Atomic Stress

Atomic Stress

Lately I find myself worrying a lot more than usual. About the safety of our kids on the streets, about sickness and disease, and about the war now growing so out of control. I turn on the news to get updated on the latest information and am greeted with the impending threats of global warming, the latest pedophile in custody, and images of bloody, amputated corpses and crying children… oh, and of course, the latest celebrity break-up.

I have to admit most of that seems to have me feeling a bit anxious and a little afraid, and searching for some kind of refuge from the chaos.  It used to be that in times of distress we could turn to our priests for consolation, or our local politicians for explanations, or the police for help, however, those sanctuaries seem to be disappearing.  Today a lot of us feel that our priests are creepy, our politicians are fickle, and our police officers are overburdened.  So what can we do?

When it comes to the world around us, I think we need to do the only thing we can do, and that is our own small part – something, anything that will benefit our future in even the tiniest way.  I have friends who join the crowds and protest the war – I send emails and letters to senators and the White House.  I appreciate the people who attend the vigils for the innocent children who stepped in the way of stray bullets, however, I advocate peace through my writing, and say my prayers.  And while other people carry on as though nothing is happening, I stop now and then and take it all in, appreciating the quiet moments, the beauty that is left, and the love that still exists around me.

So while it’s true that we will never know for sure when another tower will fall or if another self-proclaimed religious-minded leader with a suspicious agenda will send more of our citizens to war, it is true that at least in our own corner of the world we can unite and send a collective appeal out into the universe through our words and actions which, I have to believe, must be worth something.  A plea for understanding, peace, and forgiveness… of others and of ourselves.  Hope, I fear, as found in our prayers, in our good intentions, and in the eyes of our children, may be our only recourse in helping us to endure our new realities and find some relief in our own minds and hearts, at least until that hope is realized.