Staying Healthy in Extended Crisis, Part 1
Over the years I’ve read several different authors from diverse backgrounds that felt humanity was evolving into something new and exciting. That we were on the cusp of moving into new ways of understanding that would lead us to greater unity. After the first week of the new oligarchy, or corporatocracy, or whatever this fascist-want-to-be state is we live in now, it sure feels like all those folks must have been wrong. Did we come face to face with what we could be and get scared? Did we get a glimpse of true unity and opt for selfishness instead? What is our human resistance to God’s call to live together in love and compassion?
I’m reminded of a story you may have heard before. Although the original source seems to be unknown, it’s commonly found on the internet attributed to indigenous sources.
A young girl was very angry. She went to her Grandfather and told him about a friend who had betrayed her. The Grandfather said, “Let me tell you a story. I too have felt hate for others when they’ve hurt and stolen from me and didn’t even feel bad about what they did. But hate wears you down and it doesn’t hurt your enemy at all. It’s like swallowing poison and wishing your enemy would die. I’ve struggled with those feelings many times.”
He continued, “It’s as if there are two wolves living inside of me. One is good and loving and does no harm. He lives in harmony with everything around him and doesn’t take offense when it wasn’t intended. He’ll only fight when it’s right and necessary and then only in the right way. But the other wolf, ah, he is full of anger. The smallest thing will send him into a fit of temper. He fights everyone all the time for no reason. He can’t think because his anger and hate are so great. It’s a helpless anger, though, because it doesn’t change anything. Sometimes it’s hard to live with these two wolves inside of me because they fight to dominate my spirit.”
The girl looked intently at her Grandfather and whispered, “Which wolf wins, Grandfather?”
The Grandfather smiled and replied, “The one I feed.”
The two wolves make a fitting metaphor for the thought processes within us as individuals but it applies to our national situation as well. On inauguration day, Bishop Marianne Budde gave a sermon well grounded in the gospel, asking for unity, mercy, and compassion for immigrants and LGBTQ+ people. The kind of sermon I would expect when I go to church. But the response from the President, who was in the congregation, and his supporters was menacing, demanding apologies, calling her extreme, out of line, and worse. The two sides perfectly reflected the two wolves: one asks us to be loving and compassionate and the other sees compassion as a threat and angrily demands retribution. Which one will our nation feed? Right now, sadly, it feels like the angry wolf is getting a better dinner.
Of course, the story doesn’t explain why we’ve been feeding the angry hateful wolf, but it tells us we need to find ways to start feeding the loving compassionate wolf. And that begins with each of us as individuals. If all I did was scroll the news headlines, I feel like I’d be consumed by the angry wolf. It’s too easy to get overwhelmed and lost in rage and despair. More than anything I need to center myself in Spirit, which might also be called God or simply Love, but I also need to center myself in mother Earth, in the beauty and nurturing environment which God created as our home to sustain us. A home we’re destroying. My heart needs to be centered in Earth and Spirit because that’s when I feel like I’m feeding the loving wolf, connected to everything around me in positive ways. And when I’m centered and living out of love from the heart, that’s when I’m able to take on those blessed attitudes I reflected on last week. That’s when I can survive all the little angry wolves nipping at my heels and begin to make a difference in the world around me.
There are many things we can do to center ourselves in Spirit. We can study scripture or other spiritual wisdom. I’m currently reading “Braiding Sweetgrass” by Robin Wall Kimmerer and it’s wonderfully centered not only in Spirit but also in Earth. We can pray and meditate and take time for silence away from the news. Spend time with community, sharing, laughing, and being vulnerable. But not whining or bringing each other down. There’s a place for sharing fears but name them to deprive them of their power. Naming what binds us is a powerful tool. In Christianity, we call it confession. Name it, give it over to God, work to resolve it and heal. Know God has your back. But don’t let your responses to fear feed the angry wolf.
Many of us feel closer to Spirit in nature so it can be helpful to center ourselves in Earth as well. We’re also in the middle of a climate crisis that’s being made worse by the new administration. Being centered in Earth can help us recover our connection to and respect for nature. Here are a few ideas how we can do that. Although maybe it’s a little more difficult in the cold northern winter, we can get outside for a walk. Touch a tree. Come spring and summer, walk barefoot in the grass or sand or mud. Work in the garden. Adopt a house plant. If nothing else, read a book or write a poem about nature. Donate to an environmental advocacy group.
Although it might seem a little silly, I’m going to carry a small rock in my pocket as an earth token. In church on Sunday, we blessed some stones for whoever wanted one. When I need to re-center myself, I can reach into my pocket and find my stone and be re-connected to mother Earth. Likewise, I have a cross necklace I’m going to try to wear to remind me of my connection with Spirit.
What might you do to keep yourself centered and feeding the loving, compassionate wolf? To open your heart to Earth and Spirit, that you might live in God’s love, from the heart? Staying centered nurtures and sustains our souls. It helps protect us from the trauma happening around us so we can make a difference, healing not only ourselves but helping to heal the world.
Staying centered on a strong foundation of Earth and Spirit is important to our mental and spiritual health during a time of crisis, especially an extended crisis, and it’s one of the lessons that I felt has been driven home this week. I’ve got a few other thoughts I’ll share in another post later in the week so stay tuned for Part 2.
William Kent Krueger mentions this opening story in many of his books. I'm reading many of them right now. He's a Minnesota author who writes mysteries.