by: Rev. Dr. Cari Bourette

Woven into the fabric of Western culture is the idea of “end times.”  Jesus of Nazareth is quoted as providing a list of symptoms of an approaching apocalypse which included among other things, “wars and rumors of wars.”  Believer or not, Christian or not, it’s a part of the matrix we live in.  Another component of the most recent escalation in the Middle East is the context of nuclear war.  The apparent Israeli and U.S. goal of bombing Iran is to prevent the acquisition of nuclear weapons, yet the immediate question arising for many in response to the news was “Did this just put us all in more danger?  Did this just light the fuse to World War III?”  Ah, yes, WWIII—another part of the collective story that continues to wait for an initiating spark.

This series of events of geopolitical escalation will activate a response in you.  For some it will be much more intense than for others.  This signaling of required attention is a proper functioning of mind and body.  There are a number of intersections between events that have just occurred in the world and spaces in your internal database that are marked “danger.”  The signal is served up from a part of your brain designed to recognize such similarities and handed over to a part that is asked to assess the type and extent of response required.  Assuming you are not a high-level government decision maker, the immediate answer to “What should I do?” will not be about directly addressing the situation you are watching on the news or hearing about in podcasts.  You are not in charge of what button is or is not pushed in the next few days.  Your initial response must be to return yourself to a space of relative sanity and serenity.  Once found, you can consider other actions you may or may not want to take.  Remaining in a highly reactive state when “fight or flight” is not immediately indicated, does not increase your safety.  Instead, it makes you more likely to respond in ways you may later regret.

Resetting to here and now.

There may be a lot of chatter going on in your head.  You may have strong feelings about things that “somebody” needs to do or needs to stop others from doing.  Perhaps so and perhaps not.  Set that aside for now.  It’s not going to be you, not at this particular moment.  Breathe.  Look around and take in your surroundings.  Are you in a relatively safe place right here and right now?  If not, what are you doing reading?  If so, we can continue. 

What is the narrative?

While what is happening in the world out there may be impacting lives and livelihoods, for this moment, if you can allow it, we’re going to look at this as a story.  It will help to write this down.  Do yourself a favor, pause, and get something to write with. 

Let what you are noticing, thinking, and feeling find expression with the following prompts: What is happening and what is seeming so wrong about it?  What is it that is getting to you the most or bringing up in you the most pain or anger or frustration or fear?  Who are the villains or “bad guys” in this story?  What are they like? What are they doing? Who are the victims?  What are they like? What is happening to them?  If there was a hero to come along and save the day, what would they be like?  What would happen?  How do you want this story or this chapter of a story to end?  What would a good ending look like?  How do you see that happening?

Breathe.

Take a moment to hold that picture of resolution.  Return to your here and now.  Breathe.

You’ve perhaps gotten a little clarity on how you are seeing what is happening in the world.  You can stop here and come back to looking at those things with perhaps a little more distance and calmness than you had before.  This was a method of coping.  At an upcoming workshop, a method of transcending will be presented for those who are ready for this level of self-awareness.  It will involve a deeper step into you.  There will be introspection, writing, and group processing.  It will be healing and also revealing.  Stay tuned for announcements of this presentation.