So much of our time and energy, whether we are aware of it or not, goes into finding our footing, so to speak, or trying to find balance – mostly emotional or spiritual balance, though sometimes (especially as we age) our physical balance as well. The world we live in is so good at challenging our sense of balance – our sense of stability and even of trustworthiness. Too often we react as if the world is doing this to us personally – trying to make our own lives difficult. Usually however, Life, and the world, are simply doing what they do – being immensely complex arrangements between life and death, love and hate, beginnings and endings.
Humans have many ways of dealing with these realities! (That’s an understatement.) Religious beliefs and practices are often involved, as are power dynamics and ways of dealing with fear, and lots of other things. Not that most of us name these dynamics in ourselves – especially our ways of dealing with fear.
At the heart of spiritual searching, and sometimes of spiritual practice, is the need to respond to the presence of fear. For myself in this practice, sometimes I think I am learning and growing, and sometimes I’m pretty sure I’m mostly fooling myself. Because of this I have a sense that working together to address fears is very helpful. The political landscape in our country is part of the way the world is going, and it certainly adds to our challenges of trying to find and maintain balance in the presence of fear. For the next few weeks, I’m looking forward to talking about these challenges with all of you, as we make our way toward an election season which will need the best we have to give.
See you Sunday — Jill (PS: Ask me about my theory that tendencies toward authoritarianism around the world are closely related to un-articulated fears about climate change.)