Sacred America, Sacred World

Installment #1

Introduction

Have you ever felt dismayed by the state of our country and our world?

I have, and I suspect you have as well.

That dismay arises because of a deeper dream that lives in your heart and the heart of almost every American. It’s a dream that goes far beyond the material fulfillment and worldly success that is the apex of the classic American Dream. It’s a recognition, on a soul level, that we are each part of something larger: a sacred plan. A destiny. A calling that goes beyond left and right politics.

We have a great and noble mission to be part of creating something magnificent with our country, something that lights up the world.

Our hearts sense that we are here to help advance that cause and create liberty and justice for all. That phrase resounds through our history because it is a call for us to remember why we are really here.

We are not here simply to create a wonderful life for ourselves and our children (although that’s a fine start). We are here to demonstrate what is possible as a society and to boldly forge a brighter future with opportunity and prosperity, peace and security, health and justice. That’s why we each feel dismay and heartache with the painful evidence on the news that we’re not yet accomplishing what we are here to do. When we are failing to create something extraordinary with our nation, it hurts something deep within us. We can blame our politicians, as most of us do. We can blame our system for being rigged. We can blame our fellow citizens for being deluded. But this doesn’t change the fact that each and every one of us can do something about it.

In fact, we must take responsibility for being the change we want to see if we are to fulfill our mission. The truth is that we didn’t choose to be born in this amazing country to entertain ourselves until we die. We came here to create something special.

Fulfilling the deeper mission of America will require a contribution from all of us. Even if we’ve sat on the sidelines of elections. Even if we’ve never gotten politically involved. Even if we feel hopeless to create change. None of those stances are worthy of the nobility in our souls. We are made of finer stuff.

This book is a manifesto to help you wake up, stand in your sacred power, and take wise and effective action in the service of us fulfilling our collective mission, while expressing your own personal mission along the way. It’s a book about politics that is also deeply spiritual because that is the only way our politics are going to become something we can be proud of.

It is designed to help us align our country with a higher plan, to expand our vision for what is possible, to forge innovative solutions, and to embody our sacred values for real. It’s about becoming evolutionaries who build the America of tomorrow rather than impatient revolutionaries who shout ideological slogans rehearsing the past. To do this, we will have to go beyond partisan warfare to embrace those with other political views as our deepest allies. They are also part of the team that is here to help America shine. Yes, even the people you can’t stand.

In short, we need to open to a vision of possibility for our country, one in which we successfully navigate the crises, polarizations, and political warfare of today to create a country that reflects our highest ideals and that truly serves the birth of a new, global era for humanity, one that is peaceful, sustainable, healthy, and prosperous. If you choose to take this journey with me, you will be challenged to let go of your judgments and biases—the many ways that you protect yourself and close your heart.

You’ll be invited to embrace the full spectrum of American political values and integrate the virtues that each political orientation represents. You’ll be called to stand passionately for your views while opening to embrace what you might have seen as the “opposition.”

You’ll also be invited to face America’s shadow in the service of a deeper kind of patriotism that challenges us to rise to our potential. We’ll look squarely at the face of genocide, slavery, and discrimination so that we can emerge more whole and committed to an America that is built on oneness, respect, and love.

After we’ve illuminated the path to reunite our American family, we’ll explore real solutions in contentious areas, from strengthening our families to evolving our schools to stopping global warming to stabilizing the Middle East to reforming our banking. I’ll show how we can forge great, bipartisan solutions more effectively than ever before.

You’ll also be invited to think seriously and strategically about our long-term future and how we can create real breakthroughs with media, grassroots organizing, new forms of transpartisan political engagement, and, ultimately, forms of governance that put an end to our planet’s long era of war.

As we undertake this journey, I want you to feel seen and respected for who you are and the beliefs you bring to the table, whether you are a Democrat, Republican, Independent, Libertarian, or Socialist. I will also invite you to stretch outside your comfort zone to become a more mature, thoughtful, and collaborative citizen.

Ultimately, this book is about building a movement of awake, conscious, and caring citizens who are powerfully committed to building a new era for America.

If you are willing to overturn some of your assumptions, open to a more unitive view, and roll up your sleeves to get to work, Sacred America, Sacred World will guide you, challenge you, and empower you to fulfill your highest role.

In this introduction, I am speaking to you directly because you have many things competing for your attention and time. I am asking you to let go of your other activities for a time and undertake a journey with me into the heart of our democracy and the heights of our shared mission.

My promise to you is that if you invest your time in reading this book, it will help you to play your unique role as a citizen of this great nation and a soul who is here to birth a better world. It will help you transform bitter partisanship and reunite our American family.

This book is thus an investment that I believe will pay dividends for you, your loved ones, and the future of our Country.

Before we go further, I want to spend a bit of time sharing with you my personal journey, which began in political slumbers, passed through a phase of disillusionment, entered into the partisan fray, and ultimately arrived at a deeper level of understanding. My journey is a microcosm of the larger story of our country as we seek a higher possibility. In sharing my story, I invite you to reflect on the forces, values, and beliefs that have shaped yours. In this way, we can each begin to understand and then let go of our old identities and meet in a shared common ground as fellow Americans.