08/22/11 “Gathering in the Face of Instability: A Parable for our Time”
Last night’s dreams were filled with awakenings, both physical and perceptual. The physical ones were easily remedied with another pillow or a trip to the loo. The perceptual ones were less easily ignored. One dream caught my attention as I, in my dream persona of Amazon Sage, found myself transported to a small cafe in anytown USA.
There, young adults gather to talk, text, and jumpstart their day with a cup of java. The scene is reminiscent of a much earlier time (I’ve heard tales), when people who worked downtown gathered at a central square or farmers’ market before surrendering to the day’s work. In fact, this cafe sits directly across from some of those very same buildings where earlier city dwellers discussed the state of their lives. Only the facades have changed.As I gaze at nearby tables, I see young hikers, apparently rock climbers, freshly arrived from parts unknown. As they push back disheveled hair and tighten efficient backpacks one quietly speaks with the team about their day’s events. Nodding toward a structure, directly across the street, all smile mischievously. My gaze follows their own and I am taken in by the beauty of an old building standing not more than 30 feet away. In the early light of day, she stands tall, an elegant lady of by-gone years, still quite beautiful in her twilight years.
I know she has recently been given a facelift of multi-shaped bricks, because they are more colorful than those originally stacked. I suppose it was in an attempt to enhance her natural beauty, and ironically, to make her look more historic. I wonder why the renovators of this wonderful old structure didn’t simply peel off the worn out stucco that, since the 1960s, has so rudely blotted out her original grandeur. As I ponder this question, I am startled by the climbers. Almost magically, they are now standing directly in front of that grande dame, preparing to scale her heights!
A few climbers are already digging their fingers into the fresh sutures of her recent facelift. Others are hoisting heavy ropes across her shoulders and around her neck. Immediately, I am filled with consternation. Do these climbers not know of her delicate condition? Do they not even care that her true strength lies buried behind these seductive layers of false fronts? Before I have time to warn them, the climbers are 30, then 40 feet in the air.
The grand lady, so long ignored behind the facade of other men’s opinions has finally had enough. First, one brick, then another, she begins throwing off these new additions that have attracted the young skalywags. This seductive packaging has not made her stronger, it only serves to hide what is truly worth keeping. Along with the bricks, the young climbers begin to fall. Head over heels they fall, losing everything in an instant.What they did not know is that behind all the fancy packaging lives a soul of grace and honor. That is where the real strength lies. The outside glitz of others’ imaginations is only for show and profit, eventually toppling from the weight of its own lies.
Suddenly, I awake and wonder, “Is this what is happening in our society at large? To our financial institutions, to political parties, and to our ability to get things done in our government? Have we become so enamored with what is new and fast and easy, that we have forsaken the foundation on which this country was once built? Hmmm. Time to wake up.
