{"id":5921,"date":"2016-12-22T06:45:28","date_gmt":"2016-12-22T12:45:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/?p=5921"},"modified":"2016-12-20T19:41:14","modified_gmt":"2016-12-21T01:41:14","slug":"know-something-needs-done-dont-know","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2016\/12\/know-something-needs-done-dont-know.html","title":{"rendered":"When You Know Something Needs To Be Done But You Don\u2019t Know What"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Last week\u2019s post The Gods Are Getting Impatient<\/a> generated a lot of comments, both here and on Facebook. It seems I\u2019m not the only Pagan getting messages to pick up the pace and do what must be done.<\/p>\n

Some of the comments expressed frustration. This was from people who feel this same sense of urgency but don\u2019t know what to do with it.<\/p>\n

\"03<\/a><\/p>\n

I\u2019m more than a little reluctant publish a list of things that need to be done. I fought enough battles with people who thought I was \u201ctrying to tell everybody what to do\u201d and I have no desire get into that again. More importantly, the things I\u2019m feeling pressured to get done right away are local and personal. For example, there is a certain ordeal I have to complete in the coming weeks. It\u2019s mostly a solitary thing, though it may involve two or three others. This is very important for me and for my contribution to the Great Work of this time, but it\u2019s not something blog readers can help with. Nor is my ordeal likely to be relevant to anyone else.<\/p>\n

There is no master plan. I\u2019m convinced many of the Gods are cooperating with each other, but to what end and to what extent I do not know. I have enough trouble figuring out my place in all of this \u2013 I can\u2019t possibly figure out yours.<\/p>\n

But when multiple people ask the same question at the same time, that\u2019s usually a pretty good sign I\u2019m supposed to write about it. So here goes\u2026<\/p>\n

Take stock of your situation<\/strong>. Where are you? What\u2019s going on around you? Who\u2019s around you that could use your help? What knowledge and skills do you bring to the table? Somewhere your abilities intersect with some great need. Maybe that means tangible, this-world actions. Maybe it means spiritual, Otherworldly actions. Maybe it means both. Regardless, there\u2019s something you can do that needs to be done.<\/p>\n

Double down on spiritual practice<\/strong>. Put extra emphasis on prayer, meditation, offerings, and other acts of devotion. Build and maintain relationships with Gods, ancestors, and other spirits. Listen. Listen long enough and intently enough and you\u2019re likely to hear something.<\/p>\n

Stay busy while you wait.<\/strong> Waiting can be frustrating. Staying busy makes things a little less frustrating and it makes productive use of fallow times.<\/p>\n

Read. Study. Practice. You may not be needed for something right now. But you will. Trust me: offer to help more than once or twice and Someone will take you up on the offer. You\u2019ll want to be ready when the call comes, not wishing you had done more spellwork or hedge jumping and less TV watching.<\/p>\n

If my current work had been put in front of me seven or eight years ago, I would have felt thrilled \u2013 I didn\u2019t know enough to fully appreciate what all was involved. Now I won\u2019t say I\u2019m scared, but I\u2019m definitely concerned. I feel like I\u2019ve done a mostly good job of completing the preparatory work I needed to do, but there are still areas where I wish I had done more.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re never truly ready for times like these, but that doesn\u2019t stop them from coming. What we don\u2019t have we\u2019ll make up for with resourcefulness and determination.<\/p>\n

Be careful with your words<\/strong>. Don\u2019t promise what you won\u2019t do, or what you can\u2019t do \u2013 not even when you think no one is listening. Someone is always listening \u2013 and I\u2019m not talking about the NSA. Contrary to what some of my well-meaning Pagan friends like to say, intent isn\u2019t everything. \u201cI would give anything if\u2026\u201d or \u201cI pledge my life to\u2026\u201d are not words to be thrown around casually.<\/p>\n

My work is not your work<\/strong>. I really really want to encourage you to do the deep work necessary to figure out what you need to be doing right now. I occasionally get UPG to deliver to someone else, but those are specific messages for specific people. I have no grand revelation for the entire Pagan community.<\/p>\n

But I know some people are going to read down to this point and say \u201cbut I still don\u2019t know what I need to do!\u201d So last night I did something I rarely do: in my evening prayers, I asked for a message in a dream. And then something even more rare happened: I got one.<\/p>\n

\"Denton<\/a><\/p>\n

I was in a generic outdoor space and I was trying to get home. I was being stalked by people in institutional white uniforms \u2013 this was a combination of Invasion of the Body Snatchers<\/em> and any one of a dozen or so movies and TV shows where a non-conforming character is locked away in a mental hospital \u201cfor their own good.\u201d<\/p>\n

I couldn\u2019t find my car and I knew the stalkers would trap me if I got on a train, so I ran. I knew I couldn\u2019t run all the way home \u2013 I just wanted to get to a place where I could get help and find transportation. I ran like I haven\u2019t been able to run in fifteen years<\/a>. But every time I\u2019d stop, the stalkers in the white uniforms would start to close in and I\u2019d have to take off again.<\/p>\n

I needed help, but my phone wouldn\u2019t work. I could see some friends in the distance \u2013 real people who I would trust with my life \u2013 but I couldn\u2019t get their attention. And the stalkers were closing in.<\/p>\n

I had no weapons \u2013 they were all at home \u2013 so I fought hand to hand. I hurt them like I\u2019ve never hurt anyone in real life. But as soon as I put one down, another would show up. I had more strength and endurance than I\u2019ve ever had, but I was getting tired and I knew I wasn\u2019t going to last much longer\u2026 and if they took me away, it would be worse than death. I needed help and I wasn\u2019t going to get it.<\/p>\n

I woke up in a sweat, even though the bedroom was about 60\u00b0F. I realized it was a dream, sat up, leaned over to the nightstand to get a drink, and drank like I had been running for real.<\/p>\n

As I set the glass down, I heard a familiar Voice behind me whispering: \u201cyou can\u2019t do this alone.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"04<\/a><\/p>\n

What do you do when you know something needs to be done but you don\u2019t know what that is? Find the others. Find a local Pagan group. Find a handful of Witches and Druids and polytheists and form your own group. Find an active UU church or a progressive Christian church. Connect with like-minded people on-line. Go to conventions and gatherings and meet like-minded people.<\/p>\n

Get help.<\/p>\n

Give help.<\/p>\n

Form alliances.<\/p>\n

Every time I post about groups, a handful of people comment about their bad experiences with Pagan groups, how there\u2019s nothing around them, or how they can\u2019t travel for one reason or another. I\u2019m sympathetic to their situations, but this message was very clear.<\/p>\n

Some people are called to solitary practice \u2013 perhaps you\u2019re one of them. If so, this message isn\u2019t for you.<\/p>\n

But if this seems to fit, perhaps it\u2019s time to put on your armor and get out there one more time.<\/p>\n

I have my assignments and they have very aggressive due dates. My work is not your work, even if we\u2019re playing on the same team, even if we\u2019re fighting in the same army. Concentrate on the work you\u2019re called to do, and if you don\u2019t know what that is do the deep work necessary to figure it out. Stay busy while you wait.<\/p>\n

But if you\u2019re looking for an assignment and you\u2019re willing to take it on, go find the others.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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