This past election has caused alot of us a whole bunch of soul-
searching, especially when it comes to the frustration we feel in
not being able to stop the train-wreck that our nation seems to
be hurdling towards. Below is a piece of a letter, of sorts, to
those of us who are feeling just a little bit discouraged by the
results of November 2, 2004.
It was the words I needed in order to get up, and put my plans to
move to Canada with Douglas on hold
We are made for these times
By Clarissa Pinkola Estes
Mis estimados: Do not lose heart. We were made for these times. I
have heard from so many recently who are deeply and properly
bewildered. They are concerned about the state of affairs in our world
right now...
Ours is a time of almost daily astonishment and often righteous rage
over the latest degradations of what matters most to civilized, visionary
people. You are right in your assessments. The lustre and hubris some
have aspired to while endorsing acts so heinous against children, elders,
everyday people, the poor, the unguarded, the helpless, is breathtaking.
Yet, I urge you, ask you, gentle you, to please not spend your spirit dry
by bewailing these difficult times. Especially do not lose hope.
Most particularly, because, the fact is we were made for these times.
Yes. For years, we have been learning, practicing, been in training for
and just waiting to meet on this exact plain of engagement...
I grew up on the Great Lakes and recognize a seaworthy vessel when I
see one. Regarding awakened souls, there have never been more able
crafts in the waters than there are right now across the world. And they
are fully provisioned and able to signal one another as never before in
the history of humankind...
Look out over the prow; there are millions of boats of righteous souls on
the waters with you. Even though your veneers may shiver from every
wave in this stormy roil, I assure you that the long timbers composing
your prow and rudder come from a greater forest. That long-grained
lumber is known to withstand storms, to hold together, to hold its own,
and to advance, regardless.
We have been in training for a dark time such as this, since the day we
assented to come to Earth. For many decades, worldwide, souls just like
us have been felled and left for dead in so many ways over and over
brought down by naiveté, by lack of love, by being ambushed and
assaulted by various cultural and personal shocks in the extreme. We
have a history of being gutted, and yet remember this especially - we
have also, of necessity, perfected the knack of resurrection. Over and
over again we have been the living proof that that which has been exiled,
lost, or foundered can be restored to life again.
In any dark time, there is a tendency to veer toward fainting over how
much is wrong or unmended in the world. Do not focus on that. There is
a tendency too to fall into being weakened by persevering on what is
outside your reach, by what cannot yet be. Do not focus there.
That is spending the wind without raising the sails. We are needed, that
is all we can know. And though we meet resistance, we more so will meet
great souls who will hail us, love us and guide us, and we will know them
when they appear. Didn't you say you were a believer? Didn't you say
you pledged to listen to a voice greater? Didn't you ask for grace?
Don't you remember that to be in grace means to submit to the voice
greater?
Understand the paradox: If you study the physics of a waterspout, you will
see that the outer vortex whirls far more quickly than the inner one.
To calm the storm means to quiet the outer layer, to cause it to swirl
much less, to more evenly match the velocity of the inner core - 'til
whatever has been lifted into such a vicious funnel falls back to Earth,
lays down, is peaceable again. One of the most important steps you can
take to help calm the storm is to not allow yourself to be taken in a flurry
of overwrought emotion or desperation thereby accidentally contributing
to the swale and the swirl.
Ours is not the task of fixing the entire world all at once, but of stretching
out to mend the part of the world that is within our reach. Any small,
calm thing that one soul can do to help another soul, to assist some
portion of this poor suffering world, will help immensely. It is not given to
us to know which acts or by whom, will cause the critical mass to tip
toward an enduring good. What is needed for dramatic change is an
accumulation of acts, adding, adding to, adding more, continuing. We
know that it does not take "everyone on Earth" to bring justice and
peace, but only a small, determined group who will not give up during the
first, second, or hundredth gale.
One of the most calming and powerful actions you can do to intervene in
a stormy world is to stand up and show your soul. Soul on deck shines
like gold in dark times. The light of the soul throws sparks, can send up
flares, builds signal fires, causes proper matters to catch fire. To display
the lantern of soul in shadowy times like these - to be fierce and to show
mercy toward others, both, are acts of immense bravery and greatest
necessity. Struggling souls catch light from other souls who are fully lit
and willing to show it. If you would help to calm the tumult, this is one of
the strongest things you can do.
There will always be times when you feel discouraged. I too have felt
despair many times in my life, but I do not keep a chair for it; I will not
entertain it. It is not allowed to eat from my plate. The reason is this: In
my uttermost bones I know something, as do you. It is that there can be
no despair when you remember why you came to Earth, who you serve,
and who sent you here. The good words we say and the good deeds we
do are not ours: They are the words and deeds of the One who brought
us here.
In that spirit, I hope you will write this on your wall:
When a great ship is in harbor and moored,
it is safe, there can be no doubt.
But that is not what great ships are built for.
This comes with much love and prayer that you remember who you came
from, and why you came to this beautiful, needful Earth.
Clarissa Pinkola Estes, Ph.D
