DIFFERENT WINDOW: CHOICES: HOW WE CAN AFFECT THE UNIVERSE

An incredible story made the news recently. I listened in shock and amazement, not quite believing what I heard. The reporter was saying that a father became upset at a children's sports event and attacked and killed the father of another player. This took place in public, while the children looked on. My mind shouted a loud, unbelieving, "What?" quickly followed by "Why?"

When I hear such a story, I try to realize what could make a person act in such a manner. The next segment of the news gave the opinion that some parents are obsessed with the dream of their children being the next sports prodigy. They project all their hopes into the dream. They see anything that might jeopardize their dreams as a threat to the child. I can believe that, but I cannot accept it as an explanation for what happened.

We all have dreams for our children. We all want to protect our children. Most parents don't go to the extreme this man did.

Some of the sponsors of children's sports events are now making parents take behavior course. If they have not taken the courses, they cannot attend the games their children play.

I can see this as helpful, but not as a solution. Surely anyone who is an adult has been exposed to the rules we have set, governing proper behavior. Simply knowing the rules doesn't insure that they will be followed.

The problem is more likely one of not choosing the best action to use in the situation.

One of the short-comings of our educational system is that it is so focused on academics. We are not teaching our children how to control their actions when they re confronted by disturbing situations. We are not teaching them that anger can be acted on and diffused by actions that will not bring harm to anyone.

It is my belief that all actions are based on two emotions. Although we say we acted as we did because of our feelings of anger, jealousy, pride or any number of other names. But, the basic emotion behind every feeling and every action is either love or fear.

As thinking, feeling, intelligent being, we have the choice of acting our of love or fear. We can feel anger and express anger without violence. We can become conscious of the feelings behind our actions. We can choose our actions based now whether we want to express love or fear.

Some people excuse their behavior or the behavior of others with the excuse of personality. "That's just the way I am," they say, using this as an excuse for their behavior. Being yourself is a theme that is often seen as beneficial. I have to state once again, if you see an area in your behavior that you don't like, this is an indication that you are acting in a way that is contrary to how you really are.

In his book "The Seat of the Soul,"well-known author Gary Zukav says "When you consciously invoke growing, consciously invoke wisdom, you consciously invoke the part of yourself that are into whole to come into he foreground of your life. With each recurrence of anger, or jealousy, or fear, you re given the choice to challenge it, or to give in to it. Each time you challenge it, it loses power and you gain power. Each time you are tempted to become angry, or jealous, or fearful and you challenge that feeling, you empower yourself."

"Self Creation" is a book by Dr. George Weinberg. It explains how we can change not only our behavior, but the feelings behind the behavior. He says "Every time you do something, he motivating idea or feeling that prompted you to do it is intensified. It can be an idea about yourself, about others, about the world. Whatever it is, it is reinforced when you act on it.

"It is as thought he act retyped the motivating message in your mind. When it's not acted on, the message becomes weaker, as if fading from an electronic screen. When it is acted on, it becomes brighter, louder, recharged, prompting still more of the same acts."

To consider our actions on a larger scale, we need to keep in mind that what we do has an impact on everyone and everything in our world.

The man who commits violence does not cause the world to change -- only for his family and the family of the victim. The act affects everyone who witnesses it and everyone who hears about it. The act does, in a very real way, affect the entire universe.

According to ancient teachings, this man's thoughts and actions not only affected individuals, but our entire planet. Not only his actions, but everyone's actions have an effect on all existence. This idea is now being proved true by today's physicist and chemists.

The book, "The Isaiah Effect," by Greg Braden explains the current thinking on how human thoughts and actions have an impact that is much more far-reaching than previously believed.

The Essenes were group of scholars that existed 500 years before the birth of Christ. They were the writers of the Dead Sea Scrolls. These ancient manuscripts contain material that is in agreement with our Bible. Many scholars believe our Bible is based on the Essenes' teachings.

Greg Braden explains one of the Essenes' teachings in this way, "There is only one of us here ... no longer can we view the conditions of our world as 'their problems,' or 'our problems.' In a field of unified consciousness, each choice we make and every act we perform in each moment of each day must affect every other person in this world."

This concept is explained by advances in physics and chemistry. Quantum physics has proven that all matter is actually light moving at different vibrations. Light is energy. The most solid-appearing matter is simply light, vibrating at a slower rate.

Scientists in Moscow in 1990 proved that DNA affects the vibration of light. Our presence, our thoughts, our actions send out energy (vibrations) that affect everything in the universe. These invisible vibrations spread like the ripples on a pond, touching and causing a reaction one everything.

The idea that one person can change the world is proving to be true. Your very existence, my very existence, has an effect on how the universe behaves. How do you choose to affect the universe?