Reality check

 

The population of the United States has freely voted, in large numbers, to elect as President a man who violates women, who violates the law, a convicted criminal who once led a coup attempt, who mocks the disabled, who spreads lies about immigrants, who has promised to deport 20 million people and to round up his opponents and throw them in prison. A would-be dictator who has systematically removed and replaced much of the checks and balances that constrained him in his first presidency.

When things like this happen, they reveal to us how the world actually is, as opposed to how we would like to think that it is. And for that disillusionment, we should be grateful.

The same is true when we see strong men kill men, women and children with the intention of stealing their land, of wiping their enemies from the face of the earth. This is not some anomaly. How do you think it is that, one hundred years ago, one in four people on this planet were ruled over by the British Empire? What was, will be.

We live in dangerous times. There is no other kind. And at times like these, the best advice I can offer is, go and read Ecclesiastes (Qohelet).

This is the record of a Jewish philosopher from some two-and-a-half thousand years ago, who noted and called out the injustice of the world. Wealthy strongmen with utter disregard for anyone else – and especially the little man, the little woman, the apparently left behind – flourish, right up until they don’t. We have seen it before. We will see it again. History is littered with dead dictators, some of whom eventually faced justice in this life, some of whom did not.

This is the way of the world, a way that spoils the experience of goodness in the world, that would appear to make a mockery of living a quiet life, of seeking – as another Jewish sage put it – to love being merciful, habitually practice justice, and walk this earth with humility.

And yet, Qohelet advises those who would listen to live lives of gratitude and love, that seek out the healing balm of life despite the flies in the ointment. This is not resignation, but, in fact, the most powerful thing we can do. We cannot overthrow the way the world is, but we can choose to live differently, a different approach to life that is, also, the way the world is. There have always been acts of steadfast love.

Qohelet lived and wrote before Jesus. But Jesus commits to the same Way. Defying the expectations of many, he does not lead a doomed rebellion against Rome, but a quiet revolution against the darkness that threatens to overwhelm the light in every human heart and soul and mind and strength. The power of love, which, flowing from eternity, is without limit, yet must be chosen, again and again. Light that the darkness cannot quench, for, the darker the world, the more beautiful the light within it.

So, go find a Bible, and read Ecclesiastes. Slowly. Soak in its wisdom, in the unflinching recognition of how the world is, stripped of illusion; the courage to take time – as much and as often as needed – to grieve and lament that this is so; and the unwavering commitment to embody the gift of life, with deep gratitude, despite everything.