Lent – Day 8

I haven’t been doing well with my efforts to limit my exposure to political commentary.  I looked at a few last night after I finished my post.  In my Day 2 post for Lent I said that I wasn’t going to stay up late watching late night political shows on Youtube, but I haven’t been very good at sticking to that.  To be entirely honest, I’ve failed.

I may not be staying up late watching them, but I think I would do better at going to bed earlier if I didn’t waste my time watching them before I started to do my work.  How I’m going to do that is one thing, but my motivation behind it is another thing, and I want to talk about that for a second.

To begin with, a significant part of this is my problem with distraction.  Eliminating distraction from my life doesn’t usually mean that I pour myself into my work; it usually means that I find something new to distract me.  I can stare out the window if it comes down to it.  So there’s that tendency of mine, which figures prominently, but on top of that is the political situation in our world – or more specifically the Trump White House.  It’s absolutely bananas and I cannot tear myself away.

Sometimes I wonder if my interest in this is more like somebody following the Bachelor or some other reality TV show rather than me being concerned about the state of the world.  I think there’s a lot to that.  I think what fascinates me about this situation is the way that Trump (and others in his administration) behave so badly without any remorse and seem to maintain the support of so many people.  It’s troubling, and utterly captivating.  Probably like a lot of reality TV show.

(It just occurred to me that maybe Trump is approaching the presidency from the perspective of a reality TV show rather than an important job – could it be?)

Sometimes I think about the prospect of him being impeached.  It could happen.  It’s tempting to get excited about the prospect, but then I think about the reality of what that would mean.  It wouldn’t really fix any of the core issues that are facing his country (and the rest of the world) right now.  Yes, Donald Trump is a terrible leader and wildly erratic – eliminating him would bring some stability to the White House, but would the situation in which he was elected improve at all?

The proliferation of false news stories to sow disinformation, the belief that those on the left are evil or that those on the right are evil, the willingness of people to post and to express xenophobic or racist opinions out loud, the hatred and the anger – it’s all very disheartening.

But certainly while Donald Trump is the President, these problems are not likely going to improve, and me following the satire and the constant twitter stream is not going to help it either.

But what can be done?

I’m sure I could ramble on about that for pages without saying anything of much value.  I do feel at times that to talk about searching for sweet solid ground in my own personal journey is a bit hollow when so much around me is going nuts.  Is it possible to do that?  Surely, if I was actually able to find a place of sweet solid ground for myself while the world burned, I might be delusional or in denial?

In our world there must always be discontent and sadness when faced with all the trouble and pain that surrounds.  A true place of sweet solid ground is a place where we can all stand together.  I also must remember that this is not something I can ever do on my own, but maybe somehow I can contribute to the possibility of us moving closer.  It certainly doesn’t help to gawk in disbelief.

God help us.  What on earth are we supposed to do?

Well, to begin with I know that it would be better to focus on my given task at hand and to try and get a little bit more sleep while I’m doing it, so I’ll let you know how I do with that today.  When uncertain about how to save the world, just do a good job with what you’ve been given for the moment.

Have a great day.  Try to see the common humanity in all those you come across – even the ones who may cut you off, disrespect you or make you shake your head for some other reason.  We’re all in this together, with all the mess and all the rancour.