by Michael Maciel
Bringing light into the world is a lot like house cleaning. It’s not enough to simply open the windows and air the place out. We have to actually clean up the mess, scrub the floors, and dust the shelves.
That takes will power.
I know that this flies in the face of the idea that we don’t have to DO anything, but we actually do have a role to play in the clean-up. Merely choosing to put our attention on the good is an act of will. And by doing so, we automatically negate the bad. We starve it of energy.
But just as scrubbing a stain out of a rug requires our focused attention, so do the shadows and negative thought patterns of the mass mind require that we know what they are and that they have to go. This, too, is an act of will. It takes work—lots of work—to know the truth.
We have to learn to distinguish between letting go and letting God and pretending that the evil doesn’t exist. It may not be a “thing” in and of itself, but hatred and malevolence aren’t going to magically disappear on their own. They have to be called out and made to stand in the light. Again, will power.
The default setting of the human mind is to descend into the world of matter. That’s what has allowed us to master the physical world, to harness the forces of nature, and to speak habitable order into chaos (the Logos). But it must be balanced with the ascending force of Spirit. In the minds of spiritually conscious beings, the two always go together .
If we are to help and not hinder the process of world transformation, we must not be afraid to get our hands dirty. Understanding the world’s problems is the mental and spiritual equivalent of getting our hands dirty. Cleaning up messes is a filthy job, but someone has to do it. Why not you?
The Mystical Christ 
I could not agree with you more. While I understand the belief that evil is an illustion because it is not God created, it exists. If it didn’t, much of what happens in the world that is antithetical to God would simply not happen. The issue of where it comes from is often simple. It comes from our own actions, out of the abundance of a negative heart, fear, anger and pain. I have met a few people in my life, fortunately very few, who enjoy doing evil, who take pleasure in hurting others and leaving the wreckage behind to ruin others. I find it very strange that so many people think that they can sit back and be spiritual and that is enough. If we really believe in Christ and his teachings like we say we do, then we have to get our hands dirty. Christ came not to the righteous, but to sinners, the lost, the hopeless and the marginalized. Yes, it is messy, depressing and often really ugly, but if we are to participate in the Kingdom and its fullness, we have to bring those very people into the community too.
Thanks, Lida, for your insightful comment!
Hmmm, evil doesn’t exist just like darkness doesn’t exist… darkness is just the absence of light. So when you walk into a dark room and turn on a light, the darkness doesn’t escape, it doesn’t go elsewhere, it never had form, it was only the absence of light.
In order to apply this to out worldly situation, one must be the light.