On January 6, we witnessed images of people “storming” the Capitol. They were on a mission to overturn what they were told was a fraudulent election. These individuals took action because in their minds they believed the words they read, and the rhetoric they heard, thereby justifying the action they took. These thoughts triggered in them a strong emotional response: the consequences of inaction were more threatening than no action. Their rationale? Their beliefs must be defended at any cost. And their thoughts, resulting from years of reinforcement, were the only “right” thoughts.

Those of us watching from afar felt our own belief systems kick in, as did our self-righteous indignation. We quickly took sides, formed opinions, and passed judgment. In our minds we clearly knew the truth. We were more informed than the miscreants we watched and we felt completely justified reacting as we did.

In the world as we perceive it, people are either right or wrong. There are “good” people and there are “bad” people. There are Republicans and there are Democrats. There are educated people and there are people…well, not so much. Our individual perspectives—informed by our individual belief systems—provide a way for us to navigate life. Personal perspectives give us a construct for living and help make sense of what appears to be disorganized, random activity. They provide a position from which we can look at our lives, and the world we live in, and render judgment. These perspectives form a decision framework we are often unaware of yet adhere to consistently. 

Past experiences helped shape our beliefs and, consequently, these beliefs determine our current experience. In effect we create our own reality. Not maybe, not sometimes, but always. Beliefs become our truth. We give an idea, a belief, the power of our minds. What we fail to acknowledge is that beliefs differ from individual to individual; they are relative “truths,” not absolute or universal.

We’ve all had the experience of believing one thing yet subsequently changing our minds to believe something else. We withdraw our investment in one idea and put our mind power into another. I’ve revisited beliefs I accepted willingly at one point only to find on closer examination, they no longer hypnotized me as they once did. I disinvested, moved on; my perspective and experience changed accordingly.

Beliefs have no power in and of themselves until and unless we give them power. When beliefs are accompanied by a strong emotional reaction they are controlling us. When we give them “the power” we abdicate our control and find that we simply “can’t help ourselves.” How many times have we complained “the devil made me do it?”

When I learned of the mayhem at the Capitol, and saw the disturbing photos, my mind—unsolicited— offered many opinions and judgments. While not particularly emotionally charged, I was nonetheless conflicted. I watched my mind, recognizing the many attempts it made to rationalize its thinking. Finally I turned within, setting aside the mental madness, and sincerely asked to see the situation through eyes of love. There is a prayer from A Course in Miracles (ACIM) that I find particularly helpful at times like these:

“I do not know what anything, including this, means. And so I do not know how to respond to it. And I will not use my own past learning as the light to guide me now.”

After a little while I remembered another quote from ACIM—“the ego is suspicious at best, vicious at worst.” And that’s when it became clear I was interpreting the situation from my personal, self-serving, and limited belief system. My physical senses and my know-it-all mind blinded me to spiritual sight. But of course!

When assessing the situation from “above the battlefield” it became apparent that it was fear on the march. Fear had hijacked these people mentally and emotionally. Their “crime,” first and foremost, is in believing the fear-based thoughts running rampant. They are afraid the “other” is going to take away their freedom, their jobs, and the country they love—their very way of life. Those beliefs are terrifying!

Fear is lack of love. By focusing on a scapegoat “out there,” those driven by fear are shutting down—denying—the true source of their freedom and power. Scarcity, attack, defense, conflict, madness are the resulting experiences. Fearful people trapped in a nightmare of their own making. This is hell.

As I recognized this cycle I was immediately overcome with a sense of compassion. ACIM teaches there are only two ways to view a situation: people are extending love or calling for love. Clearly storming the Capitol is a collective cry for love. When we respond from our highest selves, it becomes clear we are to fill a lack of love with love.

This doesn’t mean we look the other way and ignore their actions. As we hold them to account, we hold ourselves to account, too. We relinquish judgment and respond from a place of love and understanding. We recognize the mental and emotional pain—and absence of love— driving their actions.

This is the only way to break the grip of fear, theirs and ours. We acknowledge the underlying root cause of the problem, not just the dramatic, visible symptoms. I admit this is hard. Damned hard. We are working against years of our own entrenched opinions, judgments, and beliefs.

But when we succeed we see the insurrectionists for what they are: frightened brothers and sisters calling for love. This is how we eradicate fear and bring about the world our minds envision and our hearts desire.