Rev. Ed's Theory of how he would heal all the violence..

I can't not address what happened yesterday with regard to the shootings in Texas, and previously, Buffalo, etc.. I speak for myself, not Unity Church. We will love each other through this pain. Love is who we are. Can I hear an amen. Yet, what is the root of all the violence? In my humble opinion, it's power, fear and separation. Every one of us seeks power.....every one of us. The 18 year old who shot those kids was seeking power because he suffered massive bullying as a child and as a teen. Obviously that is not justification to kill, but he was seeking power by letting his anger fly. Individually, we seek power by needing to be right in our relationships, rather than just BE right. Or to feel better about ourselves. I'll be the first to admit that I have an egoic need to be right. Politicians seek power rather than thinking more of the people they're elected to serve. May humankind heal its addiction to power. Gun control will not fix violence yet gun safety can help. No one's guns have been taken away, ever (unless deservedly so). But we can certainly do universal background checks, as 84% of Americans think we should do. But the need for power and the need to be right keeps us from acting on this legislation. Again, we need to heal ourselves of our need for power. Power is addictive and we all want it. Of course, fear is at the root of power because we're afraid of losing control, or not getting elected, or not being right. We think guns give us power...IMHO that is deluded. I'll say it again and again: may humankind heal the egoic need for power and the need to be right. Even more deeply, we think we are separate from each other. If we truly realized how connected we are to each other, and taught this concept to all beings everywhere, this would help. We might be less inclined to hurt another if we realize we are connected. This is one of the tenets for morality, our connection and oneness. That, plus the Golden Rule and my personal credo "no one gets hurt". So how do we heal our egoic need for power? By looking at ourselves: by healing our inner pain and wounds in prayer and meditation and therapy and talking to our friends and being courageous enough to face our inner pain. If we don't heal our inner selves, we will lash out of pain. If we're acting like fools out there, acting out of our pain, that won't help. If we don't transmute the pain, we will transfer it others. We need to bring meditation to our prisons and juvenile detention centers. We need to learn skills to deal with our emotions and hurts. We need to pray and know our oneness with Spirit. If we all touched and felt God's presence, the giant hole in our being would be healed. Perhaps that is our deepest need... Violence is a multi faceted issue and not one thing will stop it. All the above and I'm sure other things I've missed are necessary. What are some of those in your opinion? Finally, we practice our principles: there is only one presence in the universe, in us as us, God the good omnipotence; we are divine in nature and act out of that; we create our world through our thoughts and feelings; we pray and meditate as the foundation of our physical, emotional, mental and spiritual well being; and we help others to heal, not fix them, but support them in their process. Amen, and Amen.