by Mark A. Shryock
https://markashryock.substack.com/p/terrible-things-are-happening-outside
TERRIBLE THINGS ARE HAPPENING OUTSIDE
If we seek our own spiritual ascent through focusing only on happy thoughts and peaceful feelings, why did we come at all, and what truly did we really gain.
“Terrible things are happening outside. At any time of night and day, poor helpless people are being dragged out of their homes. They’re allowed to take only a rucksack and a little cash with them, and even then, they’re robbed of these possessions on the way. Families are torn apart; men, women and children are separated. Children come home from school to find that their parents have disappeared. Women return from shopping to find their houses sealed, their families gone.”
Anne Frank wrote this in her diary in October 1942.
“We will have to repent in this generation, not merely for the hateful words and violent actions of the bad people, but for the appalling silence of the good people.
Martin Luther King Jr. said this in 1961.
“Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection.”
Martin Luther King Jr. said this in 1963.
“Non-cooperation with evil is as much a duty as is cooperation with good.”
Mahatma Gandhi said this.
“He who commits a wrong, and he who silently tolerates a wrong, let your condemnation burn them both like dry grass.”
Rabindranath Tagore wrote this in his poem Prashna.
“We have become morally ill because we became used to saying something different from what we thought. None of us is just its victim. We are all also its co-creators.”
Václav Havel said this in his 1990 New Year Address.
“Whosoever of you sees an evil, let him change it with his hand; and if he is not able to do so, then with his tongue; and if he is not able to do so, then with his heart, and that is the weakest of faith.”
Prophet Muhammad said this in the Hadith.
“Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.”
Jesus Christ said this in the Gospel of Matthew.
“They alone live who live for others, the rest are more dead than alive.”
The Hindu monk Swami Vivekananda wrote this.
“Meditation is not to escape from society, but to come back to ourselves and see what is going on. Once there is seeing, there must be acting. Otherwise, what is the use of seeing.”
The Buddhist Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh wrote this.
“When the springs dry up, the fish are all together on dry land. They will moisten each other with their dampness and keep each other wet with their slime.”
The Taoist sage Zhuangzi wrote this in the 4th century BCE.
“True religion does not draw men out of the world but enables them to live better in it and excites their endeavors to mend it.”
The Quaker leader William Penn wrote this.
“Start by doing what is necessary, then do what is possible, and suddenly you are doing the impossible.”
St. Francis of Assisi said this.
“Christ has no body now but yours. No hands, no feet on earth but yours. Yours are the eyes through which he looks compassion on this world.”
St. Teresa of Avila wrote this in the 16th century.
“I am the fiery life of divine wisdom. I ignite the beauty of the plains, I sparkle the waters, I burn in the sun, and the moon, and the stars.”
The medieval mystic Hildegard of Bingen wrote this.
“Love cannot remain by itself, it has no meaning. Love has to be put into action, and that action is service.”
Mother Teresa said this.
“I have learned over the years that when one’s mind is made up, this diminishes fear. Knowing what must be done does away with fear.”
Rosa Parks said this in 1955.
“Until you dig a hole, you plant a tree, you water it and make it survive, you haven’t done a thing. You are just talking.”
Wangari Maathai said this.
Gaia, the soul of the world, cries out for us to stand up and act. Her love is fierce, a primal force that refuses to let humanity destroy itself. The Divine Feminine is not just a soft, gentle mother. She is also Durga, the General of Invincible Justice, and Kali, the Destroyer. She appears when corruption and demons take over the world. She doesn’t meditate on peace while Her children are being harmed. She rides into battle to cut the heads off the demons and restore balance.
We are not here to ignore the darkness. We are here to dismantle it. Note. I do not advocate violence, I advocate not obeying by placing yourself in between the victim and victimizer. Real spirituality isn’t clean.
It’s the mother wolf baring her teeth when something threatens her cubs. That’s the Divine Feminine. Fierce compassion.
5D doesn’t mean you get to bypass what’s happening. It doesn’t mean you “hold the light” and float above suffering to “protect your vibe.” It means you feel everything, the fear, the grief, the rage, and you stay present anyway.
Standing in 5D means getting your hands dirty in the garden. It means standing between the ICE officer and your neighbor. It means protecting the vulnerable because your heart is open, not despite it.
You’ll feel the fear. Everyone does. That’s not wrong. But fear doesn’t drive. Your heart drives.
The mother wolf is terrified when danger approaches. She feels it in every cell. And she stands anyway. That’s the frequency.
We will not climb the mountain without reaching back to grab another’s hand, and if one falls, we will descend into the valley to carry them out. And if the dark tries to hold any of us back, we will be like the bear and the wolf protecting their young. I am Gaia. I am my brothers and sisters. Together we rise, and together we descend into Gaia’s heart.
Frank, Anne. The Diary of a Young Girl: The Definitive Edition. Edited by Otto H. Frank and Mirjam Pressler, translated by Susan Massotty, Doubleday, 1995.
King, Martin Luther, Jr. “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” April 16, 1963.
Gandhi, Mahatma. Non-Violent Resistance (Satyagraha).
Tagore, Rabindranath. Prashna (The Question). 1932.
Havel, Václav. New Year Address to the Nation. Prague, January 1, 1990.
Prophet Muhammad. Sahih Muslim, Book 1, Hadith 84.
Jesus Christ. The Bible, Gospel of Matthew 25:45.
Vivekananda, Swami. The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda. Advaita Ashrama.
Nhat Hanh, Thich. Peace Is Every Step. Bantam Books, 1991.
Zhuangzi. The Zhuangzi, Chapter 6 (The Great and Venerable Teacher).
Penn, William. No Cross, No Crown. 1669.
Francis of Assisi, St. Attributed.
Teresa of Avila, St. Attributed Prayer. 16th Century.
Hildegard of Bingen. The Book of Divine Works. 12th Century.
Mother Teresa. A Simple Path. Ballantine Books, 1995.
Parks, Rosa. Rosa Parks: My Story. Dial Books, 1992.
Maathai, Wangari. Unbowed: A Memoir. Knopf, 2006.