Vachon Imagined

When a country begins to hate a president, it often takes its eyes off the total possibility of God and places them upon a person. The president becomes larger than life—either a savior or a villain, a symbol upon which millions project their hopes, fears, disappointments, and grievances.

This is not unique to politics. It is what the mind does whenever it loses sight of its own consciousness. Whenever it turns away from itself, it seeks an object upon which to place blame, fear, admiration, or worship.

People often do not realize they are doing this. The conflict, distortion, resentment, and judgment they struggle to face within themselves can feel overwhelming. And so, consciously or unconsciously, they cast it outward.

Fortunately and unfortunately, we have countless vehicles through which to do so.

Politics.

Religion.

Relationships.

Social media.

Even these very words.

My posts are no exception.

The temptation is always the same: to believe that what disturbs us lives outside of us.

Yet every experience is filtered through the mind that perceives it. Every judgment reveals something about the one who judges. Every enemy points toward a division we have not yet reconciled within ourselves.

You are a totality of mind.

The person you call your enemy is a totality of mind as well.

And when the barriers between self and other begin to dissolve, when we stop reducing one another to symbols, labels, and projections, something else becomes possible.

One body.

One humanity.

One shared experience of being alive.

From that place, love is no longer something we manufacture. It is something we uncover.

It was there all along, hidden beneath our fear, our certainty, and our separation.

When we see clearly, love appears everywhere.

When we love purely, we discover it was never absent.