Ralph Meima notes that "completely coincidentally, a situation demanding strength in the face of the worst unexpectedly hit my family and me" only a few days after submitting this piece.
BRATTLEBORO-Sometimes, in life, the worst happens. The ship sinks. The house burns. The child dies. The war is lost. The beloved parent's lies are revealed. Then comes a distraught time of ashes, tears, ruin.
When I was much younger, I had no concept of this. I was born into a world of bright ambitions, earnest promises, freedom from want, better tomorrows.
America was the good guys. We won World War II and fought on to defend the free world. More and more people who deserved their rights got them, and everyone stood up for this because it was the kind, decent, American thing to do.
The worst could always be prevented.
Supposedly.
* * *
As I got older and experienced more of this world, I became aware of screaming pits of human misery like the American genocide, the Holocaust, the Holodomor, the Armenian genocide, and the Atlantic slave trade, when the worst did actually happen.
When people came through these experiences alive, how on Earth did they cope? How did they manage to re-create lives and meaning when they knew how bad it could get, how evil people could be, far from the protective spell of sunny optimism I took for granted? How did they keep going?
How do you grasp these horrors? How do you incorporate them into your truth along with positive, optimistic narratives? Without the horrors completely consuming everything else?
I knew one thing. Not all coped. Only the strong prevailed and kept on going.
* * *
We are standing by the screaming pits. Most of us are surprised our paths brought us here.
Climate change is shredding the environment we evolved in, and it may be too late to do anything about it. The fires have arrived in the East.
Ukraine is about to be thrown to the Russians. We are about to abandon our allies around the world.
Untold millions are about to be hunted, captured, and deported, never mind the inconsistent rules that many broke to be here in this land of existential refuge and prosperity.
Our government is about to reignite massive deficits so that billionaires can get richer while "the 99%" pay. Women's rights will continue to contract. Meanwhile, multitudes continue to succumb to mental illness, addiction, abuse, and homelessness.
To stop and reverse any of these processes and actions will take enormous unity, resources, and political will. But the worst may happen anyway.
* * *
Where will you get your strength to carry on? Your own reserves? Your family ties? Church? A civic organization or club? Patriotism? The discipline of a sport or martial art? Public service?
A deep well of love for family, community, and humanity?
I have no doubt that many of us will find the strength we need for the new world that is dawning and its worst challenges.
But I wonder whether the intensity and longevity of what is unfolding will demand extraordinary forms and sources of strength. Will we throng to monastic orders or fascist militias? Will theocracies flourish and dominate communities? Will nostalgia drive traditionalism? Will our responses be extroverted or introverted? Will they work?
I think that, along with the human community instinct, we will see sources of strength that focus on action rather than contemplation, ideology, or study.
"Do something!" will be the imperative. "Together!"
There are multiplying disasters to respond to, refugees to receive and resettle, communities to protect and develop, economies to nurture and businesses to support, learners to educate, social and individual ills to heal, common cause to find, leaders to hold accountable, and the truth to speak.
These all require and foster strength.
How will you find the strength to carry on, and what is your advice for the rest of us?
This Voices Essay was submitted to The Commons.
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