Hecate sits at the cross-roads. Look above, storm clouds pass across the moon. A cold breeze shivers down your spine and you know, change waits for no-one.
There are those, who would set fire to the world. Let us remind them of the good that they are capable of. We are in danger. Fear may overwhelm us, immobilize us. Anger may tempt us to take shortcuts, to demonize, to disregard. There is only time to go slowly, with compassion, with deep listening, with connection to community and to spirit. We must love ourselves, love the world. There is no time not to love.
One October weekend I was camped in a travel trailer on Whidbey Island. The island is a beautiful wooded stretch of land in the Pacific ocean off the coast of Washington north of Seattle. And then… A weather report told me that a storm was coming. A storm that might have winds high enough to roll my temporary home.
I noticed that I responded first with denial. I moved away from the web page and said to myself “they are just being alarmist.” The next time I heard about the storm I reacted with fear and a sense of helplessness. I have no experience protecting a travel trailer from typhoon force winds. I am not an expert, I wasn’t even good at interpreting the weather report! Somewhere in the middle between the panic and the denial lay the response I really needed. I needed to stop avoiding acknowledging my emotions, and to give myself a chance to let my anxiety settle. Neither avoidance nor reactivity would work.
The storm is coming whether I turn off the radio or click away from the web page. My running about in circles isn’t going to help me prepare. Ignoring my feelings cripples me and acting on fear and anger gets me no-where. So what did I need to do? I called the manufacturer of the trailer for advice. I turned to friends for re-assurance. I consulted with my life companion about a reasonable, safe, do-able plan. Then we put the plan into action. It turns out that, this time, the storm was minor. But it is not the only storm!
Global climate change, economic insecurity, the disintegration of our democratic process, growing frustration at the prison industrial complex and the mis-treatment received by the global majority, a growing divide between “red” and “blue”… you name it, the storms are coming. As Gaia Consort sings: Well a cold winter’s coming and it isn’t gonna wait.
We are in danger. The problems are huge. Intractable. Frightening. If you tackle too much you will be overwhelmed. After all, you personally, all alone, you aren’t going to solve all the problems.
My spiritual director reminds me regularly. I need my spiritual practice. That practice is what helps me find the middle path. I need my walks in nature. I need the song I sing, calling on the divine by many names. I need my reading and reflection. I need the time with family, laughing, loving. It is hard to find the time to do these things.
But, as John McCutcheon sings:
Step by step the longest march can be won, can be won.
Many stones can form an arch, singly none, singly none.
And by union what we will, can be accomplished still.
Drops of water turn a mill, singly none, singly none.
It is a vision of the slow steady work of water. Sometimes it is invisible. Sometimes it seems to take forever. But water is powerful. Many drops of water are even more powerful! This slower, calmer, less destructive, way depends on knowing that you are not alone. When you know that others will help carry the load, you can take the time you need.
The poet, Deena Metzger put it this way:
There are those who want to set fire to the world. We are in danger. There is only time to work slowly. There is no time not to love.
That’s right. The time for love is NOW. There is no time not to love, to love ourselves, love the least of these, love the one who has done wrong, love the world. Let us be faithful to the work that must be done.
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