Accentuate the positives to help heal divided world.

Byline: FROM HEART TO HEART By Skye Blaine For The Register-Guard

I have noticed that it seems instinctual for humans to search for what is out of place, different and possibly threatening to our survival; this is a function of the primitive portion of our brain. Knowing this helps me understand the thrust of the evening news, which reports the painful, even violent, divides between peoples and countries while so rarely taking note of human kindness. The news seems designed to activate and enlarge our fear.

Yet in my own community and circle, I notice a movement away from the search for what separates us, toward a deeper kind of including. Workshops for nonviolent communication are emerging. Our Eugene interfaith circle has enlarged and thrives, and new kinds of cooperative discussions are opening up - a real reach for understanding.

Yes, we discover our faiths are different, but the ground of faith is the same. We are so much more alike than we realized.

Because these activities do not have flashy, graphic images, they are not reported on the news. Because they are not reported, we remain unaware of the many positive shifts. What would happen if we focused our attention on cohesive activities, on what is going right in our world?

I am not suggesting avoiding the news or ignoring what we must face and when we must act - in our own families, communities and country. I am putting forth an ideal that in Sufism we call overlooking. It is a practice of holding the contradiction - noticing the separation, the painful aspects - and still choosing to put our attention on what is whole and loving.

When I overlook, I notice that my friend snapped at me, but instead of focusing on her irritation, I concentrate more deeply, seeing straight into the goodness present in her heart, and I respond to that.

In my own experience, when I succeed in overlooking, the other person often rises to meet and manifest the good that I see. When a newscaster reports a car bombing, I pay attention to how the people close by are helping one another, often at risk to their own lives.

As we walk the streets of our world - while we notice and, hopefully, act to relieve suffering and prevent harm - we can uphold the unity that supports us all. In order to contain the contradiction, I have to create a vessel within my heart space strong enough for the whole messy stew.

The practice of overlooking can be valuable while working with our own mind patterns as well. When I catch myself in a cascade of negative thoughts (`The world is falling apart! My contribution is too small to make a difference!'), I can choose to acknowledge the thoughts, and look past them, into the core of what I know to be true: We all breathe the same air, and for a limited number of days; we are wholly responsible to one another; and beyond our differences, we are all one - one being, one family, one town, one country, one world.

Skye Blaine is a member and minister in Sufi Ruhaniat International. This column is coordinated by the Two Rivers Interfaith Ministries, a network of more than 35 religious and spiritual traditions in the Eugene-Springfield area. For more information, call 344-5693.