On a Don't Need to Know Basis

Carrying on with the Desiderata teachings:

"And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should."

This claim might seem the epitome of preposterous. One only need pick up a newspaper or witness any of the various "news" channels; after which they might conclude, the world is going to hell in a hand basket.

I watched my father (who was obsessed with all news media formats) do little more than raise his blood pressure and feed his anxieties. There was never any intention on his part, to do anything about any of it - so I could never see the point, of ruminating over ever nuance released, and just getting more upset about it.

I'm not suggesting an inhumane disconnection, empathy or lack of compassion. I'm not saying there aren't horrendous events occurring daily (somewhere) on the planet; many that naturally give rise to fear.

I defer to the wisdom within the Serenity prayer "Accept the things I cannot change." I have very little control over, oh so many things. Oh sure I can contribute and participate, but outcomes are often an unknown. My continuing to focus all my attention on "world news" - their penchant for sensationalization and graphic depiction, of all that is "wrong with the world," would do nothing to change any of it.

Of course the same prayer asks for "the Courage to change the things I can." I don't believe that is license to just go through life spewing anger at everything & everybody; that is involved in anything I disagree with. I'd serve the world better to deal with my anger (or at least how I go about expressing it). If I feel passionate enough to want to be part of a change - then I can make a contribution any way I can.

It's possible that this engaging of life - is far more likely to foster change in me, than in the world at large. Certainly "one person" can make a difference - but often times, one's contribution, doesn't create any immediately tangible change; or it is one that is visible, only after an extended period of time.

All day, every day, there are people (individuals & groups) doing amazing things. Do not go to the media looking to hear accounts of these heart-warming stories. Oh sure, there is often one "feel good story" included in the newscast (whether due to lobbying from the sponsors, the viewers, or the "news team" themselves; are numbing their own psyche's and generating fear in their ranks, with their own broadcasts) - there is the one lone positive story.

I would assert, the world doesn't need another person riddled with fear and anxiety - behaving in the world from a place of defensiveness and projection of their own pain. This might only amount to a minuscule contribution; but if nothing else - my intention is to address that, within myself.

Therefore it is necessary to make a conscious effort to contribute where ever one can and make a concerted effort to look for the positive. I'm not saying ignore the atrocities and glaze them over with denial and rainbows (don't get me wrong - I love rainbows). It goes back to the story of the two wolves (black & white) & which one is fed.

I'm also not saying that this "focus" matter, is "black & white" (pun intended) and I then go through life feeling nothing but the lighter more enjoyable emotions, and "darker" world events, don't effect me.

Does that mean ("the universe is unfolding as it should...") that history's events have been "necessary?"

I couldn't say for sure. What I can say,  is in my own life, there has been all forms of life experience painful, humiliating, frightening (some might say "senseless..") and yet all of it, has made me who I am and has been catalyst, for my evolution. Did I "have to," go through these experiences - maybe not, but I did. It serves no useful purpose to condemn myself indefinitely for these choices. So in effect, things continue to and are unfolding, "as they should."

I make somewhat of an assumption, that if this is true in my life (and I am part of humanity) then it is possibly true, of the collective humanity and it's evolution. Of course this doesn't make it so and it only serves to help me sleep at night (which incidentally isn't assured anyway).

Isn't it remarkable the scale to which "we"as humans can expand our personal drama (and then extend that concern for that of the "world stage;" even given we live on this tiny speck of a planet, in an universe that extends far beyond our minds ability to conceptualize it, which continues to unfold and is undergoing ongoing creation).

We are here so I suppose we matter in the greater scheme of things. But maybe not quite as much as we'd like (or choose) to think.

R. O'Neill (July 01, 2018)