Seatbelts, Everyone!

Our world is changing at a pace we simply are not accustomed to. Just when we figure out how to use some piece of innovative technology, a newer version comes around making the old one obsolete. On a larger scale, the same is true for many of the jobs and institutions that have stabilized advanced societies since the end of World War II, making it difficult to keep up. The increased speed with which we humans are being asked to adjust to is shocking to our collective system. Future historians will analyze the forces at work at the turn of this century and, with the benefit of hindsight, will write books, teach classes and update curriculum so that future generations can learn from our mistakes. We, on the other hand, are living through it. Every day we are inundated with loud, frustrated, even angry people yelling at each other and blaming each other for something that, I believe, is really bigger than all of us. No one has “the answer” for how to “fix this” because, once again, we humans are entering unchartered waters.

I am not afraid. Fear is the darkest human emotions. It causes us to do all kinds of horrible, selfish, senseless things. Fear requires us to protect ourselves from some force that will hurt us. Fear is the root of all ugliness. Fear forces an ‘us vs. them’ game that does nothing but divide us when united we could be so much stronger. In his acceptance speech for the Nobel Peace Prize, Jimmy Carter said, “The bond of our common humanity is stronger than the divisiveness of our fears and prejudices.” I want his words to be true. In fact I believe them to be true. In the end, love does always win. But for some reason, as intelligent as we humans can be, we still seem to lack the wisdom not to wreak havoc on each other before returning to love.

Throughout history, during times of immense conflict, millions have died gruesome deaths defending their cause. And sometimes we do have to fight to survive. That time may be upon us again, I don’t know. And I don’t know who will live and who will die, but I do know that for those that do survive, a new way of living in the world will be created…and it will be better.  But I also know this is a temporary state, riding a wave of prosperity until the next great sweeping societal change rears its head again, ushering in a new era of fear. The tide of human progress ebbs and flows.

Time and time again we learn that out of darkness comes light. And in such times there are those filled with hope and those with dread. So, in this modern eclipse of enlightenment, what role will you play? Will you be on the side of fear; building a defensive wall around yourself, your kinsmen, your religion, your “team”?  Or will you remain brave in the face of fear and strive for openness, compassion, gratitude and generosity, even to those unfamiliar and ‘foreign’? Will you show up with flowers or guns? Because after all, we are born alone and we die alone. Who we are in between is always a choice. Which side of history will you be on?