The human beings of, what?, twenty, fifty, maybe a hundred years from now are going to look back in astonishment at 2017. No, not at one specific person, or at one specific political trend or historical event. Just at the fact that humanity was still capable of such a high level of barbarism. That humanity was still capable of hatred. That humanity was still capable of cruelty. That powerful leaders were still pushing back against women, the "other," the infirm. That people felt comfortable amassing extraordinary levels of individual power and wealth. That the military was worshipped more than the arts. That people acted from a "profit motive" rather than one of love and beauty and service. That people were willing to abuse our earth home for their own gain. Truly, I think humanity is in the midst of an enormous spiritual shift, and that in a short time, all of these constructs will be considered utterly unthinkable. People with such bizarre, untenable ways of operating in the world won't be attacked (because by then, we will understand that fighting is pointless), they will simply be ignored, left in the margins of society.
"Farther along," as the old hymn has it, we may indeed "understand why" humanity held on so long to inhumane behavior. But I do believe that for those of us who have been utterly non-functional in the old construct, those of us who have been taunted for being "too sensitive" or "not tough enough for the real world" or "too unrealistic," this is our time. Those of us who have been teased because we "don't get it" can turn around now and say, "No, you don't get it." We may have been bullied into shame and silence before, but there are enough of us now. We don't need to fight. We just need to lead by operating the way that makes sense to us. We just need to be ourselves more courageously and publicly, and let the ridicule fall away. All along there's been another "political" option: to act like sensitive, thoughtful human beings living on a rare and precious planet. Those of us who can, please let's do that now.
The gift of this moment is seeing so clearly what we have finally outgrown.
