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Awakening the Sleeping Giant
© 2003 By John-Michael Dumais
An abridged form of this was published in the Keene Sentinel, Keene, NH
April, 2003
Today, the United States is at an unprecedented crossroads. Never before have we felt so divided along ideological and
class lines; never before have our basic freedoms been under such dire threat; never before have we've been forced to contemplate so deeply what it means to be an American in a world that is becoming smaller and
increasingly intimate every day.
The American populace is feeling increasingly left out of the American Dream. With the loss of millions of jobs, the
erosion of the manufacturing sector, corporations “moving” offshore in order to evade their tax burden, and corporate executives gutting their companies while stealing billions of dollars – Americans are rightly
becoming outraged. For the first time in our history the generation growing up today faces the possibility of having a lower standard of living than the preceding generation. Corporate and government policies alike
are terribly shortsighted, and rife with inside gamesmanship, cronyism, and power-over instead of power-with attitudes. Political decisions are auctioned to the highest bidder, blatant conflicts of interest
compromise our elected officials, and our sheer arrogance and bully tactics have isolated us from the rest of the world.
As we begin to get our bearings in this new millennium, the tides of change are already visible. With the
proliferation of computers and the Internet and the rise of citizen activist networks around the globe, we are poised for a great awakening. The last 150 years have witnessed the greatest advances in equality and
civil rights the planet has ever seen. From the abolition of slavery, to the attainment women’s suffrage, to desegregation, to the women's rights and the greater civil rights movement to the citizen democracy
movements we see today -- we're witnessing a giant trying to wake up from its sleep, wake up from its nightmares of violence and poverty where thousands die of hunger needlessly every day. This awakening will happen
in the same way that Gandhi, in his Truth Campaign, aroused the conscience, will power, and unity of the Indian people to peacefully resist and ultimately overturn colonial rule. It will happen as each of us opens
to our higher calling and mission, and joins purposefully with others to create a new world. The truth is, we already possess the intelligence and the know-how to solve every problem we've created for ourselves. Our
biggest problem may be that we are waiting for someone else to take the initiative.
Something big and unavoidable is trying to wake up inside of us: a way of living that doesn't trample the life
beneath our feet; a way of being that doesn't lead to a lifetime of obesity, illness, addictions, or self-medication. We are trying to awaken to a greater vision of ourselves, to new levels of truth and light
and trust that will challenge the fear-based thinking that dominates the media and political conversation. We are struggling wake up from our dreams of scarcity, of competition, of violence and death. As with all
wake-up calls, we have some resistance. It's painful to look our denial in the face. It's painful to admit what we have and have not done that has contributed to the desecration of the environment, for example, or
to the growing tone of hatred and disrespect that characterizes so much of our national conversation.
By pointing to our lacks, in no way do I mean to imply that we are bad or doomed. The good news in all of this is that
together, we do have the power, the intelligence, and the love to create a wondrous new world. We do have the capability to create a life that truly does work for all -- all people, all wildlife, and every living
creature in the air, on the land, and in our waters. Our mission, should we choose to accept it, is to challenge the dominant paradigm of fear, which sees power-over, control, and violence as a way to insure our
security. We need to forge a new covenant among ourselves, one that respects the rights, the sovereignty, and the contribution of each of our brothers and sisters, regardless of color, creed, or class. And we need a
new covenant between ourselves and all forms of life on the planet, so that we can again in good conscience lay claim to the title of husbands and stewards.
According to current practice, love is something that we share with our closest intimates, but it is not a viable tool of
statecraft. Yet that there is no power greater than love is something every parent knows. How many of us think nothing about sacrificing so that our children might have a better life? Only love can do that. It is
high time that we bring love into the national discussion. It is time to entertain the possibility that extending ourselves in love and brother-and-sisterhood -- neighbor to neighbor, city to city, and nation
to nation – may actually be a wiser and saner route than Star Wars and bunker-busting nukes and overthrowing governments. It is time that we stand behind the declarations held by all the world's religions --
that there is one God, that God is everywhere, and that God lives inside each one of us. And whether we call it God or just Goodwill, it is time that we believe in ourselves and in our inherent power to love
and to act creatively for the benefit of all, and to be the change we want to see happen in the world.
What would happen if like our elders the Native Americans, we asked ourselves before every decision, "What effect
will this choice have on the 7th generation from now?" When we permit our imagination to inhabit the body of future generations, we simultaneously inform ourselves of the wisest, most loving, and most divinely
inspired choices we can make today. For what most benefits the future must also be of greatest benefit to ourselves today. How could it be any other way? We can only reap what we sow -- it's the law. It's
also our wake-up call, our charge to tend masterfully to our gardens.
Yes, the giant is awakening from its slumber, from its adolescence, from its childish insistence that it is not
responsible for the fate of the planet and each human and living being on it. It is awakening to discover the strength of the Truth, and the Solidarity that is possible when we join with the millions of other
life-affirming and life-sustaining people around the globe. Yes, we the giant, are awakening to remember who we really are, where we really came from, and what we really came here to accomplish. Our time is now. And
we are awakening not a moment too soon. We have lots of work to do, joyful work born from love and from gratitude for the infinite gifts of creation. Many wait in hope that we, who live a life of privilege, will
take up the yoke of our power and responsibility to influence the shape of events and steer our ship of destiny to better shores. We cannot expect those struggling to survive each day to have the wherewithal to do
this; no, it is us, those riding on the top of the wave of capitalist wealth, that bear the responsibility for the rest. For it is said, for those to whom much is given, much shall be required.
We are given this unique opportunity to turn a corner in our understanding, to see with a new set of eyes and to
feel with an open heart, our unbreakable connection to the web of life. When we come to know, not with our minds but with our hearts and souls, that I and Thou are One -- then we begin to take the longest stride of
soul that humankind has ever taken. We begin to end the misery of hunger, poverty, violence, and death that has plagued our collective experience since history began. We begin to end the nightmare of the dominator
mentality that only knows how to control, consume, and destroy. And we begin to remember the power of the partnership mentality, that knows how to cooperate, co-create, and contribute to the web of life. We begin to
remember that we are here to awaken each others' highest dreams, to heal ourselves and all our relations, and to create the greatest version of the grandest vision that we hold deep within our souls.
So let us begin today by turning our eyes towards the possible future, where we, the possible humans, inhabit a
wondrous paradise of peace, joy, and prosperity -- for one and all. Let us create this future, starting right now. We have nothing to risk but fear itself, and a whole wonderful living dream to gain.
So be it.
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