recent events

This all started with a dream.

I had a dream, a dream that was so unsettling, I needed to move it from my head to the page to clear it from my thoughts.

The dream isn’t important, really. So many shocking events have been in the news, I believe my subconscious created a disturbing dream to try to resolve the conflict in my mind and in my heart. The most trivial event was unconscionable behavior on what used to be a show celebrating cinematic achievement. I was so shocked by what I saw, I couldn’t even watch the show after seeing the clip on the news. Since the dream, I’ve been replaying certain events, hearing certain words over and over, seeing an image again and again, of a shocking slap and verbal assault, a display that has marred the lives of so many. Then seeing reports and images of the war in Ukraine – of evil acts of aggression, of war crimes, of the murders of innocents – all this after years of increasing conflict between races, political parties, neighbors, friends and families. I began to feel the weight of so much sorrow and pain and devastation.

I’ve pondered what to write for weeks. What has occurred to me is this: those who have power, fortune, beauty, physical/athletic skill, those who have built a persona the public adores, respects and admires: these people believe they are immune to the moral and ethical standards decent, thinking, spiritual folk live by each day. They feel that, at any time, in any situation, in any place, they are free to say or do whatever they feel suits their purpose or satisfies their needs, immediately and with impunity. We have allowed this to happen and to continue.

Actors and clergy have been revealed as pedophiles; comedians as rapists; physicians as purveyors of addictive drugs; those elected to public office as servants of the people as thoroughly corrupt, interested in power and accumulation at any cost; athletes as wife beaters and murderers; the exceptionally wealthy, greedy for still more; the beautiful as vapid, shallow and addicted to their own image; and all completely unaware and unconcerned with the pain and devastation they have inflicted on their families, their countries, their admirers and those in less privileged circumstances.

Lately, though, it seems to be that there may be a paradigm shift simmering. As the saying goes, we’re mad as hell and we’re not going to take it anymore. We are sickened and appalled by what we are witnessing and we know, in our bones, that we can no longer watch, impassively, while these events continue to occur. We must no longer reward them with our continued attention.

We are finding that to be successful in these fields, it seems a requirement to have an incredible ego and a willingness to sacrifice anything and anybody to achieve that success. We are finding that, after years of adulation, these people have begun to believe in the god-like status we have given them rather then realizing, with all humility, that God is responsible for any talent they have and their public has given them the success they have achieved. They have become perpetually drunk on celebrity and power and slaves to the façade they have built, no longer able to recognize themselves as mortal. They create worlds of pain for others without thought or care.

Politicians, athletes, actors, artists, doctors, lawyers, broadcasters, clergy – all those who we look to for information, for entertainment, for guidance and leadership, for a model of behavior – should be held to the highest standard because they have chosen a public life. We expect excellence in character from these folks and associate it with success. To our great shock, we are finding this to be the furthest thing from actuality.

Our complacency, our willingness to do nothing but watch, our belief in everything we hear or read without question or doubt, our choice of what is easy over what is right….these actions give those who would blind us with their lies the license to do just that. We give them their power and therefore we must withhold that power from them and, instead, support and sustain what is good and right and decent.

We must begin to elevate those people, who each and every day of their lives, face struggles and challenges of living in the real world of jobs, long commutes, inflation, financial stress, struggles with mental/physical health, and the unrelenting pressures of keeping a home, raising children, paying bills, maintaining relationships. Who, each day, despite all of the challenges they face, love one another, find joy in family, celebrate friends, comfort and pray for each other, work for the good of their community and who choose kindness and tolerance and peace over thuggery, violence, cruelty and condescension.

We must shun all those, in any role, who live their lives with aggression, greed, hatred, bigotry, predation and self-indulgence and we must refuse to give them the acknowledgement they so desperately need, condoning their actions and validating their existence. In all circumstances locally, in our daily lives, we must denounce this behavior. The more we refuse to accept and admire this behavior at a local level, the more everyone, collectively, will refuse to accept this type of behavior globally from those who would trample on human lives , human dignity, on those who wish to live in free (relatively speaking) democratic societies. Then, one can only hope, those who would act so atrociously will be wiped from political memory and shown the figurative door.

Then and only then, I believe, we will be able truly to start living and acting as if love, kindness and peace really are the things we cherish and hope for, for ourselves, our children, our communities and the world.