More important now than ever. If we want to address evil in the world, we have to be willing to look at our own shadow.
This recent post (December 9) from Caitlin Johnstone spoke very deeply to me.
“How To Heal When the World Is On Fire.” https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/how-to-heal-when-the-world-is-on
“… The thing about healing is that it leaves only an absence of something, so it doesn’t make a big deal about itself. … The more you do this though, the more the noise in your head dies down, and the real world begins to emerge. You become less reactive and less likely to inadvertently cause drama in your world, and in yourself you become generally happier and lighter. But you also see — and this goes back to the nub of your question – that in this new light the world becomes a much less scary place. You can see that the monsters who rule our world aren’t so much monsters as just little kids with far too much power unconsciously acting out their defense mechanisms. The suffering they cause is real and horrifying, but at the root of it, they are humans playing out a very human pattern. In this context, it’s comprehensible. You’ve found similar things in yourself, so it’s not an alien threat which defies understanding. …”
On a related note, I really liked this piece by Genny Harrison on Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/share/19veiwHWx2/?mibextid=WC7FNe
“When societies begin to fracture, they do not fail all at once. They fray … When we reduce complex failure to a single villain, we trade understanding for relief. …”
“When we reduce complex failure to a single villain, we trade understanding for relief.” That last sentence expresses something I’ve had on my mind for a long time.
There’s no such thing as a single villain. And we all need to be willing to look in the mirror.
A community leader in Daytona Beach, Rev. Dr. L Ronald Durham, once said something to the effect that if you are not the biggest sinner you know, you’re not looking hard enough.
Based on my own experience, that certainly is true!