Message Of Inspiration In Difficult Times

To put it mildly, these are worrying times.

The global health emergency that we are currently facing is the largest and most pervasive in at least one hundred years. Similar to a boxer who has been beaten into insanity, our economy is stumbling. Opinions have become “facts.” Social unrest is on the rise. Political “discourse” (such as it is), centered around the removal or retention of arguably the most controversial, divisive, polarizing administration anyone can remember; has devolved to that of a couple of three-year-olds shouting “A poo-poo head, you are!” “No, your face is!” On November 3, it feels like we are all together, unrestrained in a 1950s rusty, claptrap old school bus; without seatbelts; careening down a mountain road with potholes; hanging on for dear life while yelling in terror for someone to save us. We’re hoping we don’t go too far and that everything will turn out alright in the end. Yet, that grating, inner voice refuses to shut up, saying, “Don’t get your hopes up” continues to grow louder. I simply wish it would all end.

There’s still more, though!

Ghia, Mother Earth, is experiencing an existential crisis, leading to never-ending firestorms, constant flooding, bone-dry draughts, and – in general – exceptionally severe weather that is wreaking havoc on property and lives (including non-human ones) on a previously unheard-of scale on a global scale. (For the record, I long to live in a world where the word, “unprecedented” is no longer a standard adjective.)

Our collective and emotional, physical, and mental health have been harmed by the chest-constricting, anxiety-inducing catalog of events. For those of us who can remember it, the Stephen King horror tale of 2020 is like a Disney fairy tale in comparison to 1968. Nobody has ever experienced a revolution like this, not even one person alive today. Not one of us.

I don’t have to tell you that, of course. You both experience and see it. You and I are both experiencing it. As goes the curse, we are living in “fascinating” times.

When even the sky is shrouded in a thick layer of smoke from burning things, it can be difficult to maintain optimism.

But I had a brief moment of thought.

It’s common knowledge in the field of behavioral change that a combination of force, pain, and fear serves as the trigger for change. After all, no one wakes up one morning, surveys his or her lifestyle, decides all is idyllic, and proclaims, “Let me see how I can change it, God, I love my life.” No, change doesn’t reveal itself until we are exhausted, afraid, battered, and overwhelmed. It’s called “rock bottom,” that gut-churning sensation that something – anything – is better than where we are, so despite whatever pain or uncertainly lies ahead, we reluctantly, unwillingly, tenuously, tread gingerly into the new. Change happens when it is implemented gently and repeatedly.

We are currently in a rock-bottom situation as individuals, as a society, and as a global community that is inextricably linked to one another.

So, I am trying – weakly I’ll admit – to look at these days not as end-times but as the impetus causing us to question everything, and to hopefully take the energy of the turbulence churning around us as the catalyst to inch forward in the direction of what future historians will call the “New Awakening.” I want to create a world that is more sympathetic, gentle, kind, supportive, cooperative, and in harmony with the environment for our great-grandchildren and beyond.

The arc will take several generations to complete, so I’m not sure if you and I will live there. However, we need to act, think, and pray as though it will happen. The alternative is unimaginable.

Maintaining hope is important. We must keep in mind that everyone is involved in this.