Limits to growth notwithstanding, history says this never happens. Progress is inevitably followed by regress. Things get better, then things get worse. These cycles can be very long \u2013 some people are lucky enough to be born in a place and time where they experience non-stop progress throughout their lives. But sooner or later, what goes up will come down.<\/p>\n
I know this. I\u2019ve blogged about it<\/a> multiple times over the years. More than that, I\u2019m very much aware that we\u2019re living in Tower Time<\/a> \u2013 an era of sudden and irreversible change.<\/p>\n It\u2019s one thing to know it \u2013 it\u2019s another thing to live it. And we are certainly living it now.<\/p>\n It\u2019s that last one that\u2019s really hit me. I\u2019ve made my thoughts on abortion clear, and I\u2019ve also made it clear that anti-choice politicians aren\u2019t interested in reducing the number of abortions (it can never be eliminated, no matter what laws are passed). They\u2019re interested in claiming that their hands are clean<\/a>, no matter how much harm they cause in the process. This law effectively bans abortion, and it turns ordinary citizens into Stasi agents to enforce it. And the Supreme Court let it stand, at least for now.<\/p>\n If the far right politicians can do this, what can they not do?<\/p>\n None of these are simple problems. None of them have quick solutions. Some of them may be stopped. All of them won\u2019t be stopped. None of them will be stopped without coordinated and consistent effort on the part of liberals, moderates, and \u2013 where they exist \u2013 principled and compassionate conservatives.<\/p>\n As a public Pagan, as someone with a platform, it\u2019s my obligation to be the voice of reason. It\u2019s my obligation to provide inspiration, even when it\u2019s just a whisper to be the dark<\/a>.<\/p>\n But lately I\u2019m haven\u2019t been feeling very inspirational.<\/p>\n I hate the clich\u00e9 \u201ceverything you feel is a choice.\u201d No, it\u2019s not. That\u2019s toxic positivity and victim blaming. I feel what I feel because the world has been declining for years and it\u2019s on a pretty steep slope downward at the moment. I feel what I feel because I don\u2019t see the bottom, much less a way back up. I feel what I feel because even though I knew the myth of progress is a lie, part of me felt like it might continue for the rest of my life. Hoped it would, anyway.<\/p>\n But eventually, after you\u2019ve cried and screamed until you can\u2019t cry and scream any more, you realize you do have to make a choice. Either you continue to wallow in misery, or you do something about it. We don\u2019t have to like the way things are \u2013 we just have to deal with them as they are. And we damn sure better not pretend all this is no big deal.<\/p>\n Last Wednesday night I went outside to pray and make offerings. I\u2019ve said these particular prayers and made these particular offerings every Wednesday night for the past five years. The discipline of regular spiritual practice will keep you going even when you don\u2019t feel like you can take another step. You do it because you always do it and you can\u2019t imagine not doing it.<\/p>\n Most times this practice is rather ordinary. Pray, pour, listen briefly, get confirmation that They heard, say goodbye. The fact that I have ecstatic experiences of the Gods on occasion doesn\u2019t mean I have them all the time \u2013 far from it. And it certainly doesn\u2019t mean that any of Them are holding my hand 24\/7.<\/p>\n This time was different. This time my prayers were more urgent and my listening was more intense.<\/p>\n All of a sudden I had an impression, an image \u2013 more a photograph than a movie. I was a Druid in ancient times, or maybe I was a priest in a different tradition \u2013 the specifics weren\u2019t clear, and they weren\u2019t important. What\u2019s important was that I was worshipping my Gods and serving my community, at a time when Bad Things were happening.<\/p>\n Was this a past life memory? A vision of the future? A random bit of history with me inserted into it? I don\u2019t know. What I do know is that it was an answer from the Gods to whom I was praying. This is what I\u2019m supposed to be doing: worshipping my Gods and serving my community, regardless of the circumstances.<\/p>\n More than an answer, this was an assignment \u2013 a direct order.<\/p>\n It\u2019s easy to keep working when you can see progress \u2013 when you feel in your gut that no matter how hard today is, tomorrow is going to be better. It\u2019s much more difficult to keep working when you can\u2019t see a bright future ahead of you. But it\u2019s no less necessary.<\/p>\n Our Gods still need to be worshipped. Our communities still need to be served. Our families still need to be cared for. Our passions still need to be stoked, and supported, and indulged.<\/p>\n And so we go about our daily lives, because we must. We do the things we\u2019re called to do, because how can we do anything else? We do the things that bring us pleasure, because we\u2019re Pagans who understand that all acts of love and pleasure are good and holy \u2013 and necessary.<\/p>\n And in doing these things, we find the inspiration and motivation and determination to do the things necessary to fight oppression, stay healthy, and deal with an environmental crisis that can no longer be avoided.<\/p>\n It shouldn\u2019t be this way. It didn\u2019t have to be this way. But it is. We don\u2019t have to like it \u2013 we just have to deal with it.<\/p>\n I see many of us sharing this quote from The Lord of the Rings<\/em>:<\/p>\n \u201cI wish it need not have happened in my time,\u201d said Frodo.<\/p>\n \u201cSo do I,\u201d said Gandalf, \u201cand so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Our mission is not as straightforward as taking the One Ring to Mordor. It\u2019s not as difficult either. At least, I don\u2019t think it is. My skills at long-range, big-picture divination aren\u2019t that good. But regardless of what the future ends up being, there are things we can do to help us get there successfully.<\/p>\n It\u2019s difficult to accept that the future you thought was coming \u2013 a future you wanted \u2013 isn\u2019t coming at all. You don\u2019t have to like it \u2013 I certainly don\u2019t. If you feel the need to mourn, then mourn. I don\u2019t know that I\u2019ve been mourning, but I\u2019ve certainly been in despair.<\/p>\n But despair doesn\u2019t help things get better, and it doesn\u2019t help me deal with it. And it isn\u2019t a pleasant place to be. So it\u2019s time to get moving.<\/p>\n I\u2019m not going to pretend all is well. I\u2019m not going to fake being happy about everything. I\u2019m certainly not going to gaslight myself and say it\u2019s all part of some grand plan that \u201chappens for a reason.\u201d<\/p>\n But I am going to get back to work. If the ancient Druid version of me could do it (assuming that was a past life memory, which I\u2019m going to do for now because it\u2019s a helpful assumption) then the modern Druid version of me can do it too. If my ancestors could make it through difficult times, then I can too.<\/p>\n If Frodo can carry the One Ring to Mordor, then I can do whatever it is that I\u2019m called to do in these times.<\/p>\n And so can you.<\/p>\n Peace, blessings, and power to you as you do what must be done.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It\u2019s difficult to accept that the future you thought was coming \u2013 a future you wanted \u2013 isn\u2019t coming at all. I don\u2019t like this. But despair doesn\u2019t help things get better, and it doesn\u2019t help us deal with it. So it\u2019s time to get moving. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1129,"featured_media":23405,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[405,3289,4,5,3809,565],"class_list":["post-23399","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-practice","tag-climate-change","tag-covid","tag-pagan","tag-paganism","tag-texas-abortion-law","tag-tower-time"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/243\/2021\/09\/black-candles-09.03.21-1024x536.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
Feelings aren\u2019t a choice \u2013 actions are<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/243\/2021\/09\/Pedernales-Falls-stairs-02-1024x536.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nRegular spiritual practice comes through in an extraordinary way<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/243\/2021\/09\/Cernunnos-09.03.21-01-1024x536.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nSome things we do in good times and in bad<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/243\/2021\/09\/flooded-creek-06.12.21-02-1024x536.jpg\")
<\/a>I wish it wasn\u2019t like this<\/h2>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
We can do this<\/h2>\n