Centers for Spiritual Living calls for it to end!

We are grieving lives that ought not to have been lost. George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery, are the most recent in a list of countless unarmed African-American and Black people who have been murdered for the color of their skin over the past 400 years in the US. Too many generations have suffered and it has never been, and is not now, acceptable.

We denounce racism in all its forms: the starkness of unapologetic, intentional racism; the racism of silence in the face of injustice; the systemic racism inherent in our education, justice, income and opportunity inequity; and the racism that lies hidden in our individual hearts and minds.

We envision a world where personal responsibility joins with social conscience in every area of the political, corporate, academic, and social sectors. We value a community-wide climate of safety that arises from compassion, justice, mutual respect, and kindness. Therefore, we join our founder, Dr. Ernest Holmes, who, echoing the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., said “You and I should form the habit of taking definite time each day to contemplate and affirm peace with justice—for there is no peace possible without justice. But faith without works is dead. We should not only pray, we should act, each contributing the best [they have] to the common purpose, each willing to make any sacrifice necessary…[for] there can be no individual self-preservation without the preservation of all . . .”*

We call upon ourselves and the faith communities in the US to take action that shows we have heard the cry of suffering, and we own our responsibility for it. Whether that action is prayer, donations to organizations that promote racial justice, rigorous self-education, or active engagement, let not this moment in history pass unattended. May the actions we take be steeped in peace and respect for the sacredness of each life, knowing that whatever we do, individually and collectively, must be Divinely directed from a higher consciousness. When we apply our proven spiritual principles through rigorous practices and compassionate action, the desired results cannot fail to demonstrate.

Centers for Spiritual Living stands with people all around the world who are advocating for justice, equity, inclusion, and peace. We are motivated by our vision of a world that works for everyone and, therefore, we affirm with the people of the world that Black lives matter. Not only do Black lives matter, but according to our teaching, they are sacred.

We have confidence that the momentum of support from individuals, along with, spiritual and secular organizations, is more than a fleeting moment, but rather the heralding of lasting change.

We have confidence that a new era of willingness to engage in the inner work that leads to the end of racism in our world has begun.

We have confidence that the unifying cry of our global heart, that Black lives matter, has struck a note of urgency in all who will hear it.

And above all, we have confidence that the Living Spirit Almighty is working through us to bring our stated belief in Oneness into form, in the social, political, judicial, spiritual, and economic realms, and importantly, in our hearts.

The recent tragic loss of Black lives in the United States and other countries due to police violence, and the myriad inequities that have resurfaced, have revealed that our world is still catching up to the vision of a world that works for everyone. We have been called to be brave enough to examine how society can be out of step with its values and how we, as individuals can be out of step with our spiritual values. One of our values in Centers for Spiritual Living is Love as the self-givingness of the Divine to all creation, expressing through us as compassion, caring, mutual respect, and kindness.

Our organization’s purpose is to awaken humanity to its spiritual magnificence. What can be more spiritually magnificent than to say a full-hearted yes to this upwelling of affirmation of the sacredness of Black lives?