Joan King

North Georgia's Voice of Reason

Only by giving up anger, division can we heal our spirit, body politic

By Joan King

COLUMNIST

I've been writing this column for almost six years. One of my earliest efforts began with the statement, "By the time (this) is published, our country will have a new leader." Almost three weeks later, the result of the election was still in doubt. The country has been bitterly divided ever since.

Everyone is mad at somebody or something: immigrants, sex offenders, non-Christians. Elections are not far off, and politicians are tapping into this hostility. It doesn't matter if the strategy further divides our nation. People are restless, angry. They need a scapegoat.

The immigrant may be a hard-working, taxpaying parent of children who are already American citizens. If the individual arrived in the country illegally, he or she must be punished. No excuses.

Sex offenders, well, nobody wants to defend a sex offender, but does anybody stop to ask if punishment is an effective tool to fight a what probably is a mental problem? The guy across the street who doesn't celebrate Christmas? We seem to be only slightly less anxious to turn our country into a theocracy than some of the ayatollahs in the Mideast.

The point is, everybody seem to think America's problems can be solved if the other guy will just get out of the way. Is it possible that the body politic has a bad case of indigestion?

The idea of the body politic, of society as a living entity similar in many ways to the human body, goes back to Plato, Socrates and the ancient Greeks. Humanity is a living whole, and we cannot divorce or disassociate ourselves from one another without paying a heavy penalty.

Unfortunately the world's resources are taxed beyond their capacity to provide everyone with the kind of affluence so many of us desire, the kind of affluence the developed nations of the world take for granted. There simply isn't enough for everybody to have everything they want, and people are frightened.

Technology isn't helping. If anything, it is part of the problem because today's technology serves the cause of commercialism, not humanity. But technology could be made to serve the body politic if we redirect our desires and aspirations. We have to change what we want.

Is that possible? I really don't know, but it's our only option. We all know we need to eat more fruits and vegetables, but we want chocolate and potato chips. I know I do, so how do we learn to want what is good for us? How do we learn to want less when it is natural to want more?

The only way is to change our focus from the material to the spiritual, but the minute I say this, people begin to argue over religion. Nothing upsets so many people as the suggestion that there may be more than one spiritual pathway.

Why? If a person's faith gives him inner strength, if it provides peace of mind, if it helps the individual become a loving parent and a responsible citizen, then it serves both the individual and world. On the other hand, a religion that divides and alienates people from one another serves neither God nor humanity.

Life as it's being lived today is unsustainable. Clean water and arable land are disappearing. The number of toxic chemicals in the environment is growing. Natural resources are becoming depleted. Species extinction is accelerating.

The earth is finite. The human soul is not. The human ego needs enemies. The human soul desires communion. We have the ability to survive, even prevail, but not without a spiritual awakening.

This won't happen because one religion or one political system wipes out all the others. It will only because we recognize the worth of every human being.

When we put aside anger, when we learn to enjoy cultural diversity, when we take inspiration in all the great religions of the world, our own spirit will expand and we won't be so worried about material things.

We need give up nothing of value. Our own religion will be enriched, not diminished, and our own culture will experience a renaissance.

The first step is to turn away from anger. When people are no longer mad at another it will become easier to share, and when one shares ... well, remember the story of the loaves and the fishes.

There will be enough for everyone. The world will provide.

Joan King lives in Sautee; Her column appears biweekly.

Originally published Tuesday, January 31, 2006

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