Our relationships with our families and friends are among the most important things we are put on this earth to experience.
This may seem obvious , even trite, to some but it bears further examination here.
In the movie The African Queen Katherine Hepburn's character says to Bogart "Nature, Mr. Allnut, is what we were put on this earth to rise above."
It is certainly in our nature to take care of our families needs in a physical sense even so far as to ensure that our children and other family members are happy and have a healthy state of mind. How many of us give any consideration at all to the spiritual well-being of our loved ones. Sure many of us take our spouses and children to church or even send the little ones to religious schools. How many of us step back and look at our families with true objectivity and assess their spiritual development.
I'll give you an example. I have an acquaintance who has a 13 year old daughter. She is dutifully taken to church every Sunday and attends a parochial school. She is showing signs of becoming quite materialistic and nearly obsessed with the trash celebrity culture that is so heavily promoted by the media. My acquaintance has acknowledged this and is in some mild distress over these developments yet feels powerless to do anything about it. I am sure most people reading this know at least one boy who spends an inordinate amount of time playing violent video games.
I should stress here that there is not a lot wrong with having an interest in pop culture or in playing most types of video games. There is something very wrong with allowing these pastimes to take the place of real, honest relationships with living, breathing people.
I am asked often "What is wrong with society these days?" Particularly after we have been subjected to some horrific event in the news. The answer is deceptively simple. Most of the real deep 'truths' of the universe are deceptively simple. We have become a fractured society. We are all becoming increasingly compartmentalized. I am astonished at how many families relate to one another on a level no deeper than they would to co-workers or fellow commuters on a train. We recognize them, communicate with them on a cursory level but do not know them at all.
In order to know someone you need to have knowledge of the following:
What do they think?
Who do they admire?
What do they want for themselves?
What do they want for others?
Who do they find attractive?
What do they find beautiful?
What do they find ugly?
What are they afraid of?
Who are they afraid of?
Who do they admire?
Who do they disdain?
What do they consider an adventure?
What do they consider a punishment?
The list could go on and on. I suspect most of us cannot answer all of the questions on this short list with regard to most of their immediate family, let alone extended family and friends.
In the next post I will further explore these issues and how they relate to the tremendous changes we are all to experience in the next six months.
As always, sleep well Apocalyptoids.
