Dear men,

Last night I couldn’t sleep. I felt very frightened and disturbed by the political scene in the U.S., which is simply evidence of much deeper fractures. I wondered what I could do. I wondered what we could do as men to shift the culture of violence we have created.

I want to find a way in which I feel empowered to do something right now. Start changing the consciousness from this moment, this day.

I want a new story to tell our children about what happened in 2016. How about this:

In the face of grave systemic injustice, economic disparity, widespread racial violence, an industrial military complex that was out of control, and a “democracy” that was already proven to be corrupt, a group of ordinary men woke up and began to lead new lives.

Miraculously, as men began to come into contact with their own truth, the truth they had long been taught to discount and bury, they began to make different choices. They began once again to hold space for the feminine power of the world; little by little the banks of the river were being rebuilt and trust was being restored and the feminine river of life began to flow again.

Look fellows, the only thing powerful enough to heal our world is the feminine, that which gestates and gives birth to life. Our role is to be the banks of that river. We have to make it safe for her to flow again. The river doesn’t reach the ocean without having trustable banks that hold the flow. We have abdicated this role personally and collectively and it is time to take our power back.

As men we need to take our power back from the corporations and culture and government we have given it away to. We gave away our role as the banks to these externalities and they have been violating and abusing our Mother and our sisters.

Men, imagine how it will feel to once again claim the power to live as human beings. Imagine how it will feel as we step once again into our kingly sovereignty as men who serve the truth and, in that devotion, the sacred feminine power of Life.

In the non-violent revolutions of Gandhi and Dr. King the underlying conviction they taught was that the truth itself had power. Satyagraha. Truth-force. This is our power. The power of truth.

These men, and the movements they led, revealed the power of truth to overcome the un-truth and to transform the hearts of those who are possessed by the demons of fear and violence.

Let’s become warriors of truth, men. Let’s say ‘no’ to the brutalities visited upon the vulnerable in our midst. In the face of great fear, which is what underlies fascism in all its guises, I am convinced we must put our hope once again in truth.

Let’s say ‘yes’ to real relationship and to honesty and transparency. It will cost us. It will demand a sacrifice. But this is what we, as men, are here to do with our lives – to live for something greater than our own personal preferences.

I know we haven’t been initiated into this culture of mature masculinity but there is no time to worry about that. We will initiate ourselves as we go. Knowing it intellectually isn’t enough. The rubber has to hit the road. We have to create a conversation about how this is showing up in our lives.

Here are some places to start:

Truth is waking up to how you feel in your body. We must learn to feel again, men. Our sensitivity is our greatest gift.

Truth is acknowledging where we are out of integrity and seeing how we have been run by the serpent of unconsciousness. This is not our fault but it is our responsibility. We are the kings of our own being but we have allowed an imposter on our throne. Time to take it back.

Truth is making amends not by saying sorry but by acknowledging the impact of our actions on others and revealing the shadow that has possessed us and taking steps to put that shadow in front of us so it not longer sits on the throne in our stead.

Truth is understanding that those who have hurt us have also been possessed by the demons of unconsciousness. The truth is that nobody in their right mind and heart space wishes harm. Love does not oppress. Fear does. Truth is seeing that fear only begets violence.

We can pray for the hearts of our enemies, knowing that they are in bondage, and offer forgiveness while at the same time resisting their oppression with every fiber of our being.

We must resist oppression but we cannot afford to lose sight of the humanity of those who would oppress us. This is the only thing that keeps us from becoming violent ourselves.

Men, let’s tell a a new story with our lives. Let’s tell it together. We have to start sharing about this path. We have to understand we are not alone. There are many like us.

I have created a new Facebook group for this journey. Please consider joining and introducing yourself, what you see, and where you want to go.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/mentruthlove/

With respect,
Ernest