On Faith and Fear || Opinion Piece By Suhad Shtayyeh
It’s been forty days since the attack on Gaza, from land and sky. An aggression so fierce that it has left the world aghast, yet inactive. As we watch these atrocities continue to unfold, with no respite for the innocent, I turn my gaze to the universe and wonder if our answers and actions are in fact elsewhere.
The number forty, is a powerful number in mystic thought as cited by many, including famed Turkish author Elif Shafak in her book ‘The Forty Rules of Love’. Forty symbolizes the ascent from one level of spiritual awakening to another. When we mourn we mourn for 40 days. When a baby is born it takes forty days for him/her to get ready to start life on earth. Also, the flood of Noah lasted 40 days. In Islamic mysticism there are forty degrees between man and God, additionally, Moses went into the wilderness for 40 days, and Prophet Muhammad was forty years old when he received the call to become prophet. Buddha also meditated under a liden tree for forty days.
Could this fortieth day of the siege on Gaza make a difference I wonder in desperation..
Desperation is a negative energy; a word anchored in fear, with a need for control and power. As fallible humans we cling to the mortal world that we know, futilely hoping to sway the opinions of world leaders and opinion makers.
As we hear mothers from both sides of the proverbial aisle, Palestinian and Israeli wail in unison for their lost children, what we hear them say however is very different. The mothers of Palestine have demonstrated an unshakable patience and spiritual resilience anchored in faith, that has left us in awe of their trust in God and their belief in ultimate justice for the Palestinians. They utter prayers of thanks for the martyrdom of their children, and tearfully celebrate their sacrifices for the sake of Palestine. Their energy is connected to the universe and to the divine, and is independent of our world and the powers that rule it.
In the words of Einstein, “Everything is energy and that’s all there is to it. Match the frequency of the reality you want and you cannot help but get that reality. It can be no other way. This is not philosophy. This is physics.”
In terms of energy, we have the choice of connecting to the uplifting, high-frequency energy of the universe which I like to refer to as faith, or the low-grade frequency anchored in ego and mortality which I would like to refer to as fear. The most important difference in these energies is how they mutate over time. Fear can only lead to more fear, hate and anger. It is anchored in a need for control that limits its effectiveness. The energy of faith however is based on an unwavering belief which is then surrendered to the universe to be manifested however which way the universe sees fit.
When you think about it, you realize that it is in the best interest of the Zionists for us to feed on their energy of fear. To consume us with the here and now, just like a bully needs a reaction, so do they. When we adopt the energy of fear, we address our energy to people whom we believe have control. Our whole focus is on how to change their minds; leaders and opinion makers that have failed us, and will most likely continue to do so. The paradigm shift, is to spread our message of faith in the universe and conviction in a free Palestine to as many people as possible, irrespective of individual power.
When we think of the amount of commotion this conflict has created in the past 40 days, and its level of impact, with seas of people from across the world raising their voices and vibrations for the people of Palestine. In energetic terms this is named the movement of global consciousness, which will ultimately shift the status quo as predicted by Canadian journalist and author Malcolm Gladwell in his best-selling 2000 book, ‘The Tipping Point; How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference’, where he refers to the concept of critical mass which occurs when an unshakable belief is held by 10% of the population. Scientists that tested this phenomenon at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in upstate New York discovered that, ‘once that number grows above 10 percent, the idea spreads like a flame.’ Likewise, Mahesh Maharishi the renowned yogi predicted that only 1 percent of humanity is needed to create enough good vibrations to usher in world peace.
Each of us is one person, but together we create the strongest energetic force. The energy and frequency we choose, is a decision that will ultimately affect our world in years to come. Just like the Butterfly Effect, initially identified by mathematician and meteorologist Edward Norton Lorenz in 1972 in which small, insignificant changes in a state of being can result in larger differences in a later state. The famous example of course the flutter of a butterfly’s wings that can result in a tornado a few weeks later.
So the question remains, what do you want to send out into the universe, faith anchored in the divine or fear anchored in mortality. Faith by definition is able to mutate and create lasting change because it is not controlled merely manifested, we have an unwavering conviction that we set out into the universe. Whereas fear will continue to breed more anger, hate and brutality on a loop, only more fierce over time.
Past movements of resistance have needed leaders, Gandhi, Nelson Mandela and others. In our era we no longer need leaders we need a cause, we need evidence and we need a collective voice. The heroes of today are the leaders of yesterday. The journalists and doctors on the ground that are giving voice to the conflict and are under threat of the ultimate sacrifice. 36 journalists to date in Gaza have lost their lives, others unshaken by the thought of death such as Wael Al Dahdouh, Moutaz Azaiza, Plestia Alaqad, ‘Bisan from Gaza’ and young Aboud continue to inform us about Palestine. Our other heroes are doctors who have risked their lives for the past 40 days to save others, such as Dr. Ghassan Abu Sitta, and valiant martyrs such as Dr. Basel Mahdi and Dr.Hammam Alloh to name a very few who are able to provide the evidence we need, and it is our duty to raise our collective voice.
If I said to you, that your voice is making a difference, it is mobilizing a global movement on social media and on the streets, the ultimate question remains, what do you want to say for maximum impact? You need to scream the truth at the top of your lungs, ‘A Free Palestine, with the right to dignity and justice’. The message to be energetically channeled through our global consciousness must be greater than just a ceasefire. In the words of the renowned and award-winning surgeon Dr. Ghassan Abu Sitta, “we must think of the day after”.
Don’t let Israel’s aggression allow you to lose sight of the 75 year old problem. Yes, ceasefire, but more. Our voices can be heard; to the detriment of Meta, which despite its strongest attempts and fiercest attacks on Pro-Palestine free speech still remains the best portal for our voices to be heard.
So raise those vibrations, have faith in a better tomorrow, and surrender to the universe. It may take decades to liberate Palestine, in the process, today’s powerful leaders will be replaced by perhaps other more enlightened persons, affected by the global consciousness we are creating today. The military tanks we count today will be replaced with more modern technology and Meta may or may not exist. What will remain for sure, stronger and louder is our energy of faith in a Free Palestine, as described in the famous Palestinian slogan, ‘samidoun’ meaning, ‘still standing resiliently.’ It is not a reference to persons but to the energy of conviction and resilience.
As Albert Einstein once said, “Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted.”
