campaign. They sound *very* much like yours:
"Ideological purity. Compromise as weakness. A fundamentalist belief in scriptural literalism. Denying science. Unmoved by facts. Undeterred by new information. A hostile fear of progress. A demonization of education. A need to control women's bodies. Severe xenophobia. Tribal mentality. Intolerance of dissent. Pathological hatred of the U.S. government. They can call themselves the Tea Party. They can call themselves conservatives. And they can even call themselves Republicans, though Republicans certainly shouldn't. But we should call them what they are - The American Taliban."
Thank you, Stephen. I have always felt your channeling to be true and pointedly on the mark. I stand in that field. I have also felt, since the beginning of this, that this moment is something we must live through, so that people in our country see, directly, what it is like when a despot takes power. So many people voted for him. They did not know. Now, it is impossible to ignore, as we live through this time.
For many years I have been working with what feels to me like the cultural medicine that is needed in exactly the moment you describe.
I have written a book, to be published on April 13, called "The Heart of Sacred Listening: Transform Your Relationships, Your Work, and Your Life." In it I explore something that sits underneath many of the distortions you are naming.
We are living through a profound breakdown of listening.
When listening collapses, fear rushes in to organize the system. From fear comes dominance, control, and the very patterns of power and predation you are pointing to here.
But when listening deepens — real listening, listening with what the Rule of St. Benedict calls “the ear of the heart” — perception begins to shift. Enemies can appear as teachers. Defensiveness softens. The impulse to dominate gives way to the impulse to understand.
In my experience working with leaders and organizations over many decades, cultural healing rarely begins with ideology. It begins with the restoration of this deeper capacity to listen.
Your reflection names the shadow we must face.
Sacred Listening is one of the practices that allows us to face it without becoming it.
Thank you for opening the space for this conversation. and for continuing it.
At some point soon, I have the feeling that Epstein and Trump's relationship to that passage will be in the news again.
— Amba Gale