Category Archives: Covid 19

Another Take on, “That Giant Sucking Sound”

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“That giant sucking sound” is often less intense than it is with Trumpism. That “sound” is just the noise that happens when an ego, individually or collectively, is ripe for a needed change. God is up to his mischief, trying to nudge us into changing our perspective about the whole of life, including ourselves. Sometimes Her nudging is not adequate and She will hit us up the side of the head with a bat such as ..this twin-headed pandemic, Trumpism and Covid-19.

As explained yesterday, that “sucking sound” is merely the void/Void trying to get us to recognize and respect that dimension of life which is beyond the pale of reason. That heart of us lies beyond the representational world that we take for granted, offering us darkness and light simultaneously. This was what Goethe recognized when he told us, “The heart has its beastly little treasures.” To word this less philosophically, this Divine intervention seeks to make us aware of the unconscious and give us some appreciation for its role in life. ‘Tis so much easier to deny this, cling to our illusions, and dismiss any challenge with a stock response such as, “He was just kidding” or “he was just joking,” or even a non sequitur like, “It was Obama’s fault!” Seriously, our unconscious has to “nudge” us lest She is forced to, “get Medieval on our ass.” For in that depth of our Being lies a potential which cannot emerge without “birth pangs.”

Over-emphasis of Law Reveals the Absence There Of

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The Trump/Covid 19 virus continues to beset us!  I am afraid, as you probably are, but I do have a “Center” that does indeed hold…apparently!

I hate to brag, but from even before this twin-faced pandemic hit us, I recognized that Trump and the GOP’s need to hide was very significant, and very revealing.  “Build that wall” was about more than the boundary between our country and Mexico; it was a disclosure that Trump has always been desperate to “build walls” between himself and the world, between his conscious mind and the monstrous, demonic madness that rages in his heart.  (NOTE—I confess that I must really want to brag…but am still too “humble” to embrace this and all other human qualities!!)

This “virus” is the expression of a denial system that has lain not-so-dormant in the American soul for decades ago, and egregiously so in the Republican Party.  But, as Carl Jung told us, “What resists” persists and the Bible told us in its heavy-handed ancient manner, “The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked; who can know it.”My adulthood spent largely in the mental health profession reveals this tumult in my own soul.  Since early childhood, I too have “built walls” and comforted myself in the self-referential and linear prison that denies “reality.”  But as Jung noted, “it” is now coming out, paralleling this historical moment we are living through.  But spiritually/emotionally I appear to harbor less “darkness” compared with that which cowers in the bowels of Trumpism.  (Hmm!  “darkness” and “bowels.”  Do toy with that  Metaphor in your heart;  toy with that choice of words!!!)

“Walls,” i.e. boundaries, are an essential dimension of human experience…and technically of the whole Cosmos that embraces us.  But over-emphasis of “walls” reveals a corresponding absence of them in the depths of one’s heart.  Trump is the poster boy for this ancient human malady.  His crawl out from under the socio-cultural/political rock of our nation reveals an opportunity for us, individually and collectively, to consort for a moment with this primordial darkness.

(CONCLUDING AFTERTHOUGHT–If you are subscribed to this blog, please indulge me for a while as I post more frequently.  My “belly is full of words” and they want to spew, just as they did in the belly of that ancient bloke in the book of Job who merited but a cameo in that narrative. This is the thing about blogging that I appreciate; it permits the self-indulgence that my timidity prevents.  Those who know me personally should be so grateful!!!)

 

The Courage to Hope When Hopelessness Seems Easier

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Again, the “liar” accusation from the Trumpian-inspired Republican base is sounding forth, especially in Fox News which is “the” Voice of the GOP.  I cannot help but chuckle at them for their brazen dishonesty and lack of self-reflection; but this moment is too grievous for any chuckling.; but yet I chuckle.  I guess I’m having trouble with the wisdom of, “There go I but by the grace of God.” This GOP dishonesty was optically demonstrated two days ago when Trump held a White House meeting with 20 Congressmen and other executives to address this crisis, all of them defiantly not wearing masks.  They cannot, and will not, wear a mask in deference to their chieftain who has taken a brazen stance on mask-wearing by his refusal to wear one.  Witness the sycophantic display of Vice-President Pence sans mask last week in a meeting in Iowa with food-processing executives. Five of these men arrived wearing a mask but were asked to remove them…and lamely did so.

Trump is the president of one political entity…himself…and his political base has fallen supine to “its” dark power.  He refuses to wear a mask and gloves, though he is probably safe given the availability of medical intervention available to him that is not available to the rest of us.  But, a person with some degree of spiritual maturity would recognize and appreciate the optics of being a leader who will not demonstrate proper protocol for our nation in this crisis. The full gamut of “social distancing” is now necessary, for our own sake and that of others. Following this protocol is a necessary reminder to others that I am “on board,” that I recognize the gravity of this historical moment and that “appearance” makes a statement. Texas Republican Congressman, Louie Gohmert offered again a dollop of his unwise “wisdom”, explaining why the group of Republicans and other executives meeting with Trump recently did not wear a mask:

I do want to advise our media friends before they write stories about how we didn’t wear masks and we didn’t possibly socially distance adequately, that you saw to it that we had tests, and that nobody in here had the coronavirus unless it’s somebody in the media. So the only reason we would wear masks is if we were trying to protect ourselves from you in the media. And we’re not scared of you. So that’s why we can be here like this.

The issue in this falderal that I again have put on the table is important; BUT, it is not what is “really” going on.  Only “beneath the surface” can we fathom the “tale being told by an idiot” that often has us in its grasp.  That Shakespearean wisdom applies to the ever-underway human toil found in day-to-day life.  Always we stand in the need of prayer, even in the form of ritualized prayer that can often be banal; “prayer” in human history is an institution.  But one dimension of prayer is best described as “prayerfulness” in which we don’t necessarily put it into words directed to a “god” out there.  This “prayerfulness” is an attitude in which we recognize the dignity of life underway through us…and even “them” who seem to be so gravely lacking it. The most meaningful prayer I can offer is found in the humdrum of day to day life.  I will shortly crank it into gear, getting up from my bed to pee, start the coffee pot, and feed by beloved little four-legged son, Petey.  Yes, even “peeing” is important here, recognizing that our body and its needs are present and even deserve respect. When the sun is up and beginning its daily chore of warming up the morning, I will venture outside to give attention to my gardening efforts.  I will take delight in the young seedlings taking  root and the dissatisfaction when they are not.  I will pull some weeds, fertilize some plants and trees, feel the sun’s warmth and the gentle breeze flowing through the morning air.  I will at times paw through the soil in the garden bed to comfort some of the new plants that are taking root. I will note the beauty of Taos Mountain from my backyard, still snow-capped and majestic.  I will give respect to the wisdom of the New Mexican high-desert lore, that this mountain is holy, that it draws some people here to find roots they could not find elsewhere.  Relevant to local lore is the belief that this Mountain welcomes some people who are captivated by its majesty and decide to stay.  Some do not find it and the culture it has granted to be hospitable and will move on, “driving their ducks to another market” as my mother used to say. This local lore explains that the Mountain has rejected them and will “spit them out” and they will return home.

At this point in my morning musing, I have come a “fur piece” from where I started with the socio-political, spiritual ugliness that besets us.  Here I am closing with a “prayerful attitude” towards the beauty and Grace that is present in this world.  I dare to “hope” once again. This “hoping” effort often does seem so paltry, but it is a “choice” that we need to brazenly exercise.
NOTEs: “Fur piece” is Arkansas red-neck parlance, meaning “a ‘far’ piece.”  Gawd do I love my roots! And another note re “prayerfulness” vs. prayer by a 20th century Catholic voice,  “Jesus said, ‘go into all the world and preach the gospel. If necessary, use words.”

Baseball!!!

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I’m currently watching the 7th game of the 1952 World Series between the New York Yankees and Brooklyn Dodgers.  I was seven years old when this game was played and would not “discover” baseball until a decade later when Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris were caught up in a home run chase…without the aid of any pharmacology!  Mantle was a 20 year old rookie in 1952 and I was delighted to watch him hit a home run.  But now there is no “live” baseball.

 But that was then, this is now!  Sure the wonderful game has changed drastically as has the whole of life.  The were no over-paid players in 1952, no  tyrannical and arrogant team-owners, and no collective bargaining strife that occurs from time to time.  But there is still that magical “crack of the bat,’ the pop ot cow-hide smacking the gloves, the smell of pop-corn and the cry from the venders in the stands crying out, “Get your pop corn, get your peanuts,” and the thrill of “my team” winning the “ole ballgame.”

But I reiterate, “That was then, this is now.”  Life has changed dramatically and fundamentally.  Today Covid 19 has shaken us to our core, our welfare is deeply related to the whims and fancies of the stock market, microwave ovens are a common place, rotary dial phones have been buried in the dustbin of history, and we have an American President who publicly needed to reassure about the size of his penis.  It is so tempting to despair, particularly with the virus but also the moral and spiritual bankruptcy of our political leaders.  I’m’ not for sure  why I still take delight in life, still having nagging memories of “the thousand natural shocks that flesh is heir to.”  My childhood insecurity, hyper self-consciousness, and vulnerability still whisper in my ears daily and persistently.  I guess wisdom does comes with age, allowing me to recognize my continued “denial system” about reality, no longer allowing this “denial system” to offer the solace of certainty with its accompanying arrogance.

Today, I am just here…as in “here.”  It is only this “here-ness,” this present moment which you and I share even as you read this, is the only moment.  “Past” and “future” do exists as a necessary contrivance, but it is only the present moment that we have, described as Eckhart Tolle as, “The Power of Now.”

Thoughts About our Endemic Obtuseness

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The “deep state” is often brought to the table in this pandemic by the Conservative voice. Technically, “it” is present also with our Progressive voice; for there is always unacknowledged intentionality in each of us, in all groups and individuals, as none of us know objectively what we are doing, saying, or thinking. But this “dilemma” proffers us an immediate ruse, individually and collectively–simply choosing to disregard the presence of subterranean depths in our heart. W. H. Auden had this problem in mind with the poetic quip, “We are lived by powers we pretend to understand.” Satchel Paige, the brilliant, talented, and eccentric pitcher from baseball’s “Negro Leagues” in the mid-20th century often advised, “Don’t look back; whatever is there is gaining on you.”

In this current “deux ex machina” that is before us, blame is an immediate, self-serving escape from the sense of responsibility that it demands. Blaming China, or perhaps the “deep state,” or Obama, or some version of “them” only hampers our nation’s ability to address this crisis. Prophetic voices in a crisis like this become from beyond the pale, not from within it; the Reverent William Barber is a notable example. But Indian novelist and political activist, Arundhati Roy, last week also had a prophetic word for the world, describing this pandemic as, “a portal” through which we might find a turn-around in the very nature of how we grasp the world:

Whatever it is, coronavirus has made the mighty kneel and brought the world to a halt like nothing else could. Our minds are still racing back and forth, longing for a return to “normality”, trying to stitch our future to our past and refusing to acknowledge the rupture. But the rupture exists. And, in the midst of this terrible despair, it offers us a chance to rethink the doomsday machine we have built for ourselves. Nothing could be worse than a return to normality. Historically, pandemics have forced humans to break with the past and imagine their world anew. This one is no different. It is a portal, a gateway between one world and the next. We can choose to walk through it, dragging the carcasses of our prejudice and hatred, our avarice, our data banks and dead ideas, our dead rivers and smoky skies behind us. Or we can walk through lightly, with little luggage, ready to imagine another world. And ready to fight for it. (from interview on Democracy Now)

This Indian wisdom brought to my mind a “war-horse” of many conservative pastors, 2 Chronicles 7:14, “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.