Breathe

it's the only way to survive...

I’m not sure there are words to adequately describe the stew of bubbling feelings that are making me and possibly you feel unsettled, slightly nauseated and unsure about, well everything in your life. If you watched the Celebrity Apprentice President at about 2am declare that the votes should stop being counted because he was winning and then ranted on like a 3rd world dictator about how he would claim victory and you still felt like “he’s my guy”, than in many regards, I no longer have a way of understanding who you are anymore…yeah, family too…it was that bad. And then I stop myself and try to get some separation from all of this and take a breath…and pause long enough to know that while I can believe that I know what’s right and wrong about all of this, I can only believe …because in reality really nobody knows.

Religious folks talk about “God’s plan” as if He was up there with a powerpoint presentation and that we’re on slide 2020 of this edition where really weird shit continues to happen but that in some way will bring His presence into clearer focus and when we get to the last few slides and everything will be beautiful again. If you haven't already guessed I’m not that type of “religious folk”. What I do believe is that there is a Presence in the worst of things, and that in the small details of everyday life if we pay attention, we can find a way to make something good happen, we can experience being part of a greater good, and experience something that transcends what we feel is possible on our own; what these same folks call “The Kingdom”. In my experience however you try to label or describe it, something good can come out of something truly terrible but only because we choose to see its possibility and doggedly pursue it.

So here we are about to get to the end of Act 1. In the days and weeks to come the only thing I know is that more weird shit is going to happen in Act 2…and then somehow we’re going to have to reach a conclusion in Act 3. Can we do it without doing extreme damage to one another? Can we find a way through all of this mess to something and someplace better than where we started all of this? Can we at the end of it, find a way to take a step towards healing all of the broken relationships that are now so raw and so portent of dark and dangerous outcomes? I believe we can, but we need to choose it. We need to find a way through all of this to common ground and the place where we can all feel more connected to one another. Crisis is usually the catalyst that delivers these opportunities…I pray that this crisis does not exact too great a toll before we realize its potential to deliver us from evil. Until then, keep breathing.