Have you noticed how fear demands your immediate attention? Manipulation through fear by people in positions of authority pervades every aspect of our culture. Media use fear to get ratings. Politicians use fear to get votes. Corporations use fear to sell products. Government uses fear to influence public opinion, i.e. Saddam Hussein has weapons of mass destruction Its a slam dunk! In the thirty-five years my parents lived in Florida they experienced numerous deadly hurricanes. What did they do without up-to-the-minute satellites and experts telling them what to do? They listened to weather reports, trusted their instincts and did what was necessary to survive. Accustomed to thinking for themselves, previous generations relied on their ingenuity to make creative intelligent decisions. In March I was at a Bed and Breakfast in Key West. While chatting with the friendly desk clerk I asked him whether he was among the thousands of individuals who evacuated the Keys last year in advance of Hurricane Wilma. He told me hes lived in the Keys for twenty-five years and thus far the weather hasnt driven him out of his house, which is on concrete stilts. Nevertheless, he does have a just-in-case plan. Even with good leadership, government is limited in what it can do to protect citizens at home. In the case of the ultimate catastrophe, the federal governments first priority is not we the people. It is the survival of the countrys leaders and lawmakers. We cannot rely on government for protection from monumental natural disasters, plagues and terrorist attacks. Government can provide advice such as the emergency Go Bag suggestion that followed the September 11 terrorist attack. Most people probably have forgotten about Go Bags. In a season of quiet, Americans have a tendency towards complacency. But hey, the man in the red cape is not going to fly to the rescue of Metropolis. Survival depends on savvy individuals who are prepared. Think of it as an extended camping trip that includes the pet pooch. Too often we dont realize we have a choice. Either we can react to fear or we can think for ourselves and make intelligent decisions. In Neale Donald Walschs Conversations With God, Book 2, he makes an interesting comparison between Reactive and Creative: Notice they are the same word. Only the C has been moved! When you C things correctly, you become Creative, rather than Reactive. This may sound a bit contrived. Maybe you challenge his books or think hes a phony. What difference does it make? Doesnt your life involve a series of choices? Following like sheep is easy but dumb. Being creative requires some clear independent thinking. President Franklin Roosevelt led the American people into and out of war by reminding them that fear is a state of mind which only begets more fear. Anything can happen. The stock market will head south. It frequently does. Interest rates will rise. They often do. There will be a deadly plague. Been there too. Thousands will die from terrorist bombs. They already have. Living in constant fear of what might happen is insane. Imaginative independent thinking people like Thomas Edison or Bill Gates for example, have made America the most creative nation on earth. But if we allow government and corporations to think for us, we are nothing but lemmings; we destroy the democracy our enlightened Founding Fathers created, and we fail the millions of Americans who died for it. The number of people that cannot locate a renowned country on a map, or name their congressional representatives is embarrassing. Yet they know exactly how Tom and Katie delivered their baby and who is the next American Idol. I am a lighthearted person. Without carefree, fun loving people and experiences in my life Id be bored and boring. But theres a difference between the fairytale of celebrity living, and living the fairytale of celebrity. Subliminally and overtly, we are being conditioned to believe the falsehoods and fairytales of the American Dream. The fairytale of Santa Claus, the fairytale of the Mayflower, the pilgrims and the first Thanksgiving; the fairytale of the way the West was won, the fairytale of why we went to war in Iraq, even the fairytale of the fairytale wedding next time you see the clip of Princess Diana walking down the aisle, take a good look at the poor girls face. "To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven." Ecclesiastes 3.1. Now I believe in this truth. But it is the choices we make in life that determine the season. Simplicity-Courage-Humor-Soul |
