Open Writing

With all the disasters being reported in the news of late, one could be forgiven for thinking that the end of the world is approaching. There have been earthquakes in New Zealand, China and of course, Japan.

Floodwaters have ravaged coastlines around the Pacific. Wars and rumors of wars have been reported in Sudan, Egypt, Libya and other North African countries. The threat of famine has increased with droughts and rising food prices. All we need is another outbreak of Avian or Swine Flu and then the element of pestilence will have surfaced too.

Clearly, the earth is in crisis. it doesn't take an ecological specialist or a political analyst to tell us that. But what, in all honesty, can we do about it? We can't stop the movement of the tectonic plates. We can't contain the uprising of nations. We can't prevent the mutation of viruses. Even though we observe and acknowledge the signs of the times, we cannot halt the seemingly out-of-control spiral of events. Unless … and here's a thought:

As a writer, I know that extreme imagery grabs the reader's attention. Not only that, but it conveys the momentousness of what might otherwise be considered an insignificant event. Take, for example, the smile of a lover being compared to the sun breaking through the clouds on a stormy day, or the whisper of gossip being likened to a raging tornado. Here, the internal effects of minor happenings are described in epic terms. If this is so, then it is conceivable that, in Scripture, when monumental apocalyptic events are described, they refer not to end-time global catastrophes but to the deep inner movements of our individual souls.

I know it is customary for people to look outward for evidence of the fulfillment of Scripture, but being blind has given me a different perspective. I relate the Bible's meaning - and the meaning of all sacred texts, for that matter - to what is going on inside myself. Yes, I sympathize with the victims of earthquakes and tsunamis, but my disability prohibits me from joining a disaster relief team or giving eye witness accounts of the devastation. My response is therefore to contemplate the spiritual significance of natural events and share what I've found. This is my contribution to the aid effort.

There is an intriguing pattern repeated throughout the Old and New Testaments which cannot be ignored. Whenever an established form has served its purpose, it is destroyed to make way for a new one. This happened most clearly in the case of Solomon's temple in Jerusalem, which was overrun by the Babylonians and later rebuilt under the guidance of the prophet Nehemiah. It happened again when the earthly body of Jesus was crucified and resurrected. And it happened when the early church was persecuted and scattered to distant regions.

According to the pattern, every time something needs to expand, the existing version of that thing is stripped, killed or exiled. Yet does it have to be so violent? Jesus taught that we ought to pay attention to the signs of the times. Signs are not just warnings but calls to action. Smoke rising from a volcanic crater heralds an imminent eruption, and watchful citizens know to evacuate the area. Likewise, a niggling sense of unease, longing, resentment or boredom heralds an imminent psychological crisis, and an alert individual knows to alter his lifestyle.

There was a time when I resisted getting a cell phone because I anticipated that it would be too difficult to operate with my poor vision. My husband urged me to take advantage of the technology available to me, but I stubbornly refused. He bought me a phone with a speech facility, but still I clung to my position that I could manage perfectly well with only a land line. Then, one day, I realized that I was making myself unhappy by opposing the worldwide trend towards mobile communication. When I changed my attitude and mastered the speech functions of the phone, I began to enjoy not only mobile connectivity but the much more important benefit of inner peace.

The world is changing and we can't escape it. The only way to experience peace and happiness is to adapt. Obviously, we don't have to conform to everything that is going on, but where we discern discomfort in our souls we should seriously consider changing our habits. As the Bible says, judgement is in accordance with the light we receive. If we respond to the light, we will enjoy a sound mind and body. If we ignore the light, we condemn ourselves to psychological earthquakes and tsunamis which ultimately destroy us physically.