Here is an image that captures the human dilemma. “May the Lord help us,” and She always does.
One Picture Captures a Thousand Words!
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Category Archives: culture wars
The Ego and Its Recalcitrance
Two days ago I shared re the need of change and the great pain that can be entailed. Why is change so challenging and often gut-wrenchingly painful? It has to do with the ego which is resistant to becoming other than a citadel for self-interest. When we came into this world we found ourselves in a “world that is always already underway.” Our family was a context, a “milieu” which was rigidly structured by the emotional and, therefore, unconscious assumptions of the parents and any child that had preceded us. My research has suggested that our fragile ego responds with a salvivic capability of “assessing” this milieu and formulating its response. Our “response”, however, will quickly become rigid also which is part of our neurological wiring. But that rigid structure, regardless of how open-minded we might be, will always be resistant to change. This rigidity is also “hard-wired” as we need to filter-out much of the “stuff” that comes our way to maintain ego-integrity If we had no filter…or one that is wired….maladaptively…we would submit to every demand of change that comes our way and our life would look like a “sheet in the wind,.”
This is where the Pauline “discerning spirit” is applicable. This quip from the Apostle Paul is an admonishment to employ what Hannah Arendt has described as an, “internal dialogue,” which iis to have second-thoughts about what we are most sure…especially those “noble-sounding” bromides that we religious people are want to cling to. Let me paraphrase the wisdom of Paul into a modern bumper-sticker, “Don’t believe everything you think.”
Change Involves, “Mangled Guts Pretending.”
How do people change? I’ve always been curious about this issue for I knew very early in life that I needed to change. Here are two pithy observations about this question, one from-13th century Persion mystic,Rumi and the other from a mere two decades by American playwright, Tony Kushner.
The Worm’s Waking
There is a worm addicted to eating grape leaves.
Suddenly, he wakes up,
call it Grace, whatever,
something wakes him, and he is no longer a worm.
He is the entire vineyard, and the orchard too,
the fruit, the trunks,
a growing wisdom and joy
that does not need to devour.
Kushner’s play “Angels in America offers a scene in which the internal tension of change is vividly put into words, presented here as a gut-wrenching experience involving a Divine encounter. Fortunately, most of the time it is merely discomforting or stressful as people like myself do not have the brilliant, sensitive, artistic
temperament of people like Kushner. Here is a quotation from one memorable scene:
Harper: In your experience of the world. How do people change?
Mormon Mother: Well it has something to do with God so it’s not very nice.
God splits the skin with a jagged thumbnail from throat to belly and then plunges a huge filthy hand in, he grabs hold of your bloody tubes and they slip to evade his grasp but he squeezes hard, he insists, he pulls and pulls till all your innards are yanked out and the pain! We can’t even talk about that. And then he stuffs them back, dirty, tangled and torn. It’s up to you to do the stitching.
Harper: And then up you get. And walk around.
Mormon Mother: Just mangled guts pretending.
Harper: That’s how people change.
December 10, 2020 Conservation
The socio/cultural/political morass which weighs down on us at this moment is very unnerving, even frightening matter; this is because it is a cosmic identity crosis, at least for one teeny-weeny little culture on this “Third Rock From the Sun.” It is teaching us so much about the ego, individually and collectively.
The development of our ego is a monumental event in our life. It is intrinsic to our ability to negotiate what the infant will discover as “reality”, a crisis in which twin poles of our Divinity war with each other. When our ego begins to come into existence, to come online, it struggles within its nascent existence as it loathes discovering its finitude. Only moments earlier, this very core of our being is enconsed in the womb of “no-thingsness” and is on the verge of making the decision to “fall” into this world of existants or remained in the comfortable, Edenic womb.
winnicott’s break down
This “Fish” Sees Water…Kinda…And It Is Not Always Cracked up To What It’s Supposed To Be!!!
Here is just one example of the total wrongness of something I tend to be automatically sure of: everything in my own immediate experience supports my deep belief that I am the absolute centre of the universe; the realest, most vivid and important person in existence. We rarely think about this sort of natural, basic self-centredness because it’s so socially repulsive. But it’s pretty much the same for all of us. It is our default setting, hard-wired into our boards at birth. Think about it: there is no experience you have had that you are not the absolute centre of. The world as you experience it is there in front of YOU or behind YOU, to the left or right of YOU, on YOUR TV or YOUR monitor. And so on. Other people’s thoughts and feelings have to be communicated to you somehow, but your own are so immediate, urgent, real. (David Foster Wallace)
The above quote, from my last post, is the essence of the “spinning” that occurs with a fish that cannot see its water. However, a “fish” can learn to see water and my life is a story about this accomplishment. Actually, I must confess this has not been an “accomplishment” as I was born this way and it has merely taken me half a century to find the confidence to accept and honor this lot in life. My confidence was buoyed last year when I read…twice…the Booker-Prize winning novel by Anna Burns, “The Milkman” in which she introduced me to the notion of living “beyond the pale.” In my life beyond this pale…and yes it is the “pale” separating reality and something “beyond”…which I’m increasingly learning is not a catastrophe but is merely the endowment of what poet John Keats called “negative capability.” (It could, though be a “catastrophe” and often is!) This stance has blessed/cursed me with the “observer” stance which Emily Dickinson alluded to when she noted, “Life is over there, on a shelf.” It is no coincidence that Dickinson spent her life “cloistered” in her father’s attic and I myself have spent my life “cloistered” in some attic, some cerebral detachment of sorts.
But in this cloister of mine I have not escaped the predicament the David Foster Wallace noted in the quote provided above. I, too, offer but a “spin” about the world and I, too, have tended to take it too seriously and demonstrated too often a tendency to impose it on others; as some wit noted, “Give a kid a hammer and everything is a nail.” The ego has a difficult time ever acknowledging its machinations which are intrinsically a “spin” about the world and an attempt to make it wholly about itself. When Humility begins to penetrate that hermetically-sealed chamber, the “spin” begins to rattle against the walls of the cage it has created and great is the “noise” to the owner of the ego…and sometimes to those looking on from the outside!
Let me close with a note about the “noise” which is clamoring in our modern world as our collective ego is under a related grave challenge. Particularly in my country, the basic assumptions, the premises, the “water” that we “fish” cannot see, is being exposed. In this situation, the part of our culture which most embodies this obfuscation is clinging obstinately to its ego and have found a leader who champions so vividly its cause.
In my next post, I am going to share about the “spinning” of one’s religious tradition and how that noble teachings can become merely an example of the aforementioned “kid with a hammer.”
The Prophet Pogo is Speaking to Us!
I’ve been banished to my “penalty box,” which is the sunroom of our house. My precious doggie Petey has been banished also, and he is actually the reason for this “banishment.” An harpsichord tuner is arriving shortly and he will need quiet to pay his professionally keen “listening” skills to the tuning of this lovely instrument. Petey would not permit this, having so much to say to any stranger with his raucous voice. And after all, this “penalty box” is one of my favorite places to set and watch the spring morning unfold, with Petey and I exploring philosophical intricacies!
“Limits” is on my mind so often with this pandemic that besets us. And even this visit from the tuner brought this to mind when my wife reminded me, “gloves and face mask” when he arrives. This same precaution is relevant anywhere I go, even to Wal Mart where I patiently wait in line with others in queue to “get stuff.” And even there, the queue will be donned with the same PPE I now have at my side.
Having a religious upbringing, of which I’m so proud, my mind goes biblical at times like this. The gods are speaking to us collectively and sternly telling us, “Limits!” (But I prefer the simple term “God” even though I occasionally I will refer to them with the plural pronoun.) Any people will get wayward here and there and will need a lesson like this, painful and deadly thought it might be. This god-sent “pestilence” is a message from “On High” that we need to look at ourselves closely…and I don’t mean look at “them” more closely unless we look at ourselves with equal intensity. In the words of the prophet Pogo, “We have met the enemy and he is us!”
I just watched a promo on TV about History Channel’s new three-part movie about U.S. Grant. The narrator pointed out that when Lee surrendered to him at Appomattox in April, 1864, it was a solemn occasion. Grant did not “rub it in” to the vanquished South and his opposing general, U.S. Lee. There was no taunting or jeering as the diplomatic graciousness of Abraham Lincoln had filtered down to Grant and his troops. It was a grievous occasion and Grant knew that merriment from him or his troops was not called for. I am reminded of a similar moment of graciousness to a defeated foe in the Spanish-American War of 1899 as a U.S. ship had blown a Spanish ship out of the water. The American troops broke into raucous cheer, happy to see their hard and dangerous work had been successful as the Spanish ship, the Vizcaya, went down in flames. The captain of the American ship, John Woodward Philip, chided his cheering troops with these famous words, “Don’t cheer boys. The poor devils are dying.”
Our history offers us many examples of graciousness and respect in moments when our leaders could have responded differently. The humility needed in the moment requires deep-seated respect for boundaries, for the “other” even when our hearts are bursting with “the thrill of victory.” Those two events in our history reveal vividly the emotional/spiritual courage of leadership in a moment of crisis. These men had boundaries. I even remember a similar humility in the resignation of Richard Nixon in 1969 when, devastated with shame and humiliation he solemnly and graciously stepped into that helicopter, turned around and waved good-by , allowing Gerald Ford to take his place. Nixon was a broken man as our government had stepped in and firmly set a limit for that very fragile man, telling him, “That’s enough.” May our leaders always be able to muster up the courage and demonstrate the dignity that is required of all leaders.
This is a moment in the history of mankind when we can dare to tell ourselves, “It is not just about me/”
Does Our “Emperor” Have No Clothes On? Yep, You Can Bet Your Sweet Bippy!
Trump is again deflecting, trying to get the country…all of it, not just his disciples, to focus on Obama, allowing Trump to swim in the delight of, “It’s Obama’s fault!” Other options for him have been, “Its Hillary’s fault” or even the generic, “It’s the Democrats!” He desperately seeks to take our focus off of this cursed pandemic that he has horribly mismanaged. Of course, Congressman Devin Nunes, one of Trump’s most insipid brown-nosers, immediately stepped to the plate and tried to lend a hand, accusing the Democrats of “hiding stuff” even as Trump and the GOP continue to be the poster boy for “hiding stuff.” Nunes gleams each time he aids and abets Trump, hoping Trump might toss him an, “Atta boy!” or find a place on the ever-growing “pardon list” for his own political peccadillos.
“Awareness is all” said a bumper sticker of a good friend of mine. Honest acknowledgement of misbehavior and mistakes is a fundamental part of the social contract that keeps society functioning. Furthermore, lacking this quality can become comical when we egregiously violate this agreement and appear oblivious to it. I grimace at the many occasions when I have been in that position…and probably still am!
Awareness is a basic dimension of being human. It allows us to join the human narrative, participating in a shared reality that is implicit in the aforementioned social contract. Having this quality requires a certain schism in the soul, an ability to “stand apart” from our self and be aware of the presence of that whirl-i-gig in our soul that Trump, Nunes, et al are unaware of. Without this quality I might even find myself, being a “chrome-dome”, obsessively criticizing and heaping contempt upon bald-headed men!
This brings to mind the Hans Christian Anderson story of kid who didn’t know any better than to declare that “the emperor has no clothes on.” In this simple tale, the emperor was buck-naked but did not know it and lived in a community in which no one would point out to him. And then that damn brat came along!
I’m glad to be one of the “brats” in this moment of history.
Clinical “Executive Functioning” Now Direly Needed!!!
Executive function is a clinical term to describe one’s ability to manage his life, to deal with its stresses and strains and to manage them with wisdom. This function of the cerebral cortex offers us “working memory, flexible thinking, and self-control” which facilitates an ability to exercise this gift in fulfilling our basic needs and doing so in cooperation with others… most of which are usually busy trying to do the same. Impairment of this neurological gift will make it “hard to focus, follow directions, and handle emotions.” Its diminishment will leave us with unconscious fears and anxieties, creating problems for our life and for those around us.
As this pandemic continues to beset us, like a hawk circling above looking for additional prey, our nation’s, “executive functioning” is woefully inadequate, specifically with our Federal government and its “executive.” We are immersed in a spiritual crisis; and humankind is equipped with an ability to “manage” crises, but only if we can do so with direction and a spirit of harmony. If our collective “executive functioning” functions maturely it will demonstrate a capacity to learn from experience, recognize error, and adjust our strategy. It will accept responsibility for the crisis, not fretting over “who’s at fault” but on “how can we address this crisis?” most effectively.
We live in a world of contingency; circumstances are always present. But we have been given human “agency”, the capacity to act meaningfully toward what lies before us, hoping that as we do so we are acting toward the betterment of all. With the empowerment of this efficacy, we can facilitate a “purge” of the “common weal.” And this brings to my mind the illimitable wisdom of Shakespeare, alluding here to his play, Macbeth, when his allies were recognizing the peril of staying with their “executive.”
Well, march we on
To give obedience where ’tis truly owed.
Meet we the medicine of the sickly weal,
And with him pour we in our country’s purge
Each drop of us.
So, will we manage to pour “each drop of us” into the “purge” that we need? And in present day, the “medicine of our sickly weal” needs to be a spirit of unity, not any “Macduff” and his boys. Nevertheless, we could readily utilize a leader in whom we can put our faith, providing this caveat is considered—faith in a leader always carries the risk of finding a leader who is nothing but another version of Trump.
Baseball!!!
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.”
Buddhism, Wisdom, and Cognition
“A lot of thinking without wisdom will lead to suffering.” This Buddhist wisdom cuts right to the heart of life. Yes, “thinking” or “reasoning” are Divine gifts but they are dangerous without some wisdom. Let me put this in personal terms. I have spent my life in the category of humans that W. H. Auden described as “logical lunatic..” With this spiritual imbalance, I’ve had the illusion that I could “figger” things out with my mind. This did not include the belief that I knew more than anyone else, that others were “stupid”, this was more of a personal matter. I now realize that in the depths of my soul I had the illusion that with my mind I could “assess” most situations and know how to respond appropriately. This stemmed from a hyper-vigilance attitude I took very early in life, having realized that I was born into a “crazy” reality that skewed reality to fit its own unquestioned premises. With the intuition, and wisdom that comes with age, I realize that I made the conclusion that the pain that was my reality could be mitigated if I would pay close attention to what was going on and learn what the rules were. Then, I could make sure that I was doing “the right thing” which simultaneously became “thinking” the right thing. But I was keenly sensitive even then and realized that it was impossible to remember all the rules as the rules were always changing. But, with that hypervigilance I must have assured myself that I was better off making the effort and could then at least lessen the blows (emotional/psychological) when they came. Thus my early life put me on a course of “seeing” and categorizing (diagnosing), life, eventually leading to a career in the social sciences…history and psychology…as I adopted the stance of Emily Dickinson, saying, “Life is over there, on a shelf.” And, this has done me well in life…but certainly with a significant price as far as authenticity.
Just today I discovered the Buddhist wisdom displayed above and immediately had a light bulb turn on in my soul. Somehow, this quality of “wisdom” is slowly sinking into my thick skull, allowing me to see…and feel…the limitations of rationality and understand even further that, “we see through a glass darkly”; my rational grasp of this world is limited. This understanding is introducing me to my finitude and the humility that comes with it. Wisdom is to realize that you might “know” a whole lot, but that bank of knowledge is always self-serving and thus destructive to self and others. And yes, as noted above, suffering is accompanying this wisdom. To understand and “feel” finitude always brings one to his knees; there we have the opportunity to appreciate what one poet noted about this moment, that there we can, “glory, bow, and tremble” as we face the Otherness that we have avoided. If we don’t at least hunger for this wisdom, and realize that we will never “own” it, our thinking will produce great suffering, the pain of which is usually avoided with distractions, one of which is,“them.”
The Coronavirus Has Beset Our Political System and Culture
Michael Bloomberg has the best possibility of beating Trump in November, the only one with the wherewithal, financially and tenacity, to defeat the coronavirus that has beset our political system…and entire culture.. But, given the “free-press” which is itself a “tyrant” of sort, the myriad down-sides of Bloomberg are coming to the light. I’m going to predict what will happen here: while the Republicans saw Trump’s evil exposed to the light of day even before his nomination, an exposure which continued to take place during the campaign, and is still underway during his administration, the GOP has, and will, “stand by their man.” They have been, and are, determined.
The Democrats need a similar resolve and can have that without allowing the coronavirus to attack their own willfulness. And with Bloomberg, this might involve accepting into their fold a man with a sullied background who with his own “willfulness” can “slay the giant” of Trumpism. By doing so, this would require a bit of humility to admit into their fold a man who has less than solid Democratic sentiments in his background. The Democrats might then have to recognize, “Hmm, maybe we have our own dark dimension of willfulness which is why we failed to consider a huge segment of the American population in recent decades, a decision which made this segment conclude that their best bet was Trump.” The Democrats need a “strongman” at this moment in history and I have no concern that they would then assume a supine position before him as has the GOP down with Trump. They will bring back to our political life, “checks and balances.”
Here, I am posing as a political commentator. But my concern here is not so much politics as the dynamic that is in play in our political system and culture. This is a struggle with diversity, including the realization that there are two ways of looking at the world and that these “two ways” can learn to live with each other. The ego, collectively and individually, always wants to eradicate other ways of looking at the world. I am a Democrat because I believe they best represent the offer an “inclusiveness” to our country rather than an “ex-clusiveness.” There is room for all of us, but only if we have the courage to respect those that represent our “other,” those that we tend to dismiss as “them.”
As so often, the wisdom of W.H. Auden sums this up, “We wage the war we are.”
literary lew 