The end of 2008 was a time of "shock and awe." We are stumbling into 2009 dazed, confused and more than a little afraid.
The shock will wear off. Then, we are going to find out who we are, or perhaps what we have become.
We've taken hard hits in the past, picked up the pieces, and started to rebuild. This time the hit is going to be a long and painful unwinding of decades of bad habits, bad leadership and bad mistakes by those we assumed had a base level of competence and responsibility.
We can bewail and blame. But we can't change the next 12 months. By all accounts, we're strapped in for a very rough outing.
How we get through it is going to be a matter of fortitude and attitude. Pick your position. Is the glass half empty, half full -- or did somebody take the glass and smash it against the wall? In times like these, optimism is a decision.
Our historic resiliency may have atrophied in the soothing soak of good times. We are twice removed from the "greatest generation". After Vietnam and aside from a few short-term financial scrapes, the baby boom has had a sweet ride. While the advantages were certainly not evenly distributed, boomers have generally lived well, stayed healthy and had a pretty good time.
Our children's' generation had all that, plus they were raised in the warmth of our obsessive concern for their happiness and self-image -- a generation where, win or lose, everybody gets a trophy.
And now this.
It's said that the key to happiness is the ability to look reality in the eye, and deny it. Happiness, maybe. But not the ability to step up to one of the toughest times in our history. We can't deny the reality of a country that has been shaken to its very identity.
Will families become stronger, or will they begin to crack under the strain? Will new values emerge, or will the ones that got us in trouble simply be put on hold? Will square footage, portfolio growth and other past measure of success be replaced by things more lasting and spiritual? Will we reach out to those who are hurt the most, or will we spend our time making sure we are among those who are hurt the least? Will a country of special interests sacrifice for the greater good, or will we see a domestic protectionism that hobbles real solutions?
These questions and more will be answered in a year of both trial and illumination - a year unlike any in memory.
Follow Dr. Peggy Drexler on Twitter: www.twitter.com/drpeggydrexler
Belief, faith, and hope, these three we profess. We profess belief -- that an entity is greater than us, wiser than us, more capable somehow than we ourselves at addressing problems of massive scale and crushing weight. We profess faith -- that said entity will always operate in our best interest even when the entity is set against us as jurist seeking justice, or higher authority calling for volunteer courage to face down evil in self-sacrificing service to a higher cause (military). We harbor and therefore profess hope -- that the wisdom and love of the entity for us -- the believers, shall culminate in the implementation of our best ideas, the manifestation of our most worthy dreams, and the realization of our best and brightest selves, while here on solid rock breathing sustaining air.
No God -- no nation, this is one possible conclusion. This conclusion concerns not religion or approaches to spirituality that assume to know all for all, yet in the telling, in the living, are found to be hypocritical. God as referenced here is beyond the words here. The allegory is meant to bridge the gap for surely nation is omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient, and just plain omni in relationship to the people comprising it -- the whole is greater than the fractions, unless the whole is nothing...then, the fractions, the people -- would be nothing.
Nation as provider for, protector and principal in charge of that, of which it is comprised; and God as provider for, protector and principal in charge of that which is God (sky, sun moon, stars, flowers, trees, water, air, animals, people), parallels may be drawn.
Submission to the idea of nation or God hinges on possibilities that come to play on individual life such that adherence or non-adherence manifests concerning the dogma of country, or the presented written word of God. If one cannot fathom the works of that professing to be God then one cannot submit. If one cannot connect with the purity of the espoused idea of nation one cannot bow down in service to nation or stand up in defense of nation. As belief goes so goes adherence and fervor. Belief often is tied to indoctrinating experience. The sun comes up everyday. It kisses a forehead and someone says, “I love you, thank you God.†The president sends aid to those harmed by a storm and in so doing says to the people -- “I love you†and the people say, “Thanks president!†A baby is born without legs or arms, or is born blind or mentally challenged. God why have you forsaken me? A president sends men and women to die in unnecessary war with an eye on legacy and an inept approach at addressing real human suffering in another part of the world. Mr. President, why have you defiled me so?
God is perfect as is the sky, as is the rain, the snow, the planets, the galaxies, the depths and the creatures inhabiting there. Humans are imperfect perfection. Perhaps that is the true test of faith in God and nations. Given imperfection but great capability and leeway to do great things, will ye be towards perfection. The choice remains ours. If we descend into chaos it will be by choices and non-adherence to the idea, the belief, and the knowledge that we can be great and that we actually have determined what real greatness is, therefore we are worthy in all moments of existence -- though we may struggle. When a child is born without legs or arms a parent must have the means, the wherewithal, and most importantly the love to sustain that individual life, for it exists for a reason. A loving parent must buy into the idea of one for all and all for one and thereby reflect God. One understands that whether this vessel of state should rise with the waves or be consumed by them, is all a matter of how seaworthy the vessel is found to be in moments where the mighty rush of circumstance comes to test the mettle. Calm waters lie just beyond storms calling for worthiness of professed faith.
Will we be Godly or ungodly? Will we be towards what is written as the best in this nation or shall we fall short of the hallowed hubbabaloo that is hype and revisionism of history? Entities speak of magnificence all day long, but the night air is cold and indicts moth-eaten blankets that do not protect exposed trembling flesh susceptible to the chill and the burn of a blowing and howling wind.
If the people exemplify a tendency to be God-like (which is love) in approach, then a nation shall be glorious and powerful and everlasting for the spirit sustains nations. If the people descend into the chaos that divides the whole and makes the whole nothing, then the people shall be nothing. The realization of myth or lie may take a day or centuries. The realization of a life lived well or not may take a lifetime or longer (Madoff was God-like...until he was not). The rise or fall of nations does not relate to the timekeeping apparatuses of mere individuals. So it is with God. The rise or fall of nations has less to do with the decrees and pronouncements of nations and more to do with the walk of the nation. So it is with God. A nation that kills, that steals, that terrorizes its people or terrorizes other people is ungodly and therefore it is nothing and therefore its people are nothing, thus we have the term, “Paper Tigerâ€.
The issue is "the path" in which we choose while on "our journey."
Before others can pass judgment on others, the issue is really about "the self." When a person works on themselves, then situations around that person will reflect that. I focus on me... and by doing that, "my world" is calm and peaceful because I understand that everything is under my control. What's in my life is in it because I did something to bring it in... I create my own issues and I can uncreate them, or cause them to not exist in the first place.
This beautiful place CAN ONLY BE VIEWED "firefox." It won't show right anywhere else including exp lorer. Only fire fox..
http://asensationalsouljourney.synthasite.com/
It's a place that calms the Soul and Awaken...
Paper tigers burn in the hot historical sun of policy visited upon the people. Paper tigers disintegrate under the pressure of moments demanding courage and dignity not bravado or base and inept responses to crisis of peril and deep anguish. Paper tigers, are illusions of power and grace, flimsy holograms projected to confuse and distract. Paper tigers ignite when they come in contact with their own hypocrisy. All nations on this planet are warned not to be found to be a highly flammable, hubris soaked paper tiger close to unstable and ignitable hypocrisy -- poof baby -- poof.
May our faith be rewarded by our walk. God, country, family, are words for the same thing. Each of those three things demand the best in us. God is not a man or a woman. God is all before us but we must turn from distractions to be truly aware of the beauty and magnificence that is before us, and only then will ice melt. A conflict that lasts decades speaks of an inability to be towards the divine (Palestine -- Israel). There is an ultimate price to pay for such lapses in pursuit of a more perfect individual, a more perfect nation, a more perfect world.
This is but a consideration, that presented here. It may or may not be anything beyond that. Think on these things however to decide, as a meditation, as an analysis.
Keep up the good work.
Your insigtful column with its provocative challenge has inspired me, along with all these other people. Just reading the comments build my hope for America. I'm serious, y'all. Here are a few highlights, starting with:
from "Dana Lynne Andersen":"The true American dream is a vision of a free and vibrant life for all people."
from "vanrainey": "We are becoming informed and to some degree connected in a way unimaginable to previous generations. "
(Let's hope we can get off our net-surfing duffs whenever true opportunities for service arise.)
from"fnygy": "This crisis offers great opportunity to actually change our ways for the better. Let's take that opportunity and run with it!"
and in the words of "Erdgeist":"Everything we do right now counts. Every belief we have will bear fruit -- good or bad. "
Here is my comment: If these people are willing to act on these expressed convictions, and if we as a nation are willing to get back to true capitalism, which consists of resourcefulness, imagination, and willingness to start over with small business (or dedication to our productive, efficient corporations)--then we'll do just fine. And we can pull through this thing.
Thanks, Peggy, for helping to initiate this "pull together" process.
Carey Rowland, author of Glass half-Full
This spot shows my journey and trail after being Awakened. I work on me, and that alone.. takes care of the rest. Check out...
http://asensationalsouljourney.synthasite.com/
It's a place that calms the Soul.
Obama is pushing us in the wrong direction when he picks and chooses who should have full and equal human and civil rights - and who shouldn't.
Mr. Obama demonstrated that he doesn't support civil and human rights for all Americans by choosing Rick Warren to give the inaugural invocation.
As a result, Mr. Obama is pushing us to make "sure we are among those who are hurt the least."
Sad.
We need to laugh at the departing White House regime and feel there is a new national plan
coming with our new leadership.
Humor? without a doubt. Lionsgate produced "W" a serious bio about George Bush and it was
a box office flop.
Lionsgate has the screenplay "Farwell Gorgeous" which is rumored around movietown to be
a hilarious comedy about George Bush and will probably become a box office smash hit.
Lionsgate, please produce "Farewell Gorgeous" not just for the probable huge box office returns,
but most importantly for the laughs the planet can use about this departing icon.
CVignone
Did you watch the ball drop? If you did, you got the answer to your question. The ball (ugly) dropped against the backdrop of a billboard and the Toshiba name in giant letters. Our greed and commercialism have undermined our republic, made us feared and ridiculed around what is left of our polluted globe. Compared to the celebrations of other countries, ours is pathetic and embarrassing, a fitting icon for what we are.
I'm choosing to be optimistic regarding our current challenges. I believe that, generally speaking, people do what people have to do. My grandparents made it through the Great Depression because they HAD to - not because they had a significantly stronger character than I. This crisis offers great opportunity to actually change our ways for the better. Let's take that opportunity and run with it!
With the internet we are letting our voices be heard and we are finding ways to share our perspectives. We have seen the campaign of President-elect Obama engender support and enroll millions of people. That in turn has been transformed readily into what seems like effective grass roots campaigns on so many issues, from health care to education, which touch us all. We are becoming informed and to some degree connected in a way unimaginable to previous generations. The emerging generation has been emersed in this melieu and handle the process with amazing alacrity. They maintain a level of connection with face-book friends creating a social decoram that is unprecedented. As this communicative power is harnessed, I foresee a capability that the world will marvel at. We will see the predicted paradigm shift resulting from the new born internet age just as when printing press accelerated the breadth of knowledge and awareness in our culture.
V.Hugo. The hunchback of Notre Dame.
made me realize that you’re prescribing the symptom. Fair game.
So are these questions:
‘Will square footage, portfolio growth and other past measure of success be replaced by things more lasting and spiritual? Will we reach out to those who are hurt the most, or will we spend our time making sure we are among those who are hurt the least? Will a country of special interests sacrifice for the greater good, or will we see a domestic protectionism that hobbles real solutions?’
Reaching out to those who are hurt the most fortunately enough isn’t too hard to grasp and doesn’t require specific spiritual training. Some forms of protectionism may however be part of the unhobbled true solution: the race to the bottom in various industries is driven by our blind acceptance of self-destructive forms of capitalism in countries that would face deadly forms of growth if they continue to ignore their own social security and health care systems for the sake of maintaining market shares rooted in predatory pricing strategies when viewed in the long run.
Protectionism is a second best solution: worldwide instead of nationwide healthcare would be the best, naturally requiring extensive efforts of negotiation.
What are we waiting for? For the symptom to go away?