Now We Have the Facts – So Now What Do We Do?

May those whose lives are gripped in the palm of suffering
open even now to the Wonder of Life.
May they let go of the hurt and Meet the True Self beyond pain,
the Uncarved Block that is our joyous Unity with Holiness.
May they discover through pain and torment
the strength to live with grace and humor.
May they discover through doubt and anguish
the strength to live with dignity and holiness.
May they discover through suffering and fear
the strength to move toward healing.
-- Rabbi Rami M. Shapiro

"Information is not knowledge.
You can mass produce raw data and incredible quantities of facts and figures.
You cannot mass produce knowledge, which is created by individual minds,
separating the significant from the irrelevant, making value judgments."
-- Theodore Roszak


More and more people are aware of environmental abuses, social atrocities, and deaths due to chemical hazards than ever before. Combine this awareness with the worldwide fears of terrorist attack following the September 11th tragedies, and you have a population filled with fear and apprehension who are being told by their leaders to go on with their lives.

Yet we know that our mail could be contaminated with anthrax, our workplaces are filled with harmful chemicals that could be shortening our lives, our children are at risk from toxic chemicals in the toys they chew or the playgrounds they use, and the very food we eat could contain harmful drugs, pesticides, and other questionable ingredients.

What to do with all this disturbing news may be as important as the news itself. People everywhere are asking the same questions including, “How can I protect myself and my family,” and “How can I change the direction this world is taking?”

Educator and psychologist Joanna Macy has, over the years, offered many ideas that can help transform the pain, confusion, guilt, and anger that so many people feel into a sense of empowerment.

Macy believes that public apathy does not stem from indifference or callousness or even ignorance, but from a fear of pain. She says that pain itself stems from an innate capacity to suffer with our world. The very fact that we can experience fear and pain for our world is actually wonderful evidence that we all share common bonds, feelings, and desires.

Gathering at the beach to reflect on the issues (Photo © J.A. Giuliano )


Most importantly, Macy reminds us that it is not the responsibility of any one person to save the world by themselves. Instead, we must take responsibility for our own actions and to try to live a life of compassion. There are many millions of people in this world who are trying to live mindfully. All these actions together are changing the direction of our world. You won’t hear about them on the evening news, but they are happening.

Another important activity that will help you cope with the disturbing information is to broaden your concept of self. Try to see yourself as more than just you, your job, and your family. Expand the idea of who you are to include the Earth, the air, the water, and the people around you. What course of action you need to take will become much more evident if you acknowledge the deep, personal connection every life form has to the Earth’s resources and ecosystems.
Macy reminds us of the importance of dropping any unnecessary baggage. She said, “What do I mean by baggage? The need to have a pre-formulated solution, the need to be right or enlightened, the need to win an argument, or the need for hope.”

It is not so much the idea of hope that is the problem, but the way we often do it. Hoping for a specific event to occur or a specific outcome in our lives can limit the possibilities. If we don’t hang on to preconceived ideas of the way things should be - if we let go of the blinders of expectations - we will be open for what can be.

Another important factor to consider as we try to decide what to do with all the information is to remember that information is not knowledge. Theodore Roszak reminded us of this in his 1986 book, “The Cult of Information,” when he said we must be wary of the assumption that “information will empower the citizenry and save democracy.”

This idea is a trap since it suggests that thinking is a form of simple information processing, which it is not. More data will not, by itself, produce a better understanding of the issues. For that understanding, we must look inward.

We must continue to gather high quality information, to be sure. But we have to surround that information with a solid value system from within.

Most of us have not figured out how to create values that are totally consistent in our lives nor have we explored the complete ramifications of the idea that we are all deeply interconnected. Few have even taken the time to understand what their own personal core values are.

Depression, confusion, and feelings that they are living double lives are rampant among people who are trying to be socially responsible. Every part of mainstream society works hard to make them feel alone, outcast, weak, and wrong.

By challenging assumptions and carefully managing the amount of information we take in, we can create consistency in our lives, see that it is OK to believe in what may not be popular, create ideas about what our core values could be, see that it is OK to be angry when injustice is done, believe that having a respect for all life is not an extreme point of view, and believe that our individual voices matter and that millions of people are trying to do these things every day.

The beginning of wisdom is calling things by their right name.

Yes, the news of the harm being done to our Earth is disturbing and we can choose to turn it off. But there is danger in that course of action. Franz Kafka told us of the consequences of looking away when he said, “You can hold yourself back from the suffering of the world: this is something you are free to do ... but perhaps precisely this holding back is the only suffering you might be able to avoid.”

Don’t hold back. Look at the pain. And choose to do something about it.

RESOURCES

1. Give really meaningful gifts that go lightly on the Earth this year with the help of the Green Gift Giving Guide from the Natural Resources Defense Council at: http://www.nrdc.org/cities/living/ggift.asp#


2. Better yet, give the gift that could safe a life with the help of the Seva Foundation. By giving contributions through their “Gifts of Service” catalog, you could restore someone’s eyesight or even help buy a buffalo for a Native American herd. Check them out at: http://www.seva.org/


3. Explore a “Healing Our World” commentary from a few years ago about steps you can take to heal at: http://drjackie.freeservers.com/articles/aug16-1997g.html


4. Learn more about what to do with information with the help of the Communication Project at: http://www.tcpnow.com/index.html