Life After Doom

It feels so right that Zinn uses the word “defiance,” because that is what I feel: the energy of fierce defiance. All that is bad around us motivates me to resist, to defy, to refuse to comply, and that very defiance feels like a marvelous victory.

We feel this doom because we are awake, at least partially awake. The more we wake up, the worse we feel. It’s so tempting to fall back to sleep. No wonder certain politicians hate the idea of being “woke.”

You’ve probably never heard of the Plymouth Brethren, but if you’ve ever heard of “the Rapture,” you have our heritage to thank. (You’re very welcome.)

Doom is a kind of pre-traumatic stress disorder that arises when our old normal is deteriorating and no new normal has come into view. For our purposes, it isn’t a single catastrophic event at some point in the future. Instead, it is the emotional and intellectual experience shared by all who realize the dangerous future into which we are presently

“I had always seen things as most real or fundamental, and change was merely something that happened to them over time. I was coming to see change as most real and fundamental, and things were events that happen over time. Change became the constant in which things come and go, appear and disappear, form and fade away.”

To be hopeful in bad times is not just foolishly romantic. It is based on the fact that human history is a history not only of cruelty, but also of compassion, sacrifice, courage, kindness. What we choose to emphasize in this complex history will determine our lives. If we see only the worst, it destroys our capacity to do something. If we remember

This is a precious gain that comes with loss. This is a tender sweetness that comes with grief: appreciation.

Having counts for little or nothing, he explained. The rich man can own ten fast new cars, but appreciate none of them the way a poor child appreciates her one hand-me-down bicycle. It is not having that brings deep joy, but appreciating.

Contemplation is meeting all the reality you can bear.