Of course how we are living is catastrophic. On so many levels, we are heading toward destruction. It is likely that we will take much of the life force on this planet with us. In the pursuit and protection of wealth, we are destroying the ground we walk on, the air we breathe, the water we drink, the species around us, and even our climate. This comes as no surprise. But it is an elephant that each of us lives with in every moment of every day.
What is surprising is the miraculously effective ways that we find to avoid this truth.
I no longer think of our avoidance as a moral failing. That’s too easy and not very helpful. The problem runs much deeper. It is the product of the attachments associated with the mental evolution of our consciousness. On the whole, our mental awareness’ attachment to wealth blocks our ability to fully appreciate the threat posed to our long-term survival. I too am subject to this attachment. The avoidance of our catastrophic living is also partly explained by the feeling that no one knows what to do. We feel lost.
So I have decided to sit with this elephant, even embrace it. I do not mean as a fatalist, like there is nothing to be done. It does not matter what brings us to the edge of this precipice. What matters is letting this truth of destruction enter our awareness without shame or judgment. Our healing stories must open the door, not close it. We must allow, not avoid.
I cannot sit or stand directly in front of the path this elephant. It will trample me and fall me out of love with life. But I can sit shoulder-to-shoulder, even lean in and put my arm around it. Then we can look ahead, this elephant and I, into the divine comedy of how to live onward.