Surviving The Fall, 4

It doesn't matter that it's all going to hell. And really, is it all going to hell. Yes, we have stats, scientific research, the evidence of global warming and climate change as well as psychopathic monsters running the world as presidents, dictators, and bank and corporate CEO's, but surely the world, and we, have survived worse. Or have we? We really have no way of knowing, given that we can only see our own era, as well as the past, and can only project the future through the limitations of our own lens. And we always carry with us the arrogance of believing that our lens is the only lens and that we are the only generation not seeing through a lens, that we are the only ones without prejudice and without bias. Then come the next generation and the one following, blowing out of the water all of our bullshit and adding their own bias and prejudice which, of course, don't exist, until they are busted by the next generation. And on it goes. We don't know what really to expect, though we do have some troubling statistical models and probabilities, but there still remains this business of staying alive in the meantime. and not simply staying alive, but thriving. We can actually thrive during these challenging times. But what really are the challenges. We can rightly be called one of the most entitled generation to ever exist. Or are we? We are witnessing already the devastation of drastic climate change with the growing likelihood of coming catastrophe. And we have this growing gap between rich and poor and a crisis of homelessness that just won't go away. I have been homeless. Now I travel every year, lately to Costa Rica. I am still poor. I work in a very low-paying occupation and I live in social housing. If I earned a living wage, and paid market rent, I would probably be just as poor as I am now. People in my income category are not supposed to travel. I would have to be earning four times my current annual income in order to qualify for twelve days in an all-inclusive in Puerto Vallarta. I have never stayed in an all-inclusive, and if God is merciful, I never will. When I travel, I always stay in a local establishment, preferably bed and breakfast, always operated by local people. But I can afford to do this, while pulling just marginally above minimum wage. I am able to do this, even while those around me are crying and screaming about the coming apocalypse and the unprecedented gap between haves and have-nots. I still cannot figure out the math. I eat well, I am healthy, I have everything I need. I am not a consumer, really, just what I need, just the facts, ma'am. I decided sometime ago that I am not going to participate in this death dance. There is just too much to lose. I am not escaping from reality, by the way. I read the Weekend Globe and Mail, every week, and my radio is chronically tuned to CBC Radio One. I hear all the bad and scary news, and I hear, and sometimes experience vicariously, the way everyone seems to be running for cover like frightened rabbits and chickens. But I refuse to buy into fear. I will maintain a quality of life that I can be proud of. I will maintain my inner peace and tranquility. I will continue, every day, to give thanks to my Creator, enjoy the beauty of nature that surrounds me and which I happen to be part of, and I will continue to rejoice in the image of Christ in the people around me. I will continue to make art, to write this blog, and to do everything |I can, in my work and elsewhere to breathe hope and life into the all but dead and cold embers that are surrounding me!