From Michael Shaw, maker of the film: Living In The Time Of Dying

 

"The Earth is what we all have in common"

Wendell Berry

Like most everyone I know I've been dismayed and heartbroken by the events taking place in the Middle East. This, and what I see as preference to stand behind an emotionally protective firewall of certainty. I've been left with so many questions some of which I will try to articulate here. What does trying to stay open in times like this actually ask of us?

 

Stephen Jenkinson, on a call with 1200 Israelis immediately post the Hamas attack, said that the struggle of seeing how closed our hearts are and wishing for them to be open is perhaps what an open heart looks like at such times. So perhaps the task isn't quite as big as we think. We struggle against the forces of our fear and hate and do so for a better day. A day which may not arrive or we may not live to see. How willing are we to meet that ask on its own terms?

 

These events, or events like these, are only going to become more common as our culture inevitably crumbles. I say that with no pleasure, simply a grief soaked understanding of overshoot and its meanings for our times and how we live. What are these times revealing to us about ourselves? If people who are informed and in some ways prepared, aren't willing to try to stay open then who will?

 

This to me is where the rubber hits the road. How do we comport ourselves in the times we are living in? I'm no expert on how to live in these times, nor do I presume to be, I see myself more simply as a deep student of the times...and that's it. But I will say pretending what's happening isn't happening or spinning hopium stories about how we escape it, doesn't seem to hold too many clues for me. Many of us feel the need to turn to look at the many faces of our shared predicament together. That is, to say what's in our hearts out aloud, talk about how we are faring in the middle of it, allow ourselves to consider the real gifts to be found at this time and to reconsider how we may choose to live our lives in the face of it all.

 

So many of us feel alone in these questions and it's times like this that I remember the immediate importance of coming together as a community. To find a safe place to bear witness to each others responses to our times and find ground and clarity in that safety. I know for myself when I'm more supported it's easier to remember the deeper intentions I have for my life and my sincere wish to bring service to this time.

 


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