Today I sat in silence at one of my regular “time-for-me” spots because I was feeling a bit overwhelmed. As is the cause oftentimes, when one is in hot pursuit of something worthwhile, one gets to the point where one simply needs to be quiet. My time today was such and I'm now at peace. I'll share with you how this came to be...
It was while in this mode that I received a call from a dear Cousin of mine who lives on the Northern East Coast of the US. He lives in a large city and throughout our lives – regardless of the space and distance that has separated us – his life experiences and mine have always paralleled one another. We spoke for a while and then he confided in me what he was feeling.
“I'm just angry,” he said. “For no apparent reason and I can't seem to shake it. I'm feeling very frustrated at how I've been struggling and, no matter what, I can't seem to break even.” This was profound in that I had heard these very words from others here on the West Coast – and I've even said them myself, at times. I listened, trying to help him discover where these feelings were coming from. Unbeknown to him this conversation was helping me as well.
“How are things with you and the Misses?” I asked.
“Things are going well.” He said. “We both are growing... I'm beginning to understand that I too need to change if I am to have the kind of relationship I've said I wanted. So I will.”
Well, that said, I knew that wasn't the thing behind his feelings of frustration. I considered his response a bit more. I considered how I was feeling and how at the very moment I was feeling the same as he was that he would call. (Funny how life always finds a way to demonstrate to us we are never alone in what we feel or what we experience in life).
“Man, this gas is killing me. I put in seventy-three dollars worth of gas every three days just to get back and forth to work and still end up having to find creative ways to keep things going.” He said.
“Yeah, it's crazy over here as well. I drive only when I have to and sometimes that can be a challenge... I'm doing the same thing...” I replied.
That got me to thinking and, as the conversation went forward, I came to more clearly understand what was bothering him... and me.
The news we hear and watch on television these days indicate things continue to be “not-so-well” for our communities, our economy, and our country. Our leaders continue to paint a pretty picture of things while more and more of us struggle to survive the week... and for some, the day. The war is draining our society of its youth and its funds, and it continues to challenge the very ideals of what America is about. Almost everyone knows someone who has suffered a loss in the housing meltdown. Families are pushed farther and farther away from realizing their American Dream on a daily basis.
Employers are expecting more from us while we receive less from them. Those that do continue to thrive do so with the blind belief that everyone can still make it. Jobs have evaporated while the cost for rentals and homes continue to escalate. Whoa, mama! What in the world is going on here?
And while we have decided to keep our nose to the grindstone and do our all to safeguard that which we do have, we also have lost our sense of community. Neighbors are no longer neighbors... but instead people we see as we go about our daily chores. Churches continue to lose their hold and value in our communities and fewer families attend.
So sorry to sound like my cup is half-empty but I am compelled to think that in order for us to overcome the challenges we all face in the modern world, the first thing we must be able to do is see the truth of what is really going on. I should add it is not my intent to dissuade anyone from reading this dispatch, but on the contrary, my intent is to use these words to remind us where we are and what, in my opinion, we must do to weather the storm that is yet to come.
There is a growing sense of enlightenment that continues to develop momentum in just about every community. Many people are now beginning to understand how important it is that we remember there is so much more to life then that which constitutes the accumulated efforts of a single individual.
In a world... COMMUNITY. Community is now being regarded as the only true safe haven with the capacity to withstand the broken ethical, economic, spiritual, and political infrastructure that has (sadly) defined who we are as an American culture.
But let me bring this back to my cousin. Let me bring this back to me... and let me bring this back to you. For what does all this talk of community mean to the individual who knows he/she must continue his/her course in the hope of realizing the dream? And how can these observations be made more personal – to the point where we are all compelled and move to act?
As I see things, now is the time for us to remember and to know that we must put aside any selfish pursuits and decide to place greater value on doing our part to better our community. It starts with your personal relationship with that someone special in your life. Value him/her and know that your commitment to surviving to the end is the very cornerstone of every surviving community. The individual relationship must be given the highest regard because we can no longer hope, wait for, or expect things to get better.
In reflecting upon the various challenges we now face I am both frightened and saddened by how things are getting. I am bothered by how troubled our communities have become and by how many of our youth are all but forgotten. It is a problem for me that we have wholesale opted not to provide tangible proof of a strong and lasting mother/father relationship to our children.
As I consider what we face it is as though we are now facing the highest challenge to the stability of all communities – so high that its peak is somewhere lost in the clouds. Yet the very challenge we face provides the most gratifying prospects as well...
I saw as I spoke to my cousin on the opposite side of the Country that no matter the concern; no matter the challenge; no matter the sacrifices; we are different individuals yet still the same people.
The most gratifying prospect of our current life situation is that in the end -- when we are seventy years old and looking back at all we've endured -- if we choose to commit to the one that we love come hell or high water, we would have experienced a life of fulfillment and both personal and communal victory that will make us all proud to be who we are.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment