Saturday, January 3, 2009

Learning Through Nature
And Listening To God In 2009
When Pondering The State Of The World


We are many things, and one is that we each are only one grain of sand on this beach of humanity. The waves of life crash upon us, but collectively we survive.

I live in a nation where the first hint of a coming tsunami has made itself known. If you've ever seen or read about them in the world of nature, they are caused by sudden, shifting plate boundaries on the crust of the earth. On dry land, sudden plate movement causes an earthquake; when on the ocean floor, the result can be tsunami. We don't read or hear about many of them because they occur in the middle of 'nowhere' - the ocean, and don't affect coastlines.

Like politics and wars, some ocean earthquakes are near enough to us to affect us.

Just before a tsunami strikes, the ocean shoreline is sometimes is sucked back far away from the beach leaving the view of shallow water. Islanders have learned that's the time to run like hell in the opposite direction of the beach. For the ignorant or the curious who remain to see what is going on, many sealife animals are revealed: starfish, clams, other shelled creatures left in the sand.

And then it happens. The mega tons of water that pulled back now rush forward in a giant wall moving at tremendous speed back toward the land. The result is destruction to man-made habitats and man himself, if he's in the way.

Unpopulated areas rarely if ever suffer total destruction. The age of the earth is thought to be over four billion years old. History is unwritten and animal and plant life goes on. Mankind is but a blip in the life of this planet.

Similar to an impending tsunami, our economic resources are being sucked out of the system. We face a Great Depression far greater than our grandparents or great grandparents did. We may even see the collapse of our currency and the fall of this neo-Roman empire.

For every action, there is a counter action.

We are many things, and we are also each a drop of water in the ocean of humanity.

Like a great wall of water, we will rise up and crash upon the shores of the future. Many of us, including me, will likely be part of this, for the fall of every great civilization sucks up its citizens like a tsunami and sends them crashing to whatever fate lies in wait.

We will collectively be swept into a new revolution in the weeks to come. It may be quietly loud and miserable, or overtly loud and full of civil unrest.

More states will go bankrupt. Schools will debate shortening the school year or even the week and some will, thousands of businesses will close, and chances are this will include a mall near you. Products you've purchased all your life will be gone.

Due to millions more jobs lost, homes and apartment buildings foreclosed, the difficulty or impossibility of getting loans, credit card accounts closed, more people will become homeless, and life will be hard for many. Dogs and cats will live together, and these groups of unwilling families and friends will be forced to negotiate basic resources like food, i.e., "No Jamal, you can't have seconds, and Keisha, stop using the paper towels so much."

As many drops of water, we might have a prayer of a chance of collectively forming a tsunami - not a destructive one, but one where we crash into a revolution of self-sufficiency, greater tolerance for one another, and random acts of kindness.

The alternative is a Police State, rioting, mass arrests and incarcerations where all Constitutional rights have been suspended, and I don't think death camps for 'trouble makers' and 'undesirables' are too far-fetched of an idea, especially if war occurs on our homeland. We literally could descend into utter social chaos and a new Dark Ages.

The question in our hearts and guiding us through 2009 and beyond could be the challenge of Jesus to live by these words: I am my brother's keeper.




20 comments:

  1. dang that is a hard one; esp since i just decided that this year would be all about me.

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  2. I think if our society could actually take on the "I am my brother's keeper" mantra, we could actually make it thru this recession. Although it might still be devastating, it'll be little easier with each others help.

    I remember the times when neighbors used to be concerned about each other. Our neighbor used to feed us and make sure we got ready for bed whenever my mother would have to work late.

    What happened to that?

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  3. Kit, IF we develop or at least adjust our collective conscious to be more of our brother's keeper. IF we begin focusing more on humanity and less on the bottom line. IF we begin being concerned about the Earth we live on we might have a chance of avoiding a holocaust.

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  4. Sagacious, your last word - holocaust - is exactly what's at that bottom of this abyss we're falling into. If humanity cannot grab onto a ledge or a branch, it will become a historical inevitability, and once again mankind will be no more.

    Thank you for bringing up those if's and that word.

    Mimi, you were so blessed to have neighbors like that. I still find them here and there, and we look out for each other's kids in a pinch. But you're right; it's just not as common as it used to be.

    Emeritus, Oh, I don't know... your pursuit of a degree in the helping field won't give you much or any time now to help others, but it won't be long before you're doing it full-time. Heh-heh, so even though 2009 may be all about you, indirectly it's still much about others. Thumbs up!

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  5. well said , my sentiments excatly only if our grand folks could see us now

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  6. There is no better time for our society, and the rest of the world, to WAKE UP. Up to this point, the main thing that has been killing us is division.

    Politically, we seldom embrace common ideas, opting instead to clutch onto our parties' principles in order to keep "our side" ahead of the game. Those in power look out for themselves and their self-interests, and have the sheer nerve to consider unity as a detriment.

    Those who follow different religious beliefs choose not to share in their common teachings, but instead are comfortable in looking down on others' faiths.

    All of us need to begin working towards uplifting one another, in whatever capacity we see fit.

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  7. Kit, your writing never ceases to amaze me. You sound like a perfect candidate to read the book:

    Endgame Vol I: The problem of civilization

    Hawa, author of
    Fackin Truth Blog (Personal Blog)
    and
    Cleanse Master Remix (Health Blog)

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  8. If only we had a glimmer of hope to reach toward. We will soon have a president who doesn't even embrace the brilliant ideas our founding fathers had for this country. He turns his back on democracy and preaches socialism. God wants us to be our brother's keeper, but He would never approve of a leader who plays upon the weakest of His children for that leader's personal and political gain.
    We've got a congress who also turned their backs on the financial trouble that was brewing. Equal opportunity gone awry. Congressmen paid for their blindness.
    I would welcome you into my home, feed you and take care of you when sick, but I do NOT want a government that forces my hand. That is why it's not done by our brothers and sisters, because everyone is waiting for, and expecting, the government to do it for them.

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  9. KIT, have you read the novel by Octavia Butler called Parable of the Sower? I recently did and even though it was fiction, it sent chills up my spine. I can totally see how, if we don't do something now, that world that Ms. Butler imagined could become the world that we live in--could become our reality.

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  10. V-Knowledge, yeah, self-interest has been taken to a whole new level in government and the mega-corporations since the 80s and in the past 8 years in particular. Check out this post, Legitimacy Dwindles, by Kunstler. His other once a week essays are great too.

    If you have time to pick up his book at the library, The Long Emergency; the last two prophetic chapters will enrich you and help you strategize for the future.

    Hawa & Chi-Chi, Thank you, and I'll pick up those books at the library and read them this month. They sound right up my alley.

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  11. Anonymous, I'd probably be a more receptive to your comment if you had used the phrase "most exploited" rather than "weakest" when describing minorities.

    I also expect the government to pay for public schools, ensure I have clean drinking water, to look out for the elderly, disabled, and mentally ill through SSI, to have social programs to help the disadvantaged have a chance to learn skills for work, to protect children's rights, and to fund road, rail and bridge projects, etc.

    All of this is socialism, and far cheaper than the socialism of bailing out private corporations who imploded from their own greed and mismanagement at the tune of one trillion dollars.

    And why did the majority of Congress and Obama sign the Bailout Bill? This video will tell you why.

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  12. I love the comparisons you make here.
    Very clever and moving. It makes sense

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  13. Preach my sister preach!

    I'm laughing at Emeritus:-)

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  14. Kit: I had to come back and read this again. Don't ask me why. When you wrote: "...some ocean earthquakes are near enough to us to affect us..." I thought about how the opposite is true. Sometimes events don't (and/or should not) shake us out of position.

    My fiance is overly sensitive to everything going on around him. And I don't mean in the positive way (as an observant person who understands situational awareness).

    A stranger a mile away can say/do something, and my fiance gets all stressed out about it.

    He once almost lost his mind when he thought he heard a teenage employee sweeping the floor near us mumbling something about Black folks. All I saw was a disgruntled employee complaining to a coworker about nothing in particular. Either way, so what? It didn't shake the smile off my face, but my fiance was standing there looking like a fighting lion immobilized by invisible restraints. Worse, he always wants to argue with me about why I should be upset about the things other people do. ::sigh::

    The fiance has a desire to fix everybody and everything that doesn't fit with his view of the world. I see that as dangerous, because he'll shorten his life worried about small quakes in the middle of the ocean that never hit land. To me, focusing on what matters trumps getting scattered in the wind.

    As TD Jakes once told Eddie Long, "you'll wreck your car swatting at gnats."

    Thanks again for a good post.

    Hawa, author of
    Fackin Truth Blog (Personal Blog)
    and
    Cleanse Master Remix (Health Blog)

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  15. We are many things, and we are also each a drop of water in the ocean of humanity...

    Sometimes we are so high and mighty we forget about the greater whole. Damn...good ish.

    -Ed.
    www.edthesportsfan.com

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  16. KIT, these are some hard concepts to digest. That multi family unit filled with minutia I call back home is looking more and more like a general store each day.

    Guess I'd better learn to bite the bullet, cause I too will probably be swept up in the crashing waves.

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  17. I read this book recently by Ocativa Butler called Parable of the Sower.

    You would really enjoy it. Check it out.

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  18. We are all in a sad mess indeed! Although I see no light at the end of the tunnel, I will hold my family high, as long as God is willing and I will be dragging, pulling and carrying as many as I can.

    Our society has been plagued with disease for quite some time now. The disease? Selfishness.

    We need to implore our schools and parents to teach children the value of frugality. Instead, we teach over indulgence and your "wants" are more important than others "needs" by our own actions.

    Great post indeed!

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  19. Hello there K.I.T.!
    {waves}

    I don't think I dropped by on the 1st to bring "Happy New Year!!!" greetings so here I am!

    {raised glass of sparkling cider}
    Here's to another year of great blogging!

    (smiles)

    I am surely listening for God and to God in 2009.

    Peace, blessings and DUNAMIS!
    Lisa

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  20. It's sad isn't it? To see what a great country we live in and yet bear witness to what our own greed and selfishness has wrought us.

    Being fairly young, I have personally never lived in a time or place where anyone lived by the creedo of being their brother's keeper. But it certainly doesn't stop me from wishing it to be so. I think half of our issues would dissipate or be completely erased if only we realized that we aren't just living for ourselves, no matter how much we would like to believe so.

    Happy New Year!

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Hi, this is Kit.

I haven't posted since summer 2010, and comment moderation has been on for a very long time.

My old blogger friends (you know who you are) are welcome to email me.

I can be reached at:
kitsmailbag@gmail.com.