But whenever I panic a little about the state of the world today, a thought pops into my head. It’s not deliberate. But nearly every time I find myself wincing at the thought of the sheer indecency of this age I suddenly think: We won’t wish it hadn’t happened.
The feeling which accompanies the thought is a strange one. It’s lightness. For a split-second, I feel lighter. It’s not a feeling about peace, or love, or even good or bad. Just lightness. Like the earth’s gravity forgot I was there for a moment and then grabbed me again almost before I missed it.
What does it take to get from Point A to Point B? It depends on how far apart they are. Is there a grand plan, or not? Only your own faith knows. I choose to believe that there is a purpose to life. If I find out later that I’m wrong, I’ll be glad I didn’t know it sooner. In the meantime, my faith tells me that there is most definitely a plan. And the method of that plan is to both gently and not so gently nudge humanity until it sees its own light. I believe world peace would be the natural result of our forgetting we once thought we were separate. Might that be what the term ‘heaven on earth’ is supposed to imply?
In my very first column, I wrote that the word ‘apocalypse’ means unveiling in Greek. It refers to the predicted time in human history when we’d increasingly see behind the green curtain. It anticipates that humanity would arrive at a particular saturation point when the poop would hit the fan on a global scale. What happens next depends entirely upon where we are standing when it happens. You either get a little in the face or not. So where are you standing?
In taking a step back to look on all of known human history we can’t help but notice that the overall trend is upward. Humanity only ever progresses. Of course there are setbacks, sometimes enormous ones. Ones that threaten to tear us apart. Ideologically, we resent one another for thinking differently and threatening the way of life to which we have become accustomed. Even if it no longer serves us. We fear the implications of progress because on the cellular level of our society there is deep memory. Progress is always painful. The scales which fall from our eyes do not jump willingly.
There is grace in recognizing that our real job is to remain the non-anxious presence amid the drama. Our role is to calm the waters and let the boats safely figure out where to go next. We can do this in our daily lives, in our own environments. Soothe, don’t stir. Because while this time shall eventually pass, it will do so more smoothly with as much assistance as possible. Or rather, with the least resistance manageable.
As our new century unfolds we will see that there were cheaters and thieves who needed to be exposed, liars who needed to be faced with truth, deep systemic problems like thick roots which could only see the light of day by the earth being almost too deeply tilled. Most importantly, our rights as human beings are not gladly surrendered by those who would keep them all to themselves. These things need to happen, but nothing goes quietly into the night.
Do not be afraid. Remain calm. Picture the future day, which may even occur in your own lifetime, when we will see this confusing moment for what it is. We are a society presently walking across hot coals. It will end. To protect one’s feet from the burning embers the teaching is to remain calm, walk smoothly and quickly. But no so fast your feet push too deeply, nor so slow that they sink. Remain both focused and faithful. Eye on the prize.
The end of this walk shall come. And we will someday understand why it needed to be this way. Have faith. Assume that history is not a circle, but a spiral. It may feel dangerously familiar, but every time we get here again, we have changed a little bit. We know a bit more deeply, love a bit more profoundly, and solve our problems as a tribe more insistently. It will be okay. Keep speaking truth. Keep healing the wounded. All shall be well.
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