by Clarissa Pinkola
Estes, Ph.D.
Do not lose heart. We were made for these
times. I have heard from so many recently who are deeply and
properly bewildered. They are concerned about the state of
affairs in our world right now...
Ours is a time of almost daily astonishment
and often righteous rage over the latest degradations of what
matters most to civilized, visionary people. You are right in
your assessments. The lustre and hubris some have aspired to,
while endorsing acts so heinous against children, elders,
everyday people, the poor, the unguarded, the helpless, is
breathtaking. Yet, I urge you; ask you; gentle you; to please
not spend your spirit dry by bewailing these difficult times.
Especially do not lose hope. In any dark
time, there is a tendency to veer toward fainting over how
much is wrong or unmended in the world. Do not focus on that.
There is a tendency too to fall into being weakened by
perseverating on what is outside your reach, by what cannot
yet be. Do not focus there.
Ours is not the task of fixing the entire
world all at once, but of stretching out to mend the part of
the world that is within our reach. Any small, calm thing that
one soul can do to help another soul, to assist some portion
of this poor suffering world, will help immensely. It is not
given to us to know which acts or by whom, will cause the
critical mass to tip toward an enduring good.
What is needed for dramatic change is an
accumulation of acts, adding, adding to, adding more,
continuing. We know that it does not take "everyone on
Earth" to bring justice and peace, but only a small,
determined group who will not give up during the first,
second, or hundredth gale. There will always be times when you
feel discouraged. I too have felt despair many times in my
life, but I do not keep a chair for it; I will not entertain
it. It is not allowed to eat from my plate.
(Back)
|
