Grappling with Grief while Holding on to Hope.
Facing the impermanence of all things with a
loving Reverence for Life.
Page 173 - The overture to hope is a problem. Think about it. We don't ever turn to hope unless we are "hoping" for something better. Now is not good enough, so we long for something better. Sue Ozarko in her book Beyond Hope refers to this as "hopium," and Mark Manson in his book Everything is F*ucked rails on the uselessness of hope, favoring action instead. I did attend that one-day seminar and workshop with Paul Hawken last year (he autographed his big book, Drawdown, for me with a "Happy Birthday, Andy!" because it was. He has a detailed list of the 100 most effective actions we can take. So all three would probably say that hoping for things to be different is worse than a waste of time. But, action enlivens possibilities and raises probabilities. So act!
Page 174 - Hope comes from confidence in the evolutionary process itself. From nothing explodes what Ken Wilber calls "the BIG bloom." Take a look. You can find this image in the Wikipedia article on the Big Bang.
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Can you see where we are today? Way out there on the right, where matter is dispersing farther and wider as time moves along in ways that are unfathomable. There are a number of books on the evolutionary process noted in under the REVIEWS AND RESOURCES tap at the top of this website. One that would appeal most to you is likely Michael Dowd's book Thank God for Evolution. It is wonderful.
And, of course, I would recommend Ken Wilber's book, A Brief History of Everything. |
Of course, I write, "Life conditions have evolved over the course of history, and life conditionswill continue to evolve." This is the truth. What I have been struggling with during the summer of 2020, with my brother's dementia sucking him down, Covid, the threat to democracy, imminent economic collapse, and the unbelievably neglected Global Environmental Emergency we face... is where will evolution take us next? I'm inviting you to struggle with me, to engage me, to challenge me. Please.
Page 175 - We are. My reference to "higher quality solutions" comes from the work of Robert Pirsig in his two books Zen and the Art of Motorcylce Maintenance and Lila. ZAAMM is subtitled as an inquiry into ethics, and Lila is as an inquiry into morality. Pirsig proposes that the two basic division of reality are between Dynamic Quality and static quality. From his works I take it that evolution is DQ (as I refer to it) in pursuit of the highest quality solutions. Along the way, anything that has demonstrated quality is kept and stored as static quality. I read and re-read Persig's books, both of which are courses in ethics and morality. Today we are after high quality actions that will persuade Mother Earth to change her mind. A friend sent me a podcast this morning, "Climate Change is Solvable," and I'll be listening to it before the day is out. You should know that as a behavioral scientist, and as someone that has looked at my book LOVING MOTHER EARTH, all the strategies and tactics generated by Dynamic Quality will be irrelevant in the end if we don't evolve enough of us into Enlightened Lovers. We need big hearts and small egos if we are to do what is necessary to save us from us.
"We are among the becomers..." Back in the 70's, a very popular Christian writer was Keith Miller. I attended a big seminar with Miller and many others while I was pastoring a church in Southern California. Miller had a book in 1973 (that seminar was probably a book tour) with a title that appealed to me, and stuck: The Becomers. I don't remember the content of the book and it is long out of print, but I do want to embrace that we are becomers.
And get this - In February 2020, I read The Future is Faster Than You Think: Life conditions have evolved over the course of history, and life conditions will continue to evolve. The authors, Peter Diamandis and Steven Kotler, speak clearly about the decade ahead and how various technologies that have emerged will be integrated into breakthrough agents of change. I was energized to learn about what could be... and within a month of reading the book, Covid 19 hit. As our collective attention went to our shared pandemic, our shared Global Environmental Emergency seems to have taken a back seat. Not off the bus entirely, but clearly a back seat issue. Nonetheless, technological advances continue.
"We are among the becomers..." Back in the 70's, a very popular Christian writer was Keith Miller. I attended a big seminar with Miller and many others while I was pastoring a church in Southern California. Miller had a book in 1973 (that seminar was probably a book tour) with a title that appealed to me, and stuck: The Becomers. I don't remember the content of the book and it is long out of print, but I do want to embrace that we are becomers.
And get this - In February 2020, I read The Future is Faster Than You Think: Life conditions have evolved over the course of history, and life conditions will continue to evolve. The authors, Peter Diamandis and Steven Kotler, speak clearly about the decade ahead and how various technologies that have emerged will be integrated into breakthrough agents of change. I was energized to learn about what could be... and within a month of reading the book, Covid 19 hit. As our collective attention went to our shared pandemic, our shared Global Environmental Emergency seems to have taken a back seat. Not off the bus entirely, but clearly a back seat issue. Nonetheless, technological advances continue.
The ocean dream. What happens at, and after death? Everyone ponders that on and off. Various religions and faith communities have various answers. This dream gave me my answer, and I'm now trying to live into the reality that I have always been made of a sea of unlimited Love. What are your thoughts about death? My Christian tradition speaks of death and resurrection as a normal part of life, but is some rather unique ways. Joseph Campbell addresses the mythology that has emerged of the years as the "Hero's Journey" in his books, The Hero With a Thousand Faces and The Power of Myth (written with Bill Moyers).
Page 176 - A big conviction of mine is right here. "However, no matter how this unfolds, Enlightened Love itself will persist with us, or without us. Enlightened Love is the ocean - the animating force within creation itself." Yes, I want the many parts and pieces of my life to persist through time and space, but at my age, faced with the impermanence of all things, the reality is here. So much will change as our planet becomes ever more unsustainable for life. Yet, the immaterial essence of love will persist. Mother Earth will live on. I don't know, in detail, what that means, but I believe She will live on.
Page 177 - Grieving. Admittedly, I am in a season of grief. There is a little paperback book that has been of great value to me and over 3 million others. How to Survive the Loss of a Love, by Bloomfield, Colgrove and McWiliams. I keep copies on a bookshelf in my office, copies which I give to fellow travelers who are on the way. From page 10 of that book: Recovering from a loss takes place in three distinct - yet overlapping - stages. They are: - shock/denial/numbness, - fear/anger/depression, - understanding/acceptance/moving on. Each stage of recovery is: necessary, natural, and a part of the healing process.
Another point. How we grieve will depend upon our level of consciousness. If you have the consciousness of a Child, you will grieve differently than if your consciousness is that of a Rebel, or an Adult, or an Outlaw, or a Lover... or an Enlightened Lover.
Another point. How we grieve will depend upon our level of consciousness. If you have the consciousness of a Child, you will grieve differently than if your consciousness is that of a Rebel, or an Adult, or an Outlaw, or a Lover... or an Enlightened Lover.
Page 178 - The end of my book. I'm trying to make my closing point here. Loving Mother Earth is our shared mission. Today. Tomorrow. Forever. Grow as an environmentalist. Grow spiritually. One reinforces the other and both are paths toward LOVING MOTHER EARTH.