The ‘Barakah’ of Barak–the ‘Unitive’

The historic election of Barak Obama seemed to raise the Spirit of the nation. Fatigued by eight years of aggression-driven policies, the nation seemed to dance with joy for the possibilities of a new dawn. A few days after my euphoria subsided, I found myself working to contain my expectations of what one man can accomplish in 8 years with a dysfunctional system of governance.The word barak means to kneel in Arabic (as in prayer) and it is derived from the root word barakah meaning blessing. Could it be that this blessing of Barak is a natural response to the ebbing of the life force we experienced under the Bush presidency? By electing Mr. Obama have we entered a period of expansion of consciousness after the Bush/Cheney years of contraction?

The Bush Legacy- the ‘Separative’

During these past years the nation seemed to be laboring under a heavy blanket of fear and lessening hope. We were not led by a clear vision of possibilities but by reactionary responses stemming from a separative consciousness. The world appeared to be united in its stance towards terrorism in the aftermath of 9/11, but President Bush squandered this unitive moment by proclaiming “You are either with us or against us,” and set the stage for division among nations, religions and cultures. Mr. Bush claimed himself to be a “uniter, not a divider,” but the separative mind set has been a consistent hallmark of his presidency.

The Cycles of Life

I have struggled to move away from my judgments towards George Bush in order to find compassion for a man whom I see as an emotionally arrested addict, full of anger and low self esteem. The question I have asked myself is: “Why did our nation place such a dangerously dysfunctional person into national leadership at this point in our history?”

In the natural ebb and flow of life’s cycles, is it possible that poor or ineffective leaders are, in effect, doing mankind a service? Do such leaders, through their conspicuous failures, remind us of our own imperfections and inadequacies, and push us towards our own inevitable awakening?

The Shadow—That Which We Do Not Want to See

While figures like M.L. King, Mandela, Gandhi and perhaps Obama, may have a role in our development by pointing us to a vision bigger than ourselves, could it also be that there are those leaders in the world whose service to humanity is to point us inward towards our darkest collective shadows, those places inside ourselves that we are too quick to deny?

I am constantly challenged to stand in the face of evil and hold on to the possibility that I am also looking at Divinity working at a grand scale, a scale that is hard for me to conceive, because all I can see is the short term destruction it has brought upon us.

‘The Turning’

As we experience this time of the Turning the emerging unitive consciousness in the world, we are invited not only to contemplate the Barakah of Barak but also to examine the role of service that the Bush/Cheney administration has provided us. Would we have had the passion and courage to make such a bold choice for Obama without them? My blessing and challenge in this time of acceleration is the opportunity to witness the quickening of the ebb and flow of things, while maintaining an emotional equanimity within the very narrow scope of my reality.

It is an exciting and confronting ride.