The Great Unraveling

    There's an old adage: "Never write a blog post when you're reeling from bad news." Actually, that's not an old adage at all. I just made it up. But nonetheless, it probably isn't a good idea. It probably also isn't a smart idea to hang laundry out to dry that is threadbare or torn. It will either be an eyesore or at the very least inspire disdain or disappointment. So, here goes.

    This afternoon has brought many worries and notions that would qualify as bad news. The environment is a shambles; our problems with global climate change have only begun. An organization I have belonged to for more than a decade is losing membership and facing a rapid decline. So many things have happened on the political stage that I regularly have responses that range from laughter to fright to rage. A project on which I have worked for nearly two years, and still continue to work on, might be reaching a dreaded and fatal end. (I have to be vague here, unfortunately.)

    What does one do when structures around them seem to crumble and smolder? If abridged history is to be believed, Nero strummed his lyre while Rome burned. The musicians on the Titanic played on even as the massive ship went underwater. Even Job, when God was smiting him did nothing at all.

    I wonder why my thoughts turn to inaction when all I ever want is to "do something!" 

    Tonight, I watched the film "The Two Popes" which did nothing to quench the simmering fire of discontent that I was feeling. Even Pope Francis, the anti-pope who eschewed the carnival of finery, and embraced the prisoner and the poor, had his moments of doubt and pain. I thought this film would finally expose the myth of the red Prada shoes, but instead it delved into a dark time in Argentina's past. (Didn't see that coming.) The story wound to a time when Father Francis, then a simple Jesuit priest, faced his own demons and had to walk with them. He had failed people by the very act of trying to help them. Did he drop his arms in defeat when he should have raised them in defiance?
    Is there ever a time when inaction is the best action? Perhaps time is the surest cure in those situations when problems threaten to drown us. Perhaps calm is the only way to stay above the rising tide. Perhaps it is then that we float.