Friday, September 28, 2018

Deep Sadness


Despair

Temptation is not [Satan's] strongest weapon. Despair is.”
Dennis Garvin (Case Files of an Angel)

I wanted to write something up-beat today after watching the Senate hearings yesterday. I know everyone feels the need of a lift, as do I. Two things I want to say about that; first, I feel incredibly sad that our system of governance has come to this. It feels as though we are hopelessly divided and broken. When two respected people are reduced to groveling in tears before the whole world, we have lost our way in a dark, dark forest. The second thing is, we can not give up. If you're like me, you just want to pull a blanket over your head and shut out the noise. But we don't have that luxury. It's important for each and every American to open their eyes and look at where we've come—and for once, not blame each other, but understand that this tragic picture is of our own making.

Despair is a passage, not a destination. But, from time to time, we seem to need to arrive at despondency before we can turn around and climb our way out. I have experienced this as an individual, in love relationships, and now, in community. This is a sad time, and if we weren't sad, that would be even more evidence of pathology. So we should take a little while to enter and experience this passage, this sadness. But then we must emerge, and move beyond it.

The blame game is something that adolescents do. It's a juvenile defense mechanism to never say, “Yes, I did that, and I'm sorry. What can I do to make it right?” To always have a scapegoat is the hallmark of immaturity. And we, as a nation, are in our adolescence. Maturity will come when we are willing to take responsibility for our part of the problem, and not before. This is true in all relationships, whether personal or communal.

I hope and pray that we will grow up before we destroy something truly beautiful. But sitting back blaming someone else will not get us there. We all love this country. Now, let's have a go at loving one another.

                                                              In the Spirit,
                                                                 Jane

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