I don't know Nate, but recently came across his tweet on a board I read. It's pointing to a feeling I have been contemplating in recent days: things seem off. Does it mean the end of times? I am not necessarily apocalyptic in a Revelations sort of way; however, I do sense we a heading to some sort of climax. It seems history is intensifying: all ideologies are exhausting into pointless fragmented fetishes; long term approaches to keep the system healthy are cynically avoided; and all the ways we can disconnect ourselves to God are hubristically justified. I don't know exactly where things are in this process, but I see more and more the undercurrent of disconnection and discontent rise to the surface. As one person put it: the sensibility of quarantine goes on even as the masks come off. I have some friends who lean more new age believing it will come all crashing down soon, but this will be good because something amazing is going to arise on the other side. As if some new higher collective consciousness will miraculously appear from this tragedy. This raises so many red flags for me. Whoever will remain after the “crash” will be ill prepared for much of anything new and beautiful. Beyond just surviving, they would need to unlearn all the foolishness they have been fed for years and re-learn the pearls of the wisdom traditions that have been recently rejected.
Conspiracists love to believe there are puppet masters behind this, but I can't point to one thing like that. I think we are all complicit to some extent enacting in our self interest, in our desire to not rock the boat or take on too much responsibility, in our complacency that we muddle through it. While some things are avoidable, human nature being what it is must exhaust its constructs as it moves further and further away from Reality. In that, we can't be contemptable toward our fellow man. I often feel agitation toward how leftist ideology has become so intellectually dishonest and internally destructive; however, I try not to look down on those who have been indoctrinated. I understand how this can overtake a sensitive soul with the hopes on making past transgressions right or giving voice to the oppressed and marginalized. But I stop there; as I know even with the best intentions, cosmic justices can never truly be served materially.
Civilization must have some structure to support those on the fringe, but not be overtaken by those edges. It should also be rooted in a Truth that can appeal to our transcendent sensibilities, whether they be course or more subtly refined. And it's not just godless tribal politics that lacks this rootedness, but also exponential technology, overspending governments, and untethered global capitalism. All these things together are breaking our systems down gradually, and eventually suddenly.
Like all things that end, they end unfinished. We don't die perfect, but we die at some perfect time. Systems are just a collection of individuated actions that become larger than the sum of those actions. Hence, they behave in ways where any influence we can have will always be after the fact. Most of us are powerless to move the rudder, but it doesn't mean we can't learn how to swim or even wear a life jacket.
All said and done, I could also be wrong. Some historians and philosophers are fond of believing that the drama of history is always getting better and worse at the same time. Maybe the better part pulls us through.
In any case, we can't escape the world. There is also probably nobody coming to rescue us. So all we can do is stay right where we are. Practice the Dharma. Pray for perseverance. Love God and your fellow man. Contemplate and study. Hold your center. Allow God to do His Will. In the end, we shouldn't see it as a “I told you so” moment. There will be mostly sorrow. But joy will also be reaped on another dimension. We will (hopefully) be saved. Our life will be replaced by Life. We were only here to learn to be our-whole-selves and we can't choose the time we were given to do that. The time was perfect for us, but we can't be perfected in time. As it's never about the outcome anyways—only the offering.