The “fear and trembling” that comes over me at times when I consider the state of our society is not that wholesome awe one feels in the presence of greatness, but a quivering aprehension about what the future holds for my children–a future that does not seem to hold the sort of promise that it held for me when I was their ages.
I ran across a link to this over at Jerry Pournelle’s place. Read more than the snippet below. I believe you’ll find it time well spent.
We live in a society saturated with information. The paradox of this spectacle is that we no longer possess the ability to integrate and evaluate the information which assaults us from every direction. One moment the news ticker at the bottom of the screen shows some mind-numbing drop in the stock market; the next moment, we are enthralled with some bitch queen trying to kick the shins of his lesbian competitor on Project Runway. The news media jumps from the crisis of the second to the latest Hollywood dalliance, and from there to some hopeless hyped hysteria about global warming or the health scare of the week, providing no sense of perspective about which of these might be the more important.
So it behooves us to stand back; to turn off the TV, shut down the browser, put down the paper, turn off talk radio, and truly listen — not to the screeching banshees with their banal hysteria, but rather to that inner source, be it spirit, or soul, or mind, or the wisdom acquired by life’s experiences.
And later, speaking to my own discomfort with the political landscape before ue,
We have elected those politicians who are like us in every way — and we hate them for it. They are, after all, created in our own image.
Go. Read.
Take a deep breath. Slow down. Consider current events in light of your own life’s experience, your (hopefully rich) knowledge of history and the wisdom of the sages of the ages, if you can bring yourself to even consider–as my spirit is wont to avoid doing because my own “wisdom” is such a weak and palid thing by comparison*sigh*–wisdom that has actually stood the test of time.
Stop. Look. Listen. No, really listen. Is that light at the end of the tunnel a train or what?
Just asking.
The world is too much with us; late and soon,
Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers;
Little we see in Nature that is ours;
We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!
This Sea that bares her bosom to the moon,
The winds that will be howling at all hours,
And are up-gathered now like sleeping flowers,
For this, for everything, we are out of tune;
It moves us not.–Great God! I’d rather be
A Pagan suckled in a creed outworn;
So might I, standing on this pleasant lea,
Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn;
Have sight of Proteus rising from the sea;
Or hear old Triton blow his wreathed horn.