“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”- Declaration of Independence 1776
My kids have this book called “Have you filled a bucket today?” It talks about how everyone has an invisible bucket that they carry around. It holds all of the good thoughts and feelings about themselves. It talks about how some people have empty buckets and think that they can fill theirs by dipping into others’ buckets. It is a compelling book that teaches children and adults how to be kind to one another. How being a bucket filler, and not a bucket dipper, is an important job that we all have. While I was thinking about the current state of events happening in our country, and our world. As we approach “Independence Day”, I realized that people often similarly think this way of power. The issue of inequity and injustice in our society is about manipulating power, not the abuse of it. It is also the abuse of the knowledge of how power works.
What if I told you we all have great power in diverse ways but in equal quality and quantity. What if I told you that the people you perceive as being more powerful have only learned how to train you to believe that they have greater power than yours? No one can steal your power. However, manipulation can cause you to relinquish it, and distractions cause us to disrealize it.
Most of us believe that power is something that is assigned by external means. We believe that power is acquired by force. We believe that life is a race in which we all compete for a portion of power though fame, education, money, social status, gender, and race. You may disagree, but when you examine those who are perceived to have more power in this world, it is based on one or more categories. Catagories, we all have agreed upon and participate in, as a society to assign power and dominance. We despise social stratification, but we are slaves to it. We speak of equality, and at the same time, embrace the very thing that keeps us from walking in the knowledge of it. Deep down, we know we must change these things; however, these beliefs have become a sort of comfort to us. We receive a false sense of importance through these status’, titles, and labels. Our participation in these constructs denies us the ability to understand where our real power lies.
You are not your physical body or how you present in this world. You are a spiritual being, a unique emanation of the divine energy that creates universes, that created all, dwells in all, and is all. This is what makes us equal, this presence living in through, and as us. We must embrace this truth to believe that “all are created equal.” This is our inalienable power that can not be given or taken away.
If you feel powerless, it is because someone or something outside of yourself told you who you were, and you believed them. Stop thinking that you are not enough just as you are. That you are not powerful just as you are. When you learn to align yourself with your true nature, you can see others in theirs, and this is true equality. This is Oneness, and this is where your power resides.
“A house divided among itself can not stand.”
If our power resides in Oneness, any sort of division must be seen as a dividing of power. There are so many ways in which we have freely chosen division and freely opted out of our power. While our labels give us temporary comfort, they also permanently divide, distract us, and cause us to deny who we really are.
It is my prayer that you will rise to receive the truth of who you are, who we all are. That you will release your limiting beliefs, for they do not serve your highest good or the good of humanity. Abandon patterns and programming that seek to divide you from your power. And that you would embrace the diversity of all, for it brings beauty and the richness into this collective experience. Embrace yourself, embrace one another, Declare your Oneness, and reclaim your power.