Dark Times
How do we negotiate dark times? There is no question that we are in a period of transition more radical than any other in my seventy-seven years. I am not a social activist. Perhaps my father’s position as a cultural changer influenced me to resist marching and writing letters to my congresspeople.
I am a mystic. I see the world simultaneously from two perspectives. My deepest understanding is that we live in a closed system where we are all connected. We all came from star stuff. We breathe the air the dinosaurs breathed. When we die, our bodies return to the air, the soil, or the oceans. We are all recycled back into the One..
Yet, knowing that we are all connected and one is not sufficient. We must also acknowledge that we, as humans, are extraordinarily complex, multi-faceted, diverse, and contradictory. We have been made this way. It seems apparent that our beginnings were from the same source — star stuff astoundingly moving from one-celled organisms into the almost unbelievable community of cells, neurons, organs, and even bacteria and viruses that make us up. We are animal and angel. We are designed to survive in uncertain and dangerous conditions. Fortunately, we have learned that our ways of survival include having a strong community and taking care of each other.
And then there is this elusive thing called love. The universe is designed to unfold through attraction. Atoms are attracted to each other, the tides make love with the moon, and the plants reach out to the sun. We sometimes get lost in the war and hatred that is a part of our earthly existence, but what about looking at this wild ride of energy as an ecstatic dance of lovemaking? The wind spreads the seeds, the little worms burrow and create the soil, and the rain nourishes the plants. Rivers overflow their banks, creating fertility and new pathways.
Is this lovemaking of the universe a gentle process? No, it is not. As much as rainbows after rainfall bring gentle peace to our hearts, hurricanes create destruction, and earthquakes change the landscape, leaving death and destruction in their wake.
The earth has never been a peaceful place. It has constantly been roiling, with tectonic plates crashing into each other and creating mountains in their forceful play.
So, here we are in perilous times. There is destruction from every direction — politically, environmentally, and spiritually. We seem to have lost our anchor. Religion used to at least provide guardrails for behavior. Then science said it could do a better job, and somehow, that has been undercut by misinformation, which used to be called lies. The moral compass has lost its way. The children are suffering, men no longer see their value, and women are continually being harmed, even as we have made progress in the ways of the world.
In times of darkness, our best strategy is not to rail at the darkness or try to fix it. Most of the problems we face today can be ameliorated but not fixed. We have reached a time in this country where applying Band-Aids is no longer sufficient. The foundation of the game, which is that the winners of the game are those with power and money, is no longer sustainable. We will now have to face the consequences of the choices made by individuals and the collective.
In moving forward, it is crucial, however, to begin from what is, not what we wish it to be.
The first step may be to let go of thinking we can fix the problems. As with a dying person, there is a time when one must acknowledge that there are things that have to die. Dying is often not an easy process. There is endless loss, regret, anger, and pain.
Another step is letting go of duality—the idea that there is a right and a wrong, my people and others, justice and injustice. In this black-and-white thinking, there is no room for new ideas, possibilities, or the birth of something new.
In times of sweeping transition, we must start with ourselves, examining how we resist change, judge others without considering our behavior, cling to safety when we need to take a chance, find light in the darkness, and practice love even when it is difficult.
It is often easier to look outside ourselves than inwardly, but these times require radical honesty, courage and love. This is our time to be the change we seek. We are heading into a new world that needs our full participation with the unique gifts that are ours to give. There is no way to know the future, but being grounded in who we are and what we stand for matters.