{"id":2732,"date":"2014-08-19T17:00:05","date_gmt":"2014-08-19T23:00:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/?p=2732"},"modified":"2014-08-18T19:50:56","modified_gmt":"2014-08-19T01:50:56","slug":"setting-the-world-straight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2014\/08\/setting-the-world-straight.html","title":{"rendered":"Setting The World Straight"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"03<\/a>
statue of Thoreau at Walden Pond<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

In discussing Henry David Thoreau, mid-20th<\/sup> century American writer E.B. White said<\/a> \u201cWalden<\/em> is the report of a man torn by two powerful and opposing drives \u2013 the desire to enjoy the world and the urge to set the world straight.\u201d I am no Thoreau, but that statement describes my current conundrum quite accurately.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m a Pagan in part because I see the world as something to enjoy. Our world is not fallen, it is becoming. Yes, life can be hard, and suffering is never far away, but there is so much to experience and so much to learn. There are the joys of love and friendship, the spiritual fulfillment of communion with the Gods and ancestors, and the intellectual fulfillment of discovery. I am not a Wiccan, but the charge to \u201csing, feast, dance, make music and love\u201d is a beautiful recipe for making our time in this life simple and pleasant.<\/p>\n

But I\u2019m having a hard time singing these past few weeks.<\/p>\n

Thousands of refugee children have come into our country and a substantial portion of our population wants to treat them like stray dogs.<\/p>\n

Israelis and Palestinians keep killing each other. Israel is winning the body count and losing its soul, while the Palestinians persist in fighting a war they cannot win.<\/p>\n

ISIL (I refuse to call them ISIS \u2013 may Auset strike them down) is trying to exterminate the Yazidis, force Christians to convert to Islam, and enforce barbaric laws they claim are \u201cGod\u2019s will.\u201d At least we\u2019ve finally launched a few air strikes.<\/p>\n

And here in the land of the free and the home of the brave, we\u2019ve had yet another young, unarmed Black man killed by a police officer. Journalists have been arrested and peaceful protestors treated like criminals by a militarized police force more interested in showing how big and bad they are than in finding justice and preserving the peace.<\/p>\n

I could go on. And on. And on.<\/p>\n

It isn\u2019t that bad things are happening in the world \u2013 there are always bad things happening in the world. And it isn\u2019t that 24\/7 news and social media make them impossible to ignore. I don\u2019t want to ignore them \u2013 I want to do something to fix them. And I can\u2019t.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve never been accused of being an empath. I\u2019m closer to being a sociopath, although I\u2019m pretty sure I\u2019m right in the middle of the empath-sociopath continuum. Perhaps it\u2019s more self-centered paranoia than empathy, but here lately it\u2019s been hard not to see myself in the victims, to realize that if things were just a bit different, that could be me hauled off to jail for not obeying a police officer\u2019s arbitrary commands fast enough\u2026 or killed for worshipping different Gods.<\/p>\n

I want to set the world straight. And if I can\u2019t \u2013 and I know good and well that\u2019s beyond the capacity of any individual, much less me \u2013 then at least I want to be able to work for justice. I want to use the relatively safe position of privilege I enjoy to advocate for solutions that are compassionate, fair, and most of all, effective.<\/p>\n

But what am I supposed to advocate for?<\/p>\n

There are no simple solutions, much less easy ones. Spiritual leaders with far more depth and speakers who are far more eloquent than me have implored those in power to embrace tolerance, compassion, and reason to no avail. Nobody has the right to tell people with legitimate grievances to just let it go and accept continued injustice. And some people simply can\u2019t be bargained with \u2013 I\u2019m reluctant to use the term \u201cevil\u201d but I can think of no other way to describe ISIL.<\/p>\n

Thoreau was a strong advocate for the abolition of slavery, but he did not live to see its end. If Henry David Thoreau couldn\u2019t set his world straight, what chance do any of us have with our far more complex world?<\/p>\n

I do not know if our lives are controlled by fate or if we truly have free will<\/a>. I have always argued we are better off ordering our lives as though we have free will because such a belief causes us to make better decisions. Yet at times like these the distinction seems meaningless \u2013 the wrongs of our world seem so large and so entrenched they might as well be fate.<\/p>\n

For many of our ancestors, such a conundrum was simply The Way Things Are. They had little control and even less security in their lives. But this did not cause them to despair. While they certainly admired those who accomplished great things, they judged themselves based on how well they embodied the virtues and values of their people.<\/p>\n

Not whether you won, but whether you fought valiantly.<\/p>\n

C\u00fa Chulainn is remembered as a great warrior, but he is also remembered as one who went bravely to his final battle knowing he had no strength for the fight.<\/p>\n

In The Earth, The Gods and The Soul<\/a><\/em>, Brendan Myers quotes the ancient Irish wisdom texts describing the qualities of a good ruler:<\/p>\n

let him be merciful, just, impartial, conscientious, firm, generous, hospitable, honourable, stable, beneficent, capable, honest, well-spoken, steady, true judging<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

These are qualities all of us can embody regardless of our circumstances.<\/p>\n

Two weeks ago I participated in a Rite of Herakles<\/a> \u2013 you may know Him as Hercules. Herakles performed many great deeds but also suffered many great losses, including a painful and untimely death. But because of His perseverance and His willingness to do what was right no matter how difficult, the Gods raised him to Olympus.<\/p>\n

I can\u2019t set the world straight. I can live virtuously and encourage others to do the same. I can honor my Gods and ancestors and encourage others to do the same. I can fight the battles that come to me and support those who fight the battles I cannot<\/a>.<\/p>\n

And occasionally, I can sing and feast.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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