New Suns

I have been listening to Krista Tippett’s On Being podcast “Hope Portal” series. In one episode she featured adrienne maree brown. They had a wonderful discussion.  Two things which caught my attention were their discussions of an abundance that is already present and there is nothing new under the sun but new suns – everything we have been is falling apart.

Under The Sun

What exists under our sun now? A plethora of contradictions. There is nothing simple about it. Things are intensifying, uncertainty abounds and old values and ways of being are ignored and trampled. Some are reeling from this, wanting the stability of the past. Others are being tossed in the chaos and confusion. Some are embracing change, doing what they can to stabilize and understand it.

New possibilities also exist under our sun. We glimpse them, but their form is not evident yet. We can pretend we have certainty, but that is not yet true. These possibilities are very different than what we have known before. A radical shift is occurring. As such, our known ways of addressing change and finding new direction, may no longer be useful.

Falling Apart

In my work with Lynn Andrews, she talked about our times as Patriarchal Death Dance. She saw it as a major shift from one type of energy to another. As in a caterpillar’s and butterfly’s Chrysalis, this shift is a process and can get messy. Those entrenched in the old system do not want to let go. Those who welcome the new, are not sure of what it is they are welcoming.

Artificial intelligence, new views on gender identity, the amassing of great wealth contrasting with increasing poverty, impacts of our disregard for a healthy ecology, increasing polarization and division and economic uncertainty are now under our sun, creating concern and anxiety for many. The world under our sun is looking very different than what we have been used to.

Should we have hope now as things fall apart? This is something we may not be used to. It makes many people uncomfortable. If we stay fully present in the moment, we can have that hope. It keeps us from regret about the past and anxiety about the future. We can also dream, visualizing and contemplating good things to come. The world we live in can sure use improvement.