Gratitude

by Judith Gayle | Political Waves

Earlier this week, a friend mentioned she was pondering what she was thankful for this year and asked what my thoughts were. My thoughts, as are everyone’s during this stressful period, are a bit conflicted. Everything seems a tough slog on spongy terrain these days, and womping up enthusiasm for the rigors and expense of another hydra-headed holiday season — Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanzaa and New Years, the trappings of which hit the store aisles in early September — feels burdensome and exhausting. Still, our formal day of thanksgiving continues to be a favorite of many, and certainly of the grocers of America. Were I to suggest we make Thanksgiving a day of contemplation and fasting and contribute the money we might spend feasting to whatever worthwhile cause pleases the heart, I’m pretty sure I’d get booed off the cyber-stage.

We’re tradition-bound in this country, which is both productive and nonproductive. Tradition is productive when respect for the principals upon which we were founded keep us grounded in reality and basic democratic virtues; it’s nonproductive when we fasten upon antiquated forms of social structure, the kind that must give way to growth and movement, with unyielding stubbornness, and so create fissures in both our evolving social contract and governance. With only two political choices in America — both too flirty with big money but the one not currently in power urging complete incest with all the hubristic bravado of a NAMBLA devotee — that’s the pendulum swing of the moment, the Baggers attempting to ride their wave of rebellion back through a century or two to “simpler” times. Or maybe we should just say “whiter” times, certainly more stubbornly patriarchal and obviously more classist. The irony is that those who want this regression so desperately don’t understand what it would actually mean for them, for their family or lifestyle, and there I find my first reason to be grateful this Thanksgiving.

Can we get out of our own way and allow, during this extraordinary time of transition, the ‘dead to bury the dead?’ What is no longer useful to our evolvement or responsible to our environment need not be resurrected and in fact needs deeper burying. I’m able to look forward into the future and see the kind of world we might make if we stopped beating tribal drums and putting ourselves first. I can feel the joy of what we might accomplish if we began to work with, and for, one another and the stability of our beautiful planet. And if you’ve gravitated to Planet Waves, my friend, then you can too. Essentially, we’re awake and aware of the system of pitfalls surrounding us. We’ve worked hard to get here, haven’t we? We’ve earned the blessing of standing in our power of choice about what to do, what to think, what to intend. Most importantly, knowing where we’re planting our feet makes all the difference when we’re walking through land mines.

What land mines, you ask? The false narrative, the disinformation campaign, the PR blitz, the theocratic absolutes — and that’s just for starters. These anachronistic ideas surround us, womb-like, begging us to stay put even as the birthing contractions of a new era propel us forward. We are capable of looking out over a broken system, begging for restructure and balance, honest dialog and intelligent discussion; instead we get a semi-hysterical rant about what entitlement needs axing, which tax base needs tightening, what austerity program needs implementing, which social strata get thrown under the bus.

No discussion of bringing corporate taxation into the 21st century, of returning to a fair market as opposed to a poorly-regulated free one, or the imperative of redrawing our military footprint to work smarter and smaller. No plans to chastise predatory capitalism or corporate greed, bankers’ excess, or the increasingly confident luxury consumption of brokers and traders, their profits based on the worrisome paper-swapping industry that drives much of our economy. Instead we just hear a loud wail from the business class that Obama must stop attacking them or be beaten like a wicked step-child in 2012. We look at the pundits on television and see them for the lobbyists they are, the transparency of their intention shining like light streaming through a cathedral window. The clearer their agenda, then, the more obvious does ours become. Our own decisions can be informed by reality, facts — truth.

Our political problems are correctable but only as our culture becomes aware of the great disparities and injustices that are being endured. It sounds a bit facetious, but literally, money is just money; we give it so much more power than a simple rate of exchange. Our problems are more psychosocial than sociopolitical, at this point. Who could have imagined an extreme movement that seriously threatens the Constitution? Who could have imagined a Glenn Beck leading the pack on historical or religious issues, or a Sarah Palin thinking the presidency is within her grasp? Stunning! Yet these irregularities can only return to their proper place when we see things clearly, understand the factors influencing our decisions, and make informed choices. This period in Earth history is not about any nation taking its rightful place in world leadership; it’s about humanity maturing past self-protectionism and egocentrism, about taking a leap in consciousness to allow for sustainability of the species and stewardship of the planet.

Do not underestimate the blessing of awareness. We are better off than at least a third of our brothers/sisters in this nation and likely many more. To have even the slightest notion of what’s shaking our culture apart, and why, is extraordinary. Our familiarity with astrology lends us understanding of patterns and cycles. Our exploration of oracular systems allows us an appreciation for spiritual dimensions. Our discovery of our own process puts us closer to God/dess with every breath we take. Our every purposeful attempt at self-awareness leads toward discovering our authenticity. We are among those few who understand that we live not in an apocalypse but a change of ages, not in meaningless chaos but meaningful creation. We are able, then, to help calm and soothe those around us who give way to fear, whose courage fails them. We are able to be of service to one another, smoothing the way for the changes that are ahead. We are able to comfort and take comfort, not so much in the stuff and nonsense of our culture but in the best traditions of it.

And so I hope your Thanksgiving gave you opportunity to experience these things, to feel the enormity of this moment through the lens of the well-fed and the still hopeful. That is yet another blessing we must amplify and extend to a waiting world. We are not in random meltdown; we are in reconfiguration. As we focus our attention on gratitude for all that is already in place for this grand experiment, we open our hearts to an outcome that will leave no one unable to come to the table.