Last night was rough. I was scared and couldn't sleep. I thought I was suffering a recurrence of what had happened on Memorial Day. At that time I was planning to watch the playoff game between the Celtics and the Cavaliers. Instead I ended up in the emergency room suffering from Congestive Heart Failure.
Looking back, I can see how it developed. I had gained weight and was short of breath when I bent down to tie my shoes. I had trouble sustaining notes in choir practice. Eventually I said to Jean, “I'm having trouble breathing.” She replied, “If I told you this, what would you say?” Sheepishly, I replied, “Go to the hospital.”
In one short week, my world was shaken. I returned from the hospital with the following the instructions:
Drastically reduce your salt intake. Limit your liquid intake. Check your blood pressure and weight daily. If you start gaining weight or have other symptoms, call your doctor.
I slept poorly last night because fears from my childhood flooded over me. I was once again that little boy overwhelmed by circumstances beyond his control. Lying there as an adult, I envied and resented healthy people. I wanted to strike out. Reasoning with myself didn't help.
Many folks experience such irrational fears. This is because emotions from past experiences, particularly those from childhood, populate our inner world and unconsciously affect our behavior. When we are stressed they arise.
Psychologist, Carl Jung, realized that similar dynamics affect us collectively.iIt's as if we, as a species, have a Collective Unconscious or inner world that is populated by the emotions of our ancient ancestors. These people had few rational cognitions. Their world was filled with mysterious forces. They developed mythical stories to explain the unexplainable. Our ancestors relied on family or tribal relationships for survival. Many referred to their tribe as “The people.” Other tribes were threatening. These folks were “The Other.” Everyone was affected by the gods and goddesses that operated in the background.
As a youth living in rural Minnesota, I was aware of these tribal identifications. Our extended family, the Bergs, was a unit. In school there were the city kids and the country kids. People were identified as Lutherans, Catholics, Presbyterians and Episcopalians. If your parents and grandparents lived in our town, you were the “real residents.” Others who arrived later were “newcomers.” I thought nothing of these distinctions at the time. This was just the way things were.
I now view these tribal identifications with alarm as they play out on a global stage. I still remember the Viet Nam war where North Vietnamese were identified as “gooks” and their deaths registered as “body counts.” Present day wars are fueled by centuries old tribal animosities - Sunni Moslems verses Shia Moslems, Catholics verses Irish, Tutsi verses Hutu. Even though we are twenty-first century, technically savvy people, we have multiple tribal affinities. We define “The Other” by distinguishing characteristics such as skin color, religion, national identity, sexual orientation, etc.
Today people with influence manipulate these collective fears to gain power. In so doing, they unleash unconscious emotional forces with devastating implications. Ancient societies described these forces as demons or gods. We no longer believe in such gods and demons, but the unconscious fear of “The Other” continues to operate. Millions of innocent men, women and children are sacrificed in power struggles around the world. We hear reports daily of death and destruction in the Middle East. Russian officials poison their own citizens who dissent from the policies set by Vladimir Putin.iiYemen is on the brink of a humanitarian disaster as both rebels and Saudi-led forces block the flow of food, fuel, and other supplies to starving citizens.iiiPresident Trump ordered children separated from their parents as a pragmatic solution for discouraging immigration. He stated, “The United States will not be a “migrant camp.”ivHe furtherreferred to immigrants as “animalsvand countries like Haiti as “Shit Holes.”vi
This dehumanization dynamic is horrifying. When coupled with the destructive technologies available to the nations of our world, the threat to life on our planet through war and environmental degradation is real.
In my last post, I issued a plea for compassion. (See: Plea for Compassion In a Veil of Tears)viiI believe that those of us who develop compassion for others can be a powerful force in addressing the global culture of fear, domination and violence.
In light of what I shared above, I am now convinced that we cannot have compassion for others until we engage the inner dynamics that cause us to fear and distrust those different from ourselves.
There is an ancient teaching that casts light on this psychological phenomenon. According to the text,viiiJesus was asked by a Jewish scholar, “Which is most important of all the commandments?”In essence he was asking Jesus, “According to your understanding, what must guide you so you can live into your God-given potential?”
Jesus turns the question back on the scholar asking, “What is written in the law (Jewish Scriptures)? The man responds by quoting verses from Leviticus and Deuteronomy, saying, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart (the seat of the will), with all your soul (the inner, animating element of your life), with all your strength (commitment and abilities) and with all your mind (mental processes); and (love) your neighbor as yourself.”
Jesus then clarified his definition of “neighbor” by telling a story.ixA man travels alone on the dangerous road from Jerusalem to Jericho. A gang of bandits attack and rob him. They leave him injured and dying by the side of the road. He is bypassed by a priest and a Levite, men who were the esteemed political/religious leaders of Israel. He is finally helped by a traveling Samaritan; a man whose tribe and religion were despised by the Jews of Jesus' time.xJesus then asks the scholar, “Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?” He answers, “The one who showed him mercy.” Jesus responds, “Go and do likewise.” This understanding of neighbor has nothing to do with race, nationality, religion, political/religious position or physical location. In fact, Jesus' specifically describes the neighbor as a member of one of the most despised classes in his society. The neighbor is more than a member of your tribe. The neighbor is the one who shows mercy.
Jesus was coming from a place of personal health and authenticity when he responded to the scholar. He was saying, “Commit yourself totally to that in your life which enables you to be your deepest authentic self. From this place you will proceed with wisdom, courage and compassion for others, because your own defensive isolating voices will be stilled.”
To those of you for whom established faith traditions are no longer helpful, this wisdom still applies. Engage with all your being that which calls forth your authentic instincts. Unless you are one of those exceptional people who are able to travel this journey alone, join with others in this endeavor.
I find Joseph Campbell's words helpful in this regard:xi
“Follow your bliss and the universe will open doors where there were only walls.”
“We must let go of the life we have planned, so as to accept the one that is waiting for us.”
“Your sacred space is where you can find yourself again and again.”
“The privilege of a lifetime is being who you are.”
For those of you who are still involved in traditional faith groups, don't just worship the God of your tradition; act on it's precepts. Give your all to promote justice. Practice compassion with and for all people.
Writer Walter Brueggemann has these insights for you: (Although he is writing for Christians, his words apply more generally.)
“I think a case can be made that the heart of the gospel (the core teaching of your tradition) is “do not fear.” This formula is the quintessential world-changing assurance in the Bible (your sacred scripture). Fear is the great pathology of our society. It is the task of the church (your sacred community) to say “do not fear,” but that assurance must be grounded in a God who is trusted to be present in effective ways. And God is not present apart from the imagination of the poets. Thus the church, in its poetic vocation with grounding in the holy assurance of God, is entrusted with an antidote to the pathology of our time and place. It is not an easy assurance, but it is one that opens space for different actions and different social relationships, and so for different futures. This is an amazing trust to the church, and one about which the church is most often too timid.”
For each of us there is a deep place that rings true in our inmost self. From this place we can accept ourselves as we truly are, with all our positive and negative attributes. We no longer need to try to be more than we are or to envision ourselves as less than we are. We can then have compassion for ourselves enabling our compassion for others. In so doing, we will participate in the cosmic flow that promotes life and wholeness in the face of the dark forces of fear, domination and violence.
Thomas Merton put it this way: (Make appropriate substitutions for the masculine language.)
“What is the relation of [contemplation] to action? Simply this. He who attempts to act and do things for others or for the world without deepening his own self-understanding, freedom, integrity and capacity to love will not have anything to give others. He will communicate to them nothing but the contagion of his own obsessions, his aggressiveness, his ego-centered ambitions, his delusions about ends and means, his doctrinaire prejudices and ideas. There is nothing more tragic in the modern world than the misuse of power and action. . . .”
“As we learn to have compassion for ourselves, the circle of compassion for others — what and whom we can work (and be in community) with, and how — becomes wider.”
This is our challenge. Engage that higher power that fills you with energy and life. Live from this source in everything you are and do. Be part of the healing of our world.
ihttps://www.simplypsychology.org/carl-jung.html
iihttps://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2018/03/06/the-long-terrifying-history-of-russian-dissidents-being-poisoned-abroad/?utm_term=.94e06e551ace
iiihttp://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-06-22/yemen-houthis-and-saudi-forces-hold-up-food-aid-fuel/9897684
ivhttps://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/jun/18/donald-trump-us-migrant-camp-border-separation
vSome say the president was referring only to the MS-13 gang. Others claim he was referring to all immigrants.
vihttps://variety.com/2018/tv/news/anderson-cooper-defends-haiti-chokes-up-donald-trump-1202662627/
viihttps://drchuckpfeifer.blogspot.com/2018/05/a-plea-for-compassion-in-veil-of-tears.html
viiiLuke 10:25-28 (The scholar quotes from Deuteronomy 6:4,5 and Leviticus 19:18)
ixLuke 10:29-37
xhttp://www.stephanielandsem.com/2013/04/jews-vs-samaritans-the-origin-of-conflict/
xihttps://www.brainyquote.com/authors/joseph_campbell
xiiPema Chodron (2000). “When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times”, p.110, Shambhala Publications
