HOW THE CATASTROPHE IN HAITI CAN CHANGE THE WORLD

Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls.

The most massive characters are seared with scars.

Khalil Gibran

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2010 is a 3 global year, and 3 is the number of communication. Ironically perhaps, what we most need to learn from this heartbreaking catastrophe is being communicated to the rest of the world through Haiti’s national motto:  L’Union Fait La Force. STRENGTH THROUGH UNITY.

Over many years, we have seen how the Haitian people help each other through crisis after crisis. They have had to endure more pain and misery than most others, and do not deserve this ongoing bombardment of devastating and terrifying situations. Some people believe that this is Haiti’s karma, or that they brought their misfortunes upon themselves. What a conceited and narrow-minded point of view! It could be that Haiti is OUR karma – the lesson we most need to learn at this time: which is that there really is STRENGTH IN UNITY. Humanity must ‘stick together’ in order to remain whole. When a part of the human fabric gets torn, we have to put less urgent matters aside and find out exactly what it needs in order to mend (heal).

Every one of us should be trying to help Haiti in some way right now, even if we just give it our full attention – because it is reflecting the condition of the human will, which is battered and torn, and worn out!  The Will is still there. Stunned and terrified yet again, but still there. Haiti was the only island in the area that gained its independence partly through a slave uprising. The Haitian people have a will so strong that they have never stopped trying to move forward, despite having none of the advantages that the rest of the world has, and despite everything they have endured over the course of time.

The Haitian people survived many natural, political and socio-economic disasters. In 2008 alone, Haiti was hit by 4 hurricanes in which thousands died and many more thousands were displaced through flooding and mudslides. And displacement is yet another trauma that has become common to the Haitian people, and another mirror of what is happening all over the world – people losing their homes (shelter), and running out of food and water.

At the same time, in Washington DC, the other end of this spectrum is also in the news today: 4 major bankers at a hearing before the US Congress, to determine what, if anything, they did wrong. So, both the richest and the poorest people are on the world stage at exactly the same time – in stark contrast to each other – and undeniably connected by their oppositeness.

On the one hand, we see the ones who took it all and, on the other, those who were left with nothing at all, not even the means to survive without direct ongoing help from the outside world. There are the bankers believing they are too big to fail – and there are the Haitian people wondering if they are big enough to matter. After last year’s profusion of 11 energy, the big picture has gained a lot of depth and feeling and, suddenly, we reach a deeper understanding of how inequality (imbalance) is tearing humanity apart.

It is the will in all of us that wants to help Haiti because “I AM” and “WE ARE” are an alternating weave of the same cloth. One holds the other in place and provides structure and balance.  It’s not enough to help Haiti get through yet another assault and then leave her helpless to defend herself from the next one. Haiti needs to be repaired – HEALED – from the inside out, and given the means to maintain and protect herself, otherwise the fabric of humanity starts to rip apart at that very geographical point. The outpouring of love that is going there now from all over the world is certainly a good start, because, right now, “I AM must form ‘WE ARE’, and ‘WE ARE’ must act as ONE!!!

Haiti must be a priority for ALL human beings because this dreadful event is making us aware of a very weak spot in our fabric. The Haitian people are not the weak spot, far from it. Our weakest link is our own tendency to ignore people who we believe are ‘beneath’ us in some way. The downtrodden. Our ignorance is measured by what we ignore and usually comes across as indifference. Perhaps if we didn’t turn a blind eye, a deaf ear, or a cold heart to the plight of others, we wouldn’t lose our powers of sight, hearing, and even the will to live as we age.

Yes, we need to help ourselves on many levels, but self-help and self interest has come at the cost of humanity’s overall interests, to the extent that we ONLY help our selves or those who serve our immediate advantage. If people do not help each other to survive and flourish, people will not survive or flourish.

The continuing collapse of the current system is shaking us all. Shaking us TO our senses. We can see that the system itself discourages caring, compassion and respect because it has no heart with which to feel or even care about such things. Haiti is tugging at our hearts and getting them ticking again, so that they can start to pound with love, consideration and helpfulness. Haiti is helping us to evolve right now, and we must give Haiti all the help we can give it. Our tendency to help people out of guilt is evolving. When we help people because we genuinely care, a new world of possibilities opens up simply because we are engaged, involved, and feeling it.

2010 is a 3 Global Year – the number (among other things) of personal and collective HAPPINESS. January is the 1^st month. Add that to the 3 global year and we find ourselves in a 4 global month – the number of restriction and breakthrough. In January of any 3 year we must face what is making us unhappy and heal it – not ignore it – before a greater level of happiness can be experienced. We cannot sustain happiness while others suffer – not if we are fully conscious.

L’Union Fait La Force

STRENGTH THROUGH UNITY

http://www.oxfamamerica.org/

More on the 3 global energy of 2010 coming soon