A friend confided in me that he was struggling to understand his 
responsibility in a world obsessed with war. I told him the answer is
simple: choose peace.

While you cannot control the attitudes or actions of politicians
or  others, you have total control over the thoughts, feelings,
and energy  you are exuding. If you are steeped in fear, anger, a
sense of victimization, or separateness, you are contributing to the
darkness.

If you hold a sense of peace, wholeness, compassion, kindness, and
the  presence of love, you are contributing to healing. As Kipling
nobly penned, “If you can hold your head when all about you are
losing  theirs. . ‘

Mother Teresa was once asked to speak at an anti-war rally, and
she  refused. “If it were a pro-peace rally, I would attend,”
she  explained. “But fighting against war, like fighting against
anything, is just another form of war.”

Ram Dass recounted that on his altar he has pictures of Christ, 
Buddha, and many other spiritual masters. He has recently added a photo
of George W. Bush. Why? As Ram Dass explains, “Until I can find the
same divinity in George W. Bush as I find in other holy beings, I 
am stuck. When I can see and honor his soul, then I am in a
position  to protest. Until then, I am ineffective.”

The power of prayer and intention goes a long, long way. At any given
moment the world situation is a precise expression of the 
consciousness of all the people who live here. As you shift your 
consciousness in the direction of peace, wholeness, and faith, you
tip  the balance in that direction. You literally become the
tipping point  for the world you would like to create.

Be less concerned with what you are doing and more concerned with 
how you are doing it. Actions that spring from fear or hatred, no 
matter how nobly clothed, create only more of the same. Actions that
issue from faith and love, no matter how humbly clothed, create
only  more of the same.

A visionary thrives under all circumstances, for he or she sees 
beyond the obvious. At this time the world needs good visionaries.
If  you would save the world, begin with your own consciousness.