New Zealand

Hi all, I just wanted to send my love out to all who have been affected by the Terrorist Attack at two Mosques in Christchurch today. I am sorry that there is so much islamophobia. I am really sad to know that there have been Children who lost Mums and Dads, Brothers and Sisters, and some Children have been injured themselves, and people who were praying peacefully got mudrered. If anyone from Aoeteroa/New Zealand is on here, know that there are many people around the world, and particularly your neighbours in Australia that support your country, and your communities.

Today's attack has left me sick at heart. Sometimes I just feel like I'm sinking into despair. I can't think of anything lower than attacking people in a house of worship - any house of worship. I've worked side by side with Muslims my entire professional life and can't for the life of me understand Islamophobia but I do realize this is coming from a place of fear. That being said, I'm reminded of the closing lines of the great Caleb Carr novel about tracking a serial killer in turn of the 19th. century NYC (and I'm paraphrasing here), "We were looking for a monster but found a wounded child instead."

A mirror is being held up to the worst traits of humanity. I pray to God that we learn.

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern spoke beautifully while she condemned the Christchurch mosque shooting, She is a shinning light for her country and the world.

Some advice please. Phrases like "sending healing energy" and "sending light" are used a lot on this forum, but how do we actually go about doing that, particularly after mass tragedies like the one in Christchurch? Do we sit silently in meditation and imagine New Zealand in a literal halo of light? I'm not skilled in all of the various forms of meditation, so I ask this with sincerity.

I'm aware that "sending thoughts and prayers" has become a bit of a cop-out response to mass shootings, but as a non-New Zealander living on the opposite side of the globe who's still trying to process the events in Christchurch, "thoughts and prayers" are all I have at my disposal right now.

Coyote, that is an excellent question and one I am sure someone on this site can better answer than myself.

I am adding a link to a story of a connection to Christchurch and Parkland.  Last summer Parkland students went to Christchurch to heal.  Now these students are trying to figure out how to help the new Christchurch friends they met as well as process how such a safe city had such a horrible act of violence.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/new-zealand-shooting-parkland-students-mourn-friends-made-christchurch-n983791

Coyote, for many, yes, saying prayers is all they believe they can do. Holding others in light, the way I've done it is to envision a healing light surrounding those affected while saying my prayers. Or asking angels to go and comfort those in need and seeing their light and energy winging their way to comfort those in need, all in my mind's eye of course. 

If you feel that is not enough, sit and write a heart felt letter to those who survived-whether they were there at the massacre, or lost a loved one. Speak from your heart, and find an address on the internet to send it to. In times like these, you'd be amazed at the letters that find their way to their destinations without even a hint of a proper address. Even the local post offices do what they can to aid in protecting the privacy of those involved, but try to deliver sympathy cards or letters of support. I can tell you from experience that letters like that mean quite a bit to those who receive them. 

These folks feel the weight of the world on their shoulders at the moment. They know they are on the world stage and it is an added pressure. Likewise, in the midst of the shock, some of them will start to feel the reverence, sympathy, and love that is pouring their way. Unfortunately, there will also be those who send negativity, and that too will be felt. The good tho, in my experience typically outweighs the bad. That is because for every person who does something small to try and comfort, so many more are simply saying prayers, or sending light and angels. 

I can tell you that in our tragedy, someone sent the high school a teddy bear for comfort. That bear sat on display at the high school for quite some time. Then three years later, the tragedy at Columbine High happened. We sent the bear on it's way for comfort. I personally got a letter from a loved one of a victim of the Oklahoma City Bombing. I've written to many others in the aftermath of tragedies. Just as it helped me to know others had endured such things and survived, I too could pay it forward. We are all connected. 

Cindy, thank you for your insights and sharing your beautiful story about the teddy bear. This is just the sort of advice I was looking for.

• I hope Michelle will weigh in on how to send Love and Light to those in New Zealand who need our support in this time of extreme crisis.  I've learned much from her posts here on how best to support those in need.
• Instead of trying to work out what is the thing someone needs to support them, take the time to find what Love means to you.  
• Separate yourself from the pain this situation has caused you - and for many of us here, this is felt very personally even though it happened half the world away.  It is a physical and psychic blow that we feel in our core.
• Take the time you need to process this wound.

Concentrate on what you love.  What makes you feel feel loved?  What makes you feel an outpouring of your Love for another?  A child, a pet, a spouse, a parent, a sibling, a book, a song, a season, a piece of art, a food.... revel in the things that bring you joy and peace.

• While you are in the concentrated feeling of Love, think of New Zealand and those who are hurting there.  Just a glance, and wrap them in the blanket of your concentrated feeling of Love.
• All my Love to those affected by this tragedy.

However we do it, if we imagine love and light surrounding those whose lives have been shattered, they will feel our love and care.

Cindy has been through this in the closest way, and Cindy, thank you beyond words for posting here to guide people who want to help.  Every time I see your sweet dove and olive branch logo, I feel an angel glowing around and within you.  

I also want to add, that while we feel the shock of it now and are sending our best to the New Zealanders, a time will soon come when we go back to our lives but they will not.  The pain will live on in them for years and decades. So feel free to continue sending them your love and support for as long as your heart reminds you of them. 

Paul W - Caleb Carr's The Alienist - I love that book. Thanks for reminding me.

Coyote - Yes, what Cindy says is true.  There are many other ways to send love, light and healing. Generally "distance healing" is done by people who can send Reiki, but any positive thought or prayer can heal as well.  Some other ways to send light are to look at a photo of those affected by [insert tragedy here], and meditate on the event, and try to visualize painting white and gold light around them. Visualize angels or spirit guides standing just outside the picture frame. Or just do a meditation. In a safe, quiet space, sit or lay still however you are comfortable. Breathe. Close your eyes. Imagine that YOU are an angel or guide, visualize those affected. Visualize yourself standing in front of them, feet planted firmly on the ground. Imagine giving them each a hug. As you hug them, let the warm feelings of love flow from your heart, through your arms and into their hearts. As you release the hug, visualize them bathed in gold-white sunlight.  As with everything, it's all about your intention. If your intention is to send love, love is sent. Does that make sense?

Jeanne, I've been rather MIA everywhere in the last several months. Taking care of both parents who are nearing their end in this plane of existence by myself is hard, and time consuming. I do  check in from time to time, but by the time I get to read something, I'm needed elsewhere, often before I've even finished reading, much less having a chance to respond. And, yes, you are right. As long as any tragedy is in the news, people send love and prayers, and when it is no longer in the headlines, people resume their lives. I have boxes of letters, some of which I read over and over when needed. 

Besides the letter from the OK Bombing family member, another most memorable was from the wife of an Air Force pilot. She told me that she and her husband had been to Paris several times, and that he had taken off that morning for Hawaii. She then noted that Monica's final destination was more beautiful than any earthbound destination they had been to or could imagine, and hoped that I could take solace in that. I can't describe the feeling of love I felt as I read. I could feel how touched she was by what had transpired, and she simply wrote from her heart. It helped.

Laura, I agree. Only those who have studied healing in some form (Reiki, Shaman, some religions, etc.) are true distance healers. However, we can do our part just with our prayers and intentions if we're not trained.  Intention and emotions are energy-and they can be charged positively or negatively. You don't have to be a doctor or nurse to fix someone with a cold a cup of chicken soup to help them feel better. It all helps. 

Coyote: I once practiced sending Love and Light to someone when I was stuck in a snowstorm many years ago at a couple's house in NY I am friends with. I was down the hall in the guest room and the husband was very curious about the same question you asked. He was under a lot of stress at work, so I sent him loving white light while I was lying in bed and grateful these two friends let me sleep at their home ( I worked with the husband and couldn't make it all the way to CT in the snow). The next morning at breakfast he asked me what I was doing last night (!!) I asked him what he meant, he said he was lying in bed when we all went to sleep last night but suddenly he felt like the room lit up around him and he felt this bright light in front of his face and it rather startled him.  I explained that I did the following:  I pictured God in Heaven with a huge beam of white light and lots of loving energy sending that beam directly to my friend and I also had the beam go to me and through me and sent that beam to him too.  I had just started my journey on how to do that and that is all I did.  Needless to say all 3 of us were pretty startled and awestruck. I hope that helps you with your question!

You have all said it so beautifully,  each and every single one of you in your own special and unique ways.

It's as easy as a single thought and as complex as all thoughts converging into and exploding out with the unified brilliance of the Divine energy that is in the word christos. Christos, Christ, Christlike, Christlight, Christenergy. The Universal and the Divine Spark of creation, of evolution and of change. Christchurch. Not any specific religion or any specific church, here a mosque as a huge symbol and example of all our hearts loving, and mourning,  and grieving as one.

Christchurch is infinitely symbolic and meaningful and has often been a trigger point for heart energy in the world. Over and over. Just the very name, this place, this heart point on the globe.

Long ago, many of us in my blogging and creative arts community cut out and mailed fabric hearts to Christchurch N.Z. after horrific fires and flooding events.

Now, once again, we are given this horriffic mass murder and point of destruction as a great and ironic blessing of a teachable moment to open our hearts to their fullest, feel the deepest anquish of the loss and pain when contrasted to the blood red anger that rages between one group against any other they see as different or deserving of being the vehicle of that rage.

And the mirror is held up for all to see and to learn from.

Who do we, you, I hate? Do we hate the killers, the guns, the people who support their proliferation? Do we hate Donald Trump, his elitist family, families like them? Do we hate celebrities who pay for their children to have luxeries we cannot give our own?

Do we hate governments, and policies, and regulations and vaccinations because they are thrust upon us, into us, invade us as if warring armies.

Do we hate cancer and other horrid diseases?

What is hate and what is the difference between hating one thing and being ok with that emotion but not hating sonething else?

Why do we hate at all?

What is the purpose if we believe that everything happens for a reason in these horrible, senseless reoccurring events? And why oh why can't we learn?

Think of the words of the most beautiful poems, songs, sayings you know and then think and say and live them ...and then say "and let it begin with me."

New Zealanders did that. They changed their gun laws with one horrible, horrible event of a day. They did it. And why can't we. Change our laws, change our hate, change our stubborn refusal and resistance to change?

Let's do that, today even just for today, in every single thought and word and deed you do today.

That is how we bring in love and light and unify it with our spirit and our soul's purpose.

That is how we become the light, the prayers, the compassion and the mercy.  We are the alpha and we are the omega.We are the beginning and we are the end.

Cindy learned through great, great love and through the unimaginable loss of her daughter. We learn from love, we learn through pain and loss and endless grieving how to wade through the mire to and into the light. We learn from disease, we learn through our mistakes, and we learn by feelings. Deep, strong, intenses feelings.

We learned from Christchurch.

I love you all so very much, it not only fills my heart to bursting, it fills my eyes with tears, and that love, that light of my heart through my envisioning eyes and compassionate heart then goes out into the world and into the divine energy of unity ..that is true heart energy. We let our heartlights shine 

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What a beautiful post xxx  I live in New Zealand and it brings a lot of comfort to see so much love flowing from the world to those who have suffered such terrible loss.  I cry when I see the faces and hear the stories of those who passed.  People living their lives who loved their families.  I feel sad that they chose New Zealand to live but we couldn't keep them safe. I myself moved here 20 years ago from England.  However, from this horror I have been so moved by the out pouring of love from New Zealand and the world.  People here have come together like never before.  This won't last forever but it gives me a lot of hope for the future.