Environmental catastrophes caused by global warming. Terrorists. Diseases. None of these will necessarily kill millions of people (though conceivably the first might), all of them are challenges and yet they are also something else. A reminder than death stalks the earth, that life in this body is not forever. The level of fear such subjects can produce can border on the hysterical. We need to do everything we can to move onwards, to target terrorists, to make fairer international arrangements, to move on to cleaner fuels, to study diseases. Yet, even beyond this, the possibility of seemingly stable arrangements drastically changing is here to stay.
What we have seen happening over the years in developing countries is coming closer to home. Fortunately, our means of dealing with it is better as Western countries are so much more organised. Yet, we are no so organised that we can ever be 100% in control of everything. The answer to this is a timeless one- to make more of the life we have, to be as good as we can, as one never knows when it will all be over (in this body, at least).
I feel deep sympathy for the people affected by the recent flooding, which may even get worse. The houses have been as it were erased- the scenes themselves remind me of news reports from Bangladesh or Indonesia. I was especially struck by photos of a cathedral, waters lapping almost at it's shore, yet it itself miraculously preserved. There is also a strange irony in the fact that water supplies in some areas have failed as the treatment plants got flooded- "Water, water everywhere, but not a drop to drink". Like the petrol queues in unstable Iraq, depite the vast reserves there, a resource has suddenly become scarce through uncontrolled profusion. Our Western 'immunity' to disaster seems not so concrete after all, though thankfully our ability to cope is strong.
The realisation is that people in developed, as much as developing countries are at a risk from the forces of nature that only seemed to be tamed. If this is, as claimed, a result of global warming, it shows that unwise policies have produced shocking results. The religious point of view is quite clear- our current level of morality is one that needs difficulties to spur growth and that these tragedies are in part a chastisement, from God or life, to make us better. Perhaps even the destruction inflicted on developing countries is being revisited on the countries that have abdicated their responsibility to prevent it. Whether this is true or not, I really don't know, but certainly, all that happens to us is the result of karma, of the effect of our own actions, intentions, even our most secret thoughts.
The root of this may well be our dependence on fossil fuels, with all the wars obtaining their now increasingly scarce supplies necessitate, along with our lack of regard for all those hurt thereby. Natural forces are moral- prayer can actually make the damaging effects a lot worse. Another problem in our 'developed' societies is our watered-down, luke-warm appreciation for all the wonderful things we have. I am convinced that He who gives can also take away, and that this will happen to us, as a whole, if we don't appreciate just how lucky we are to have them. The individuals afflicted may have done nothing wrong themselves, but as a society, we stand in need of improvement and when kind words fail to get through, this kind of disaster may make it’s appearance.
To say that some form of 'sin' is at the root of terrible events is not to say that we shouldn't energetically prevent them. This is not at all to promote a lax view of arrangements to deal with flooding or earthquakes, or for that matter 'terrorism' - courageously meeting these challenges is imperrative. It is a kind of battle between chaos and order, 'good' and 'evil'. But we should not let this surface struggle distract us from a far deeper issue, which relies on all of our intelligence, all of our morality. It requires a deep look at reality, not the fairy-tale stories of the events caused by this underlying situation.
The real challenges are those of peace and environmental awareness. Even these 'world issues' are transient, as what matters more, what has pernnial importance, what is closer to the very meaning of life, is the growth of our deepest compassion, of love for others, along with an intense appreciation of the wonderful world bestowed upon us.
The message of every tragedy is the same; to appreciate the value of life and use the energy of that appreciation to make it the world better for others. Life itself is what matters, not just our own lives, but those of future children, even that of other races, other creatures, even that of the planet itself. In that sense of totality, wisdom is to be found. This way, as ever, we are reminded that our higher values are more important than our possessions. I hope that from this flood, people find a new energy for life. The tragedy can be a chance to make life-changes that our usual routine traps us from even considering. We can find them in the news, we can find them in legends handed down, in myths, in history-books. We can learn from life itself, how to be better people today than we were yesterday. And this requires a lot of sincerity, a lot of truth and an undying commitment to the quiet power of love.
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