Facing It
The day is wet and there is a breeze pushing a few tree tops this morning. That will likely change soon. The predictions of historic storms has made the front page news. The temperature has risen with the rains - 51 degrees fahrenheit - and all are waiting for the downpour that is supposed to arrive in the afternoon. It's Friday and we are coming to the end of another month. (Hard to digest how rapidly time is passing these days!).
Change is always hard. How does one know what action to take, and still keep the heart and spirit strong? Especially now, when the world has reached critical need and the ways to respond are expanding. It can be very confusing and feel very chaotic. Thanks to the conveniences that tech, telecom, and travel have brought, people are able to know what "now" looks like all across the globe. So staying in the now is a growing challenge and being "here" can mean many things in these times. "Be here now" is an invitation into a world of complexity.
What we are able to see through news feeds and social media is not life affirming.
Every message and report of conflict is about the survival of "our way of life" and the stories are that "the enemy" will cause us to lose something precious. At the same time, one cannot avoid seeing that the pursuit has cost hundreds of thousands, actually millions, of lives. The violence that happens en masse and in private is shared vividly through the networks that are designed to keep everyone in the now, everywhere in the world. The stories of what might be considered transcendent and affirming of the human qualities of courage in caring, generosity in spirit and soul are missing. News is about information, not insight. So, it is especially important to find a way to deepen one's own path to understand and learn the truth of our common humanity. It is easy not to do this.
The ways to vilify others - especially those one really does not know, has never known, will never know - are the ways to ensure conflict continues. Moreover, the justifications for conflict survives the question, "Why?"
Religion, sadly, has not led to stopping the pain. Indeed, its very existence has been the source and vehicle to intensify much conflict, much pain.
Everyone seems to be running into the storm, and it is not altogether clear that anyone knows where they are going. The lucky ones find a niche, discover their gift and choose to enter the flow to affirm life. By accepting the opportunities to take small steps toward peace and caring, the otherwise overwhelming "now" can be seen for what it is. And to disarm the effects that might otherwise lead to despair, one has to believe that every gesture matters when the heart and hands align. So move in the direction of facing what is now and choose to move in the direction of aligning with love and bringing joy whenever possible, at every opportunity that arises.