“If all of us acted in unison, as I act individually, there would be no wars and no poverty. I make myself personally responsible for the fate of every human being who comes my way.” –Anais Nin
I cannot say that I follow this to the letter. Being personally reponsible for every person that comes my way is a very tall order. Yet I feel that there is so much truth entangled with this idea. Our actions, or non-actions allow or prevent things to happen. I effect and affect everything around me in some way. I have no idea what it means to be a political leader, and the complexities involved, but I cannot ever imagine myself knowingly engaging in activity that will hurt or destroy others. So how does it happen? How do we allow things to escalate? Why do we behave in ways that we would not appreciate if they were done to us (do unto others….).
What are your thoughts on this?
servingothersblog.com 
Jonathan, I believe that we sometimes hurt others because either we’ve been hurt ourselves (and we want to hurt back) or because we just don’t know any better (because we somehow justify what we’re doing as “okay”). Our souls are on a journey of evolution; how fast we choose to evolve depends on what choices we make. For instance, if we choose to say and do loving things for ourselves and others, then our souls evolve at a faster rate, eventually becoming an all-loving soul and reuniting with God. However, if we choose to say and do things that stem from fear (i.e., anger, hate, resentment, judgment, cruelty, viloence, etc.), then our souls take a bit longer to evolve and find ultimate peace. Souls who continuously hurt others don’t realize that they’re basically hurting themselves as well since “We are all one” (a quote from Neale Donald Walsch who has been a great inspiration for me); they also end up creating their own version of hell by choosing to live in the illusion (that we are all separate) rather than the reality (that our true being is LOVE and that we are all connected). I don’t recall what Mr. Walsch said verbatim, so I don’t want to say that this is what he said, but I believe it was something similar to this.
Thanks for these thoughts. So much truth. I read Conversations With God about a year ago, just after I lost my job and my life had been turned upside down. And something definitely shifted in me after that. There is so much wisdom and simplicity in those pages. A much more authentic and loving path is right there for us. Seems such a monumental task, but I sense that many of us know that we have to find another way, because this one surely is not working.