So, how do I see the world? The simple answer - hurting, broken. The more complex answer - is not so simple. I know I have tracked and commented about difficulties I see in people and situations around me for a long time. Maybe as long as I have begun to notice things. However, it doesn't seem like things are getting 'better' in any way. It's almost as if ... the more we learn, the more we break. We make more of a mess of things, we hurt more, we divide more, we destroy more, we break more.
Now, if I was an Evangelical Christian, I'd get on a bandwagon about the Second Coming. I remember when I was deep into this thought when I was in high school, and a friend (who was also into it) told me that she thought Christ would come again in the early 2000s. Well, even though many are blowing that trumpet now, certain that any moment the Saved and True Believers (which includes them) will be swept into the skies, I no longer believe this to be so. I truly believe that we will not know the hour or the day, or even if this is going to happen. I've realized dispensational theology is not my groove. I truly believe things have been as bad or more in the past, and it is all out of my control. If it happens, it happens; however, that is not where I am putting my faith right now. I do not believe in a 'Get Out Of Jail Free Card' that I will be able to use in the near future. So ... I have to move forward, with purpose and intention.
At the time of this writing, there are wars throughout the globe - war between Russia & Ukraine, war between Israel & Hammas (leaders of Palestine), rumours of war between China & Taiwan, war in Myanmar, in Sudan, in Darfur. There is rampant division and hatred throughout the USA and Europe over ideology (gender, 'race', and anti-Semitism), and Canada is a mess. I almost guess that it's not long before civil war will break out somewhere. And I haven't even touched the impact of AI. But, the thing is - when has this globe ever been free of war? It has been, and I suspect it always will be. We just know a lot more about them now than we did before the internet.
So, I see a world that is so very lost and broken. The hatred is a mask for pain. We think that we are going to solve problems by removing the problem or imposing our beliefs on others, and it ends up - one says the other is wrong, the other says the one is wrong ... two wrongs don't make anyone right, and all we end up doing is pointing fingers at each other and no one taking responsibility to find common ground.
Maybe at its essence, we have lost our humanity. We have lost what makes us people. We truly, as humanity, have turned from God in almost every way possible. Even those who spout the Bible are focused on how right they are. Humility and compassion are rare to find; everyone wants to cancel someone. And our leaders ... they are the worst. And I see almost no hope in sight. Not to mention, mark my words - if one certain person takes leadership, it might be the switch to flip for that civil war I mentioned above.
How do I see the world? Its soul is shattered. It's broken. It's in so much pain that it is confused beyond understanding. I also see children who are being manipulated into disaster and, if people thought we have too much trauma and depression among children and youth today, they have no idea what's coming down the road. It will be a thousand-fold. I see adults running after the wrong thing, almost like those addictions that try to placate their trauma with drugs. We have so many 'drugs' in our world today; I said to a friend about a week ago that every person has psychological issues and needs healing. No exception. The thing is - the blind cannot lead the blind. We are all on a horrific path. And the elderly? They will slip between the cracks and, at the very least, they won't be here to see where this leads. This world has no use for them, they no longer serve a purpose. And what happens when you have a demographic that becomes a burden to society?
And this doesn't even touch the environment around us - nature and the rapidly declining birthrate and disasters. I know the environment has gone through catastrophic shifts in the past. I'm not saying this is 'normal' but I also believe it's not the first time. At the same time, it is the time when we are going to witness this catastrophic shift; maybe not in a year or five, but I'm sure in 50, this world will be a very different one than what we are living in today. Recorded history has never lived through a shift like this, so it's no surprise that there is panic now.
What can I offer? Maybe a tether, a connector. I can help people find their way back to themselves. The self they were created to be. Along the lines of Maslow's hierarchy of Needs. However, I would change one thing - the ultimate pinnacle would not stop with self-actualization. Instead, I believe there is something in his information source that was omitted, which we see the results of now ... we need to include community. That is where healing is done, that is where you find health. No man is an island. I dream of a community that can provide this, in complete fullness and encompassing life. (If you want to know more of what I'm referring to, check into the connection between Abraham Maslow and his connection to the Blackfeet.)
Many decades ago, I wrote what I thought my Personal Mission Statement was. I still think it is still a guide for me: "To encourage and inspire the potential in everyone I meet, so that they may become a better person, a little further along on their own journey to self-actualization, and a little closer to achieving their purpose in life." Maybe, at its heart, this is my Mission Statement still ... with a little work! I wonder what that would look like when I have completed this journey?
(PS - for the sake of the experiment I began this with, I have made the posting to be on Friday, August 18th. However, it was actually written on Sunday, November 26th. I will complete the experiment with the dates intended, but I will note the actual date they were written.)
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