Tragedy As Teacher: The Boston Marathon Bombings and Other Crimes Against the Heart

Many of my clients have asked me to comment upon the recent tragedy of the Boston Marathon bombings. Collectively, we are seeing more and more of these hate crimes. I have so much to say that there is not enough time or space. My heart hurts still. For now, I suspect that a greater plan is being served – the details of which we may never understand with our minds. What is Truth for me is that humanity has undertaken a profound Journey of the Heart. This journey challenges our pre-established concepts of who we are, our values, and our beliefs about the world. It challenges the mechanisms that we use to resolve problems, manage conflict, and even survive. Many still define “power” as force, might, and the ability to manipulate people or things. This is the blueprint that is subtly and not so subtly acted out in the world. We subscribe to it unconsciously by our accepting/responding to it as “power”. This is false, fear-driven power. It promotes divisiveness and feeds off of our belief of separation and lack. It thrives in an “us vs. them" and a "have and have not" environment. Violence, too, seeks to instill fear; to separate; to control others through intimidation; and to create a feeling of helplessness.

I cannot say what prompted those young men to inflict their rage upon innocent people at the Boston Marathon. We can speculate, and may even prove to some degree, that it was politically motivated, a radical statement, a hate crime against America or more. At the heart of their actions and any act of violence lies a deep soul sickness. That sickness is calling us out collectively on a soul level to be healed. It is festering and erupting into our awareness.

Violence is but a symptom of a far deeper malady within our collective psyche. That malady is separation, poverty consciousness, and greed. We have been programmed to believe in lack and that we are separate from others, God, and even ourselves. We’ve learned it from our history books, religious ideologies, schools, previous generations, the media, with a helping hand from other socio-economic contributors. And, it’s been a difficult and destructive habit to break. The belief in separation created fear, wars, bullying, prejudice, abuses of all kinds, and greed upon senseless greed. Each of us knows, on a heart level, that the edifices that created and continue to support separation require restructuring.

Crises and suffering serve as a spiritual spotlight to wake us from our collective inertia. They illuminate whether we are living our values and cause us to re-evaluate what we hold as valuable. Suffering, pain, and tragedy soften us. Crises and tragedy, in the role of teacher, offer us opportunities for spiritual breakthrough in global consciousness.

We no longer live in our own worlds, towns, or countries. Our technology reminds us every day that we are a global family and that we are connected. Everything touches Everything so that we can learn to Feel again and reconnect to the Wisdom of our Hearts. Humanity can no longer afford to live the lie that we are separate from others and the Earth. This lie has created a massive loneliness and wound that many of us have tried to fix by accumulating things, over-striving, over-working, addictive behaviors, and false demonstrations of power. The only remedy for a malnourished Heart is Love. It is as simple as that and as challenging.

Tragedies such as the Boston Marathon bombings put us in touch with our humanity in the most visceral way. The tragedies of life draw people closer to each other. They reshape the way we interact with the world by taking us deeper into our hearts. We have only to look at the many stories of everyday hero’s and shero’s that rushed in to lend support to the victims. These acts of kindness tell us something of our true nature. They speak to our potential, innate generosity, and capacity for love. Rather than destroy us, tragedy ignites a Holy Fire within our souls – one that allows us to transcend the "Me" and embrace our "We".

Tragedy, as a profound teacher of the Heart helps us to actualize the best in ourselves. It is my prayer that one day – we may retire the teacher and embrace the Teaching.

We are One,

Diana Harris

Diana Harris is a nationally recognized psychic medium, intuitive counselor, author, and wisdom teacher. She is frequently sought for the accuracy of her intuitive services, mediumship abilities, and dynamic workshops. Diana has a deep connection to Mother Earth and works with her Wisdom Keepers. She travels throughout the US to conduct transformational workshops, speak at conferences, and offer mediumship or intuitive counseling. Ms. Harris reaches audiences worldwide through her writing and media engagements. Diana has a regular column in Kinetics Magazine and is often a contributing writer to Wisdom Magazine, By Region, Om Place and other holistic journals. Her creative work was most recently featured in the book, Love Like God: Embracing Unconditional Love, Feb 2011. Diana is currently finalizing her latest book project. Learn more about her work at:
www.sacredspiraldance.com