• Home
  • Biography
  • Services
  • Links & Resources
  • Blog
  • Contact
 

   THE ELEPHANT THAT CAME TO CHRISTMAS

12/31/2013

0 Comments

 
The winter solstice has passed and the shortest day of our year recedes into the winter of 2013, but the darkness remains. This is the darkness of an accumulation of great sorrows that the American Heritage Dictionary defines as "mental suffering caused by loss, disappointment or misfortune... ." 

This is the sorrow of despairing expectations that life could be hopeful for the great, great majority of people for whom the quality of life continues to decline.

It is the sorrow of a shrinking middle class who are prompted by the advertisers to assume the posture of gaiety that portrays the lifestyles of the rich and famous, one percent of our population who own more than fifty percent of the world's wealth. It is the sorrow of the masses of people trapped in the slums of poverty, illiteracy, disease, hunger, hopelessness, meaninglessness; among some of these, the only alternative for a way out appears increasingly to be the route of violence. 

It is the sorrow of educated, professional, conscientious persons who have played by the rules but now find themselves side-tracked in a dystopia, a world of change that bewilders, rejects, closes doors, and opens few portals where one can return to the dream of a sustainable income with benefits that might make possible a respectable life for oneself and one's family. 

It is the sorrow spawned by a technology that exposes the most private domains of the human spirit and quantifies our thoughts, feelings, sensations, intentions, fantasies, prayers, creations, and dreams. 

And it is the sorrow of many who recognize the finitude of our resources within the delicate biosphere of our marvelous planet earth whose sun itself is finite and will one day exhaust itself.

These descriptions of our great sorrows are not meant to deny the many positive accomplishments and efforts to improve our quality of life. Nor is this litany of the sorrows meant to contribute to the very darkness itself by adding what could be described as one more voice of doom.

At least, I do not see the present darkness as a portent of doom. However, I do believe that we must find ways to be honest about the realities of our time and place. We are confined within a paralysis that prevents truth-telling. We are trapped within an ideological capitalism that prevents the empowering reciprocity of free markets, government, individuals and institutions within a responsibly participatory democracy; we are locked within fundamentalist religions that imprison minds and breed contempt for the truly religious experience of wonder and awe; and we are land-locked within political systems that simply serve themselves rather than the people and the planet, systems that monitor approval ratings and seek not the common good but re-election for more of the same. 

We can talk about these matters without anger or blame or mistrust. But first we must admit our pain and deep sorrow.  All anger is secondary. There is so much anger in the world! And, hence, so much darkness, because anger turned inward becomes personal depression and collective darkness. But the anger always -- always -- begins with pain.

For example, we take our granddaughter to a Christmas carnival to ride the merry-go-round, enjoy the would-be-festive lights, drink hot cider, and be with the hundreds of other kids who have come for the event. But we can only go through the motions. All of us are going through the motions. There is no real joy at all. It is a marketing extravaganza with bored, exhausted employees and bored, exhausted parents, grandparents, uncles, aunts, and kids who try to rise for the occasion, game-up and enjoy themselves. Squeezed together and herded like sheep through the stalls, we feel the pain of disappointment and the discomfort of trying to pretend that we are happy. The depression (anger) is palpable.

We all are going through the motions, perhaps as valiantly as we can. We are trying to be light and to find light filtering through the cynicism, despair, anger and great sorrow that grip our society. This is the darkness beneath the facade of gaiety that we try to produce in response to the jingoisms that have drowned out the jingle bells of a simpler time and life when the pain was just as real, but it was not disguised as happiness and sold as the next best thing that we all must have.

So -- how can we not despair? Why are these particular sorrows not portents of doom? For this reason: something remains. When the artificial lights go out, when the whirling cacophonies of the machines go quiet, and when the shrill voices of the vacuous manipulators go silent, we still have each other. When the planes land and we meet loved ones waiting just beyond the security point; when our cars finally arrive after hours of a long drive and we see family eagerly waiting at the doors with expectant faces; when we get a message or hear the voice of a cherished old friend we have not talked with maybe for years -- in those moments, no darkness can dispel the light that fills our souls.

Across the miles and the years, in the countless meetings and reunions and reconnections with loved ones, a great joy sounds through the darkness of our sorrow. For the moment that is enough -- more than enough to make possible new beginnings and a hope for tomorrow.




0 Comments

    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    March 2011

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

  • Email: randallmishoe@mac.com
  • Tel: 704-344-1100
 
Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.