How to Navigate This Crisis
The very real threat to democracy in the US has brought up a wide range of emotions in me – disbelief, anxiety, anger and sadness, along with a determination to resist and do what I can, even though I feel powerless and quite overwhelmed at times. Since the election of Trump, I have found helpful wisdom in a number of sources, and I have found hope in a sense that there is a growing understanding that human beings, and indeed all of nature, are interconnected and mutually dependent, which runs counter to the nationalism and isolationism that we are witnessing in the current administration and elsewhere in the world. There is also an increasing understanding that people want and need to be in community.
For example, on February 19, PBS NewsHour’s Judy Woodruff interviewed political sociologist and retired Harvard Professor Robert Putnam about the current polarization in the US, asking what could unify the nation? Pointing to the isolation of people coming to big cities from rural villages in the US and Europe, plus the huge wealth disparities, distrust and polarization that characterized the early years of the 20th century, the author of best-selling Bowling Alone said that the era had many similarities to today. When asked what changed things, he replied that he had thought that changes in the economy would be the determinant, but it turned out to be culture change. Citing the terrible conditions in which many labored and lived, he said that individuals felt that the situations were evil and acted. In time they created new organizations, such as the NAACP, Boy Scouts and Rotary, which brought people into the community, and they introduced reforms, such as the federal income tax, which helped to reduce income inequality. People had concluded that “We have an obligation to people at least as important as to ourselves.” He sees that beginning to happen now.
AN OBLIGATION BEYOND OURSELVES
One example of this is a project journalist and author David Brooks founded called Weave. This “Social Fabric Project” at the Aspen Institute seeks to address “the crisis of broken social trust that has left Americans divided along many lines, isolated and unable to address our common needs. …It connects, supports and invests in local leaders stepping up to weave a new, inclusive social fabric where they live.” In a similar vein, Dr. Barbara Holmes, spiritual teacher, activist, writer and scholar, who died last October, wrote in her book, Race and the Cosmos, “…in times of crisis the wise build bridges, while the foolish build barriers. We must find a way to look after one another as if we were one single tribe.”
Likewise, Diana Butler Bass, historian of Christianity and advocate for progressive Christianity, wrote in her book Grounded: “A genuine revolution of values means in the final analysis that our loyalties become ecumenical rather than sectional. Every nation must now develop an overriding loyalty to mankind (humankind) as a whole to preserve the best in our individual societies. …This calls for a worldwide fellowship that lifts neighborly concern beyond one’s tribe, race, class and nation … a call for an all-embracing and unconditional love for all… When I speak of love, I am speaking of the force which all the great religions have seen as the supreme unifying principle of life.” We certainly aren’t there today, but I believe that more and more people recognize the need.
LISTENING TO THE STORIES OF OTHERS
Franciscan monk and activist, Richard Rohr, founder of the Center for Contemplation and Action, speaks of four nested eggs. The first is my personal story and the second, the story of my group – the community in which I grew up and was acculturated. Many stay at this level, but for the future of the world, it is important that an increasing number empathetically listen to and hear “other stories” from people outside of our group – from other religions, races, ethnicities, political persuasions and countries. This helps us “to stand in solidarity with other stories.” And finally, Rohr speaks of “THE story”, which encompasses the values and “patterns that are always true.” He cites the fact that “forgiveness always heals.” One might also speak of the fact that truth-telling and integrity universally breed trust and that care for those in need is a response recognized as desirable and good. I have certainly benefited and grown from hearing “other stories” and aspire to understand and live in the context of “THE story.”
Lastly, Karena White Hawk Sternberg, a Hopi elder, shared the wisdom of Hopi Chief White Eagle: “This moment that mankind is experiencing now can be seen as either a door or a hole. The decision to fall into the hole or go through the door is yours. If you absorb information 24 hours a day, with negative energy, constantly nervous and pessimistic, you will fall into this hole.” This is something I have come close to doing myself. On the other hand, he says that this time can be a moment for self-reflection, thinking about “life and death”, self-care and care for others. If you take this opportunity “you are walking through the portal.” Like Rohr, he urges us to “take the perspective of an eagle that sees everything from above with a broader perspective and says that there is a social issue in this crisis but also a spiritual issue. They both go hand in hand. Without the social dimension we fall into bigotry… Without the spiritual dimension, we perish in pessimism and meaninglessness.” He encourages us to “learn the resistance from the example of the Indian and African people. We are still being threatened, but we never stopped singing, dancing, building bonfires and having joy.” He concludes, encouraging us to “seek solace in the storm, keep calm, pray daily, make it a habit to meet the Holy everywhere, everyday” and to “show resistance through art, joy, trust and love.”
RESISTANCE, YES, BUT ALSO JOY AND CARE FOR NEIGHBORS
The wisdom of these elders are words I have needed to hear. Self-care, including enjoyment of good books, nature, music and friends are more important than ever. I was glad to attend a very “joyful” demonstration of resistance to many actions of the new administration on President’s Day, February 16, with around 500 others in our town of Charlottesville, Virginia. There was joy in seeing many others equally engaged and there was quite a lot of humor in the wide variety of homemade posters made.
There was even singing! Cars honked in approval as they drove by. My husband and I also had the opportunity to put our arms around an African American neighbor we ran into who suddenly and unexpectedly burst into tears, revealing to us the pain she felt with all that was going on. It was good to take on our hearts “her story,” along with that of so many Black and Native Americans, who have had to resist injustice for hundreds of years now. We are also feeling the pain of the Palestinian residents of Gaza whom our President would dispossess, of the Ukrainians whom he seems ready to betray, and of so many people who have lost or fear losing their jobs. I keep reminding myself that the best answer to anxiety is action, and I have written or phoned elected representatives, financially supported some actions, and am trying to care for an Afghan refugee family.
I draw on the wisdom of others, such as those I’ve cited, and I believe today, just as I did 40 plus years ago when it first occurred to me that, for the most part, “What is in the interest of the world IS in the interest of the US.” This isn’t just about being caring or generous, though this is important. It makes good sense. Poverty, famine and climate change lead to conflict and migration. Global cooperation is needed to address these issues, as it is with health. Disease spreads and does not stop at the borders of countries. Our assistance also helps support farmers and other Americans who provide the food and services.
So I will continue to try to practice self-care, to resist as I am able and, in the words of Teresa of Avila, to “swim across the sea of life, breasting its rough waves joyfully.”
