One for the flipper

From an email by Fred Burks, an Indonesian translator working for the U.S. government, sent in October 2003 to “hundreds of friends.” Burks quit the following year, citing the government’s unreasonable secrecy requirements. In January, prosecutors cited the email in an attempt to discredit his testimony in defense of Abu Bakar Bashir, an Islamic cleric accused by the United States of terrorism.

First, I want to deeply thank all of you who joined in powerfully sending energy, inviting our world’s leaders to open to love and to doing what’s best for all on our planet, as I interpreted for them in Bali. As scheduled, I interpreted at three meetings over the course of almost three hours between President Bush, President Megawati of Indonesia, and a number of other political and religious leaders.

On the morning of these presidential meetings, I had a very strange encounter. I awoke early and decided to go for a short run across the green lawns and down a steep cliff to the crystal blue ocean. When I got to the beach, I was shocked at what I saw there, right in front of me—a dead dolphin!

I had never seen anything like this before. I couldn’t help but think that this dolphin was a powerful sign. But what did it mean? I really didn’t know, but I decided that I could find a positive, empowering meaning in it. So I knelt down beside the beautiful, silvery blue, six-foot-long body and opened to the spirit of this dead dolphin. Immediately, I felt its presence with me. Not only that, I felt the joyful presence of the entire school of living dolphins with which it played in the warm ocean waters. I invited all these loving friends to join me and to join us in bringing the powerful energy of love into this meeting between presidents.

A few hours later, both presidents’ delegations walked into the beautiful beachside meeting room where I and several others had been waiting. I was quite surprised when President Bush’s chief of staff, Andrew Card, looking like he knew me, walked over with a warm smile and shook my hand, saying, “It’s great to have you here.” I’d never talked to him before. In fact, I hadn’t even realized who he was when I saw him at our last meeting in New York a month ago. I wondered if possibly he felt all of the loving energy I helped invite into the room.

A short while into the luncheon, I had another surprise when the Indonesia expert on the National Security Council, Karen Brooks, came over and gave me a big long kiss on the cheek. I’ve had a few conversations with her over the years but don’t know her well at all. President Bush was also very friendly with me, asking me if I needed water and then later commenting that it must be hard for me to interpret during the whole lunch and not get anything to eat. I wondered if they felt the loving presence that I was helping to bring to these meetings.

I suddenly had a huge realization. I saw that I was still carrying judgment that created separation between me and those around me at this luncheon. I saw that my own arrogance (my greatest challenge in life) saw me there as “saving the world.” Yet by seeing myself as somehow better than everyone there, I was also creating more dissonance in the world! Opening to this powerful realization, I looked around and saw that each person there was in his or her own way a manifestation of the divine. I saw that even though I don’t at all agree with many of these leaders’ policies, all of them were only doing what they believed was best. Although I will continue to work toward stopping the negative behaviors of our leaders, it is even more important that I do this while recognizing that these people—like all people—are creations of the divine, and that I can honor their spirits even while working to stop them from creating more fear and violence in the world.

I wish you all many, many blessings, and may ever more love and joy pour into all of our lives.

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