Better Angels Can
by SillyMickel Adzema
Authenticity is Back. People want more than anything else not to be lied to anymore. People want the truth. And, through the election of Obama, and the unprecedented support he has polled since, people are saying that "they can handle the truth."
None too soon, as our very lives and those of all species on this planet demand that we face the most difficult challenges humans have ever had to face...I mean, ever.
So this emergent cultural awakening, whose early blooms we see in this thirst, rather, craving for what's true, real, and authentic; well, this is not your mama's new-age fantasy. No, a cultural flowering is on the horizon, but it is rooted deeply in the awareness and acknowledgements of the political horrors and evils ongoing as well as the environmental collapse which is worsening, indeed, accelerating, and so much else that over eight long years we've had the enforced intensive of having to face and accept that our own nation was the most culpable in causing, maintaining, and instigating these heinous acts and the most responsible for undoing the efforts of others to reverse imminent calamities.
At this perilous time, when there can be no doubt that much is going very wrong and very fast, it is high time to put out a call asking people of all ages, now, to take a page from Obama's book, to become our nobler selves...to say "Yes, we can," and to be the heroes this coming era will need...heroes willing to tell the truth, to power, no matter the consequences...courageous people choosing authenticity, digging deeply into who they are that makes them unique, so as to discover how they can use, that thing that they alone possess, to give to this fight against overwhelming odds, that which they alone can give.
This is not like a war that makes automatons out of its warriors. In fact, this is the opposite of a war, it is the struggle to save or to rebuild so much of what has been destroyed -- sometimes because of wars - but mostly because of the greed, hypocrisy, the lying, and the me-first egotism of the previous age.
For it was that lack of noble souls, that lack of authentic people, that lack of brave people, arising in a backlash to 60s Idealism, spearheaded by Reagan's popular rhetoric defiantly demanding an end to the spread of universal values of fairness, global egalitarianism, and planetary concerns in favor of a return to the simple and familiar values of me-first egotism, nation-first bullying, and "healthy" American preoccupation with values of family, finance, and food, strung together with the cowboy social values of competition, greed, indifference to other's suffering, and winning at all costs; and thus the hypocrisy, lying, and worse required for that, renewed and reinvigorated by Bush, which has led us to this all-time, only-one-chance, jam of all jams.
So the cause of our backslide into this whirlpool to Doomsday being the rejection of the earlier nobler, more selfless values, the only counter to this can be the nobility and authenticity I've described. So, in doing my part, being my authentic self and offering it towards those challenges ahead, I have begun speaking out. We need to share, assert the truth -- not just our escapist childhood-rooted glowing fantasies. We need to share and receive inspiration -- not made up mythical tales, staunchly defended against all the evidence, again just because it carries with it the glow of an imagined loving childhood glowing and perfect after its juvenile editing and screening of its hard truths. We need to share and assert even hard truths. Escape into glowing yesteryears, while comforting as any street drug, will just get us and our children killed. Finally we need to give and receive support and info and tips on being authentic and noble.
The most important thing is not any specific cause, organization, issue, or charismatic person. There are so many aspects to this problem that need addressing and so many leaders and heroes to buck up the faltering. So, whether one chooses to involve in a cause, or to strive for authenticity and the expression of that uniqueness as one's contribution is hardly relevant for both are needed. For if we have not a thorough grounding in the real, the authentic, the true, the noble, the courageous, and so on, then it doesn't matter what we do if we don't do it coming from deep within ourselves.
On the other hand, if we tap in to that thing or things which above all else define us, and we stay true and centered in that, then anywhere we take that, and into whatever endeavor, or even a cause, we will naturally feel wonderful for doing what we can against the horrors facing us. Knowing that we did our part is a comfort. But knowing that we expressed our most authentic selves and put forth our most unique qualities in doing so gives one a feeling far beyond simply doing one's part. One feels fulfilled in one's service to us all as well. And that kind of fulfillment is so intoxicating, it is the thing that leads ordinary folks to be heroes.
Don't believe me? Our current President is someone who did just exactly what I was describing. And when a person offers their real self, like Obama did, you see that anything is possible, even the most incredible and magical.
Now, put these all together, and with enough impetus behind it, as there is right now, for example, inspired by Obama's magical ascendance, then it is actually possible that there may be millions upon millions of souls from everywhere on the planet, of all ages, creeds, and color, who may be adding the strengths of their authenticity toward this huge global fight for survival. And with that number of heroes, and with God's blessings, as they always are upon the upholders of truth, and those willing to put themselves out for the greater good of all, well, against all the odds saying that a human nature of 25,000 years can in no way be changed let alone reversed, we may find our own magical ascendance and, like Obama, pull off the near impossible.
The times may seem hopeless right now. But at least here, lighting this one little candle, we can add our voices to many who have already started, saying, "Yes, We Can!!"