Pay No Attention To That Woman Behind The Curtain!

Mia here - My dearly beloved has graciously allowed me some space to say my piece (peace?). Let the rant begin.

Another disaster has taken place and it truly makes me believe that the "End of Days" has begun. What did the prophet say?: "Floods, famines and violence shall rule." Check, check, and check. Yep. So what is the plan...

The response from the government and the people who are supposed to be "in charge" has been disorganized and inept. We live in the single "Super Power" left in the world and we can't get helicopters to pick people up off the roofs of their flooded houses because they're too busy filming them dying.

Why were people seemingly so much more galvanized to show up and help pick people out from under rubble in New York City? Is it because the people in the towers were whiter, or richer and therefore more important? OR because we were attacked by a Bad Guy and were able to bond through our mutual hatred of an enemy? Are we just worn out from trying to ignore all the shit that comes flying at us on a daily basis?

Okay. Deep breath. I believe in karmic lessons. We live in what I believe is an adolescent country. I believe that in comparison to other countries we are, at 229 years-old, teens. Don't we have an adolescent "don't tell us what to do" arrogance? We are full of ourselves and passionately emotional about our loves and hates. We are now growing up. We are learning the painful lessons that teens learn about responsibility and how to ask for help. As far as karma goes, doesn't it seem that until you let yourself learn whatever you're supposed to learn, the means the universe uses to teach you just keep getting bigger and nastier?

When 911 took place, one of my first thoughts was, "Now we join the rest of the world." We were no longer innocent and untouched. The violence and ravages of war that have touched so many other places on this globe had come to our shores. We never have had to fight with an outside force coming here to get us. England doesn't count - that was like fighting with your parents to let you move out. But we reacted like teenage boys whose turf had been invaded. We got "pissed" and followed the stupid Bully Bush and his "Brains." We went to Afghanistan and Iraq to kick some ass, and burn off some excess testosterone (Just gotta hit something!).

Karma - we acted stupidly and the universe is handing us a new trial. This time we can't blame anyone for the attack. Mother Nature holds the crucible that will allow us to be remade. We lose our form and way of life in order to be reborn with the extraneous layers melted away.

What is important. Do it, live it, and let go of the rest. Love each other, hold each other close. Share the most precious thing you have. Yourself. The golden rule is one of the first lessons we try to teach our kids, and here we are as a country struggling with this lesson. We are a selfish nation and we must grow up. Now.

So what ends in the "End of Days?" The world, or the world as we have known it. Is it the end of rigid religious systems that create hate and division? Has the time of the individual truly come, where we choose to be a part of whatever community to which we feel attuned? Are we going to meet each other and see beauty in both the differences and the things we have in common?

The Professor and I are a marriage of opposites: a microcosm of the constant battle between light and dark, us and them. We must learn to love the "other" in order to survive. 22 years (5 as a couple + 16 married) this December, and counting.