Join the Dance

I interviewed for a job recently that sounded perfect for me. When I told my friends about the position they all laughed because it seemed like such a great fit. It turns out it wasn't because the company decided not to proceed with my application. It stings and also doesn't make much sense to me.

I started puzzling out why they didn't hire me, trying to comprehend their reasoning. My therapist told me, "Some things don't make sense and sometimes suffering happens." Ouch. Can that not be true? Thanks. It's interesting to notice how much I don't accept this perspective. I want a reason for everything. I want to know why. Why did a man try to run over pedestrians because he thought they were Muslims? Why did someone open fire on a synagogue during a Passover service? Why did a man shoot elementary school students?

 This picture will make more sense as you keep reading. Photo by Ardian Lumi on Unsplash

There are lots of possible answers -- people are sick, they're hurting, etc. -- but there are many sick and hurting people that don't kill others. Can I allow myself to instead grieve over the fact I don't understand why people act this way? My adult self can rationalize ad nauseam, but the young part of me doesn't understand. Doesn't understand why a job that seemed so perfect slid away, doesn't understand why people disappear, and certainly doesn't understand why people are cruel.

I think part of this is because I prefer to live in denial, or an idealistic fantasy. I mean, I know bad things happen, but I like to rush by them as quickly as I can like walking past foul-smelling garbage. It's hard for me to accept the harshness of life.

In my spiritual tradition, we say God is an acronym. It stands for Generator, Operator, and Destroyer. I can totally get behind the generator and operator part. I'm all about creation and maintenance. The destroyer though? Surely that's not God, is it? It is. Black holes are God and death is God and decay is God. It's painful for me to admit that, I don't want it to be true, but it's true nonetheless. This is the cycle of life, a never-ending rhythm of creation, operation, and destruction.

My spiritual teacher says, "An indivisible cosmic rhythm which started from beginningless time marches ahead to infinity. No creature can remain away from this internal divine flow." He also says that which is beyond the scope of causality is liilá. What we don't understand, what we can't explain, is called liilá. I could spend my life trying to figure out things I'll never have an answer for, or I can give in to the rhythm and join the dance.

I dream of a world where we realize we won't understand everything. A world where we allow ourselves the time and space to grieve the senseless and the tragic. A world where we understand that, too, is God, and that, too, is a part of life. A world where we keep dancing with the universal rhythm.

Another world is not only possible, it's probable.

The Inevitability of Change

Let's talk about slavery and guns. I know! The light and easy topics! The other day, an infographic swirled around facebook showing American slavery lasted for 246 years and segregation lasted for 89. In the scheme of things, the years since the end of segregation are minuscule. It's hardly any time at all. Generation after generation after generation was born into slavery. I'm sure at the time it seemed like slavery would last forever, and for many it did. They spent their entire lives as slaves. And now for the modern-day person, we look back and shake our heads, saying, “I can't believe it took that long.” I think the same will be true with gun violence.

Christopher Reeve said, “So many of our dreams at first seem impossible, then they seem improbable, and then, when we summon the will, they soon become inevitable.” I won't say I'm confident in the inevitability of gun control, but I'd like to be. I think about the generations of slaves who thought for sure slavery would last forever and still took steps to fight against it. The tireless men and women who said, “No, we won't stand for this,” and then did something. It took a loooong time and obviously we still have problems with racism in this country, but things changed. That gives me hope.

The wheel of change keeps turning. Photo by Alex Read on Unsplash.

What also gives me hope are the teenagers from Parkland, Fla., who are saying, “We will not stand for this.” On the 17^th, they held a rally in protest. Emma Gonzalez, a student from the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, the site of the most recent school shooting, gave a speech. She called for new gun restrictions, blasting President Trump, the National Rifle Association, and lawmakers for what she called their self-serving and ultimately hollow responses to the shooting. Many students held signs demanding new action on gun control. "My friend died for what?" read one sign. "Stop gun violence now," read another.

Also, the organizers behind the Women's March have called for a national school walkout next month to protest what they say is congress's tacit response to mass shootings. The walkout on March 14 is set to last 17 minutes, and will seek to pressure lawmakers "to do more than tweet thoughts and prayers in response to the gun violence plaguing our schools and neighborhoods," the group said on its website.

I don't know if these actions will accomplish anything. I don't know if congress will immediately pass stricter gun regulations, or if they'll heed the siren's song of gun lobby money. We could have another 50 years of mass shootings before us, or not. What I do know is change is inevitable. And I also know change doesn't just happen, we have to push for it.

Frederick Douglass said, “I prayed for freedom for 20 years, but received no answer until I prayed with my legs.” I'm with you Frederick. Let's pray with our legs. Eventually, inevitably, things will be different, and our descendants will look back at this time, shake their heads, and say, “I can't believe it took that long.”

I dream of a world where we remember things can change, do change, and will change. A world where we remember the veracity of Christopher Reeve's quote, that after we summon the will, certain changes are inevitable. I dream of a world where they happen sooner rather than later.

Another world is not only possible, it's probable.