One Seeker's Journey: Life as Usual...    
 Life as Usual...9 comments
7 Sep 2004 @ 18:46, by Craig Lang

The latest on Whitley's website is a sobering echo of something that I've felt for the last few weeks - "that the die is cast". I suspect that we are now fully committed to the path that leads to the abyss. I have always hoped, in the back of my mind, that I was wrong. But what I saw - or rather sensed - this weekend, suggests to me that unfortunately, I am not.

Yet after darkness comes light. And for each person who awakens, who becomes more aware, that light becomes closer. And thus, what the changes are, and what the abyss is, through which we pass, is still up to us.

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In the last few days, our extended family once again again visited us for the holiday weekend. We often get together for holidays, trips, etc. and this was another one of those pleasant weekend respites. It was a weekend where we saw the sights, went to the Minnesota state fair, and did other things to take the mind off of the daily grind.

The fair was interesting this year, but not in the usual sense. There was the feeling that politics was everywhere. There was a sense of urgency to it. But at the same time, the same powerful sense of division that I have noted earlier was visible. There were buttons on both sides: Bush/Cheney, and Kerry/Edwards - both were very much in evidence. Nearly everyone had a political button on - and there was a passion behind them. Whatever their beliefs, pretty much everybody meant it...

But the biggest sense I got was that whatever the result, how much will it matter? I had this thought again today after the third hurricane, the latest environmental news, and other less than cheery info cropped up about the state of the world.

The sense that I had was one of being in a speeding car, heading towards a wall. The feeling was that we are now close enough to the wall that even a change of drivers may not matter all that much. The best we can do - even with a massive change in public policy - is to alter how hard the car hits that wall. As Whitley so soberingly put it, "The Die is Cast".

What was the most sobering is not that change is upon us, but that so many simply do not see it. There is the usual massive political bickering, the divisions that run deep within our society. There is the sense of both passion and rage that seems to accompany this year's political season. But come November 3, what will happen to that energy? My concern is that, like a puff of smoke, it might dissipate in the wind. Like a raging forest fire at the end of the dry season, the rains might quench it, the flames to flicker out. Will we go to work on that Wednesday morning, as though nothing ever changed?

There will always be the committed politico's - both progressive and conservative - that look farther forward, to the next one, two or more elections, and continue working on... But for most of us, November 3rd will look like life as usual.

Life as usual - I thought about a hypothetical Easter Islander who unknowingly a few hundred years ago cut down that one critical tree. I thought about that one Central American farmer nearly a thousand years ago, clearing that critical plot of land that took the agriculture of the mighty Mayan civilization across the threshold - beyond sustainability. In all of these cases, and now maybe in ours, too - once they had passed over that critical edge, perhaps within a generation or less, their civilization was gone and their population had been reduced to a shadow of its former self. Yet to the people at that moment, it probably looked just like Life as usual.

I suspect that there are so many other stories from so many other civilizations now lost in the pages of history. And for each there was probably a time in which each quietly passed its own point of no return - on just another day of Life as Usual.

I hate being a pessimist, and so I usually try to ask myself, is this really that severe? Maybe the changes are indeed, just changes. How tough can that be? And how big is the silver lining within the cloud? I asked myself that again this morning as I drove to work after a long and pleasant weekend. If there is a a catastrophe, will there be post-tribulation world that will be a brighter place - as suggested by many prophets?

I realized, though, that as I thought these thoughts on the way to work, I was burning another fraction of a gallon of gasoline. And I wondered if perhaps this might metaphorically be the critical gallon of gas that puts us over the edge.

Are we already there? Though the question remains in my mind, part of me suspects that maybe we are indeed, beyond the event horizon. If Whitley is correct, then the die is cast and we are now fully on the path that leads into the abyss. Even if public policy completely changes for the better, we may indeed be committed, for better or for worse, to the changes that are now upon us.

I thought about this as I focused on the drive to work and the resumption of the business week. It was the beginning of another work day and it looked for all the world, just like Life as Usual.

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9 comments

8 Sep 2004 @ 00:11 by astrid : The Q. is.....
as I see it: "Each "Man" for himself" has to take stand and answer that question.

Those who don't wake up enough to ask and answer that Q don't even need to ponder about their possilbe answer....they already answered by not waking up enough to make the Q.!!!

What consciousness "note"/vibration does your Soul/Mind Every-day-living correspond with; Mainstream,= the (blind) Follower, who does what s/he is told (by others) making a living from one month to the next,just barely...survival ( I know everything is relative!..?....or The Genius, who has found his/her own creativity to make a prosperous; meaning ABOVE survival.I know; it can still be with some struggle, though..."Everything" is -still- relative!.... or The Sage/
the Nomad, flexibel enough to "Go where One's NorthStar takes One"... happy and trusting,like the Divine Fool in the Tarot, with a sustainable Every-day-life... or The Saint....having a solid faith in Life's Abundance..... Well, theres more. But I will stop here for now.
In the Mainstream it is ALWAYS THE SAME GAME (the MainstrisMainstrisMainstr)... ....only DIFFERENT PLAYERS!!!... Bush, Kerry, Emperor Nero,Q. Elisabeth, Djingis Khan....ALL play/ed the SAME OLD GAME....and the followers with them....
From Genius up: it is The SAME PLAYER playing a different GAME!!!... Each note is A DIFFERENT GAME!....
Now, look around you and you can start grasping "The Bigger Picture" here.... So, what can one person do to create a BETTER Pic??? SEND AS MUCH LOVE and LIGHT towards the different groups of people. The ones who pick up on the Light & Love will benefit more than any person can imagine. The ones, who refuse to pic up Light and Love and use it for TRANSFORMATION will be escorted by the Love and Light out from the Stage(; our "physical" Reality / "Social Life" ).

Before any HEALING can/will start in earnest, there HAS to be cleansing.... be it in one private person(s life or a wound they got in an accident ) or one Nation('s injurous way of dealing with Life /other Nations) or....HOW ELSE could it be? Any suggestions?

Craig, check this one out. Read the whole text! ( I just found it)
w/ Love / Astrid  

8 Sep 2004 @ 00:53 by astrid : The Q. is.....
as I see it: "Each "Man" for himself" has to take stand and answer that question.

Those who don't wake up enough to ask and answer that Q don't even need to ponder about their possilbe answer....they already answered by not waking up enough to make the Q.!!!

What consciousness "note"/vibration does your Soul/Mind Every-day-living correspond with; Mainstream,= the (blind) Follower, who does what s/he is told (by others) making a living from one month to the next,just barely...survival ( I know everything is relative!..?....or The Genius, who has found his/her own creativity to make a prosperous; meaning ABOVE survival.I know; it can still be with some struggle, though..."Everything" is -still- relative!.... or The Sage/
the Nomad, flexibel enough to "Go where One's NorthStar takes One"... happy and trusting,like the Divine Fool in the Tarot, with a sustainable Every-day-life... or The Saint....having a solid faith in Life's Abundance..... Well, theres more. But I will stop here for now.
In the Mainstream it is ALWAYS THE SAME GAME (the MainstrisMainstrisMainstr)... ....only DIFFERENT PLAYERS!!!... Bush, Kerry, Emperor Nero,Q. Elisabeth, Djingis Khan....ALL play/ed the SAME OLD GAME....and the followers with them....
From Genius up: it is The SAME PLAYER playing a different GAME!!!... Each note is A DIFFERENT GAME!....
Now, look around you and you can start grasping "The Bigger Picture" here.... So, what can one person do to create a BETTER Pic??? SEND AS MUCH LOVE and LIGHT towards the different groups of people. The ones who pick up on the Light & Love will benefit more than any person can imagine. The ones, who refuse to pic up Light and Love and use it for TRANSFORMATION will be escorted by the Love and Light out from the Stage(; our "physical" Reality / "Social Life" ).

Before any HEALING can/will start in earnest, there HAS to be cleansing.... be it in one private person(s life or a wound they got in an accident ) or one Nation('s injurous way of dealing with Life /other Nations) or....HOW ELSE could it be? Any suggestions?

 

8 Sep 2004 @ 02:59 by skookum : What are we to do?
If even you throw in the towel Craig?

#####################
Marissa,
Don't worry, I haven't thrown in any towels. Besides, how can I throw in the towel when I can't even find the laundry hamper... :-)
Namaste,
-Craig  

8 Sep 2004 @ 03:09 by craiglang : Not throwing in the towel
While the article sounds pretty dark on the surface, I believe that beneath it is actually quite a bit of hope. I believe that the key is to make the best of whatever situation we find ourselves in. The changes are here. My question is whether we can make the best of them. I believe so. And that, I think is where our hope exists. As I indicated, many see-ers describe how there is a better world beyond the darkness. After darkness comes light, and it is my fervent belief that this light is what our path is leading us to.

Astrid implied (very roughly paraphrased) that each person needs to find the truth for his/her self. And I believe that this truth is unconditional love and a oneness with God - however you accept God to be. And that is where I believe the answer lies.

While on the surface, my article is indeed very pessimistic, I suspect that a massive awakening may well turn the coming changes into something very positive. And that to me is where the hope is - that we, en masse will awaken like the hundredth monkey - and begin to build a better world.

Maybe the coming changes are just changes, or maybe we will need to rebuild from the ashes. I don't know but I fervently hope it is the former. Either way, our civilization CAN and WILL rebuild into a better one. And therein is the silver lining.  

8 Sep 2004 @ 03:43 by craiglang : A ray of hope
I also feel alot more hopeful tonight than I did at noon hour, when I initially posted this article. So I added some rays of hope to the article, or at least softened the original dark tone.

For whatever reason, tonight I have much more optimism than I have had for quite some time. And I sure hope that this view is more accurate... :-)  

8 Sep 2004 @ 07:59 by tochtli : politics
is a serious game for people who take themselves too seriously... the u.s is an empire and, historically, all empires have eventually fallen. the same will happen to this nation, the decline has already begun. it's not a bad thing, though.. it's just part of the natural movement of things. don't worry because in the end, as always, the innate goodness of the human spirit will prevail.  

8 Sep 2004 @ 14:19 by craiglang : Thanx tochtli
Thanks for the comment. I think that you are right, both about politics being for those who take themselves too seriously, and on the U.S.A. being an empire - and that all empires fall. I believe that ultimately the USA will take its place among the ranks of former colonial powers such as many European nations, who now live together in relative harmony among themselves and the rest of the world.

The danger as I see it is not political and not just for the USA, but is worldwide and structural. At stake is the integrity of the ability our our world to support a human population which is already at or beyond carrying capacity. It is the life support system of spaceship Earth.

While the US Empire may fall, I sincerely pray that the overall human civilization lives on in a newer and better form.  

7 Oct 2004 @ 13:04 by redstar : Survival
Yes, agreed, The coming collapse will be a worldwide phenomenon, simply because the entire world economy is so closely linked. We can see the start of it even now with the rise in oil prices and the effects that this will soon have on the global economy.
Obviously, poorer nations may be the first to suffer. In my view, the important question will be how to weather the civil unrest and destruction that will inevitably occur and I continue to ponder on how those of us who have woken up in time will survive to participate in the Earths rejuvanation.  

7 Oct 2004 @ 15:05 by craiglang : Awakened, or awakening
Hi Redstar,
Thanx for your comments.
Its interesting to note your comment about "we who have woken up in time".
I sometimes wonder just how awake I am at any given moment. Speaking strictly for myself, my sense is that it is a long road to enlightenment, and I have only taken the first few steps. As my meditation teacher once said to me, the road is long and the steps are many. We have only but begun the journey.

But back on topic. I think we are given the vision we need at any particular point in history. And hopefully enough are given the wisdom to see what is going on, that we can keep the show going. Humanity is too beautiful, and it would be ashame to see the creative works of humankind vanish from the Universe.  

Other entries in
17 Oct 2006 @ 02:40: A Symphony of Change
3 Feb 2006 @ 17:18: More spooky 9/11 stuff
24 Oct 2005 @ 20:57: The Republic of Vermont?
18 Jul 2005 @ 17:15: Seth Shostak's Glass House
16 Mar 2005 @ 22:10: Whitley on Armegeddon '2005, The Year of the Death Wish'
23 Feb 2005 @ 17:11: More by Richard Dolan
21 Jan 2005 @ 18:24: Controlling the Anger
30 Dec 2004 @ 16:39: 'Earthquakes in various places'
25 Oct 2004 @ 17:16: A Million Questions in the Eye of God
19 Sep 2004 @ 00:39: Sky Captain

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