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It is not uncommon to hear someone tell of how a crisis – perhaps an illness, the loss of a job, or even a loved one’s death – impacted his or her life in an unforeseen way, blending tragedy with an unexpected and beneficial shift on life’s pathway. Often in these cases, the person is forced to draw upon little-used strengths or overcome personal weaknesses in such a way that new and promising avenues open up, problematic relationships are resolved, or the person’s life is reshaped in some significant way. Of course, these unexpected opportunities are not always recognized, and one can just as easily drown in sorrow, loss, bitterness, and blame. These “interventions” of the Universe can indeed be quite painful, even when they manage to lead to a growth spurt of the soul.
The most extreme example of crisis leading to potential healing is in the case of the substance abuser, most commonly the alcoholic. Usually, the addiction is accompanied by all sorts of problematic behaviors and attitudes that in turn lead to an ongoing series of crises including the loss of jobs, the loss of friends and loved ones, and possibly legal entanglements. When the alcoholic “bottoms out,” he has finally come to the realization that he must face his addiction and transform the lifestyle and the attitudes that support it. Although often filled with anguish, the crisis-strewn life of the addict may be understood as the proverbial handwriting on the wall. Eventually, the message becomes obvious: You cannot keep doing what you have been doing without more and more dire consequences. There is no escaping the need for a radical change in direction. Pain becomes the awakener, the message not to continue on the same path. Sometimes people call this process karma.
In the ill-fated presidency of George W. Bush, we have now experienced three catastrophes: 9/11; the ongoing Iraq War; and Hurricane Katrina. In each case, it is easy to find specific omissions or mistakes that were causative and worthy of blame. But the cumulative feel, as we remain cowed by the first, continue mired in the second, and emerge fresh from the wounds of the third, is that the country is going in the wrong direction. It is perhaps the most crucial task of our leadership to give form and clarity to this feeling of wrongness and then point us in a new and healthy direction for the future. And, as with the alcoholic who must understand that his abusive behavior, his irresponsibility, his dysfunctional relationships, etc., all stem from his refusal to give up his addiction and face himself, so too must the citizens of this country understand the irrefutable connection between our dependence on foreign energy sources, our increasingly aggressive military presence in the oil and gas rich regions of the world, the burgeoning number of anti-American terrorists, and our lack of resources at home for the needs of our citizens. They must connect the dots between our refusal to move vigorously to renewable fuels and conservation, the overwhelming political and financial power of the oil and defense industries, and the administration’s refusal to accept the growing menace of global warming. All of these issues are linked and form a self-sustaining system. And again, as with the alcoholic, the first step is to move away from our decades-long addiction, in this case to fossil fuels, and go through the pain of withdrawal and the creation of new attitudes and a more responsible and functional relationship with the world and its resources. When this choice is made, buttressed by the will to back it up, many of the other issues in this self-sustaining system will begin to lose their potency. The longer this choice is deferred, the more severe the crises will be that rain down upon us, until we finally wake up and read the handwriting on the wall.
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