We have been asked to comment on the current situation in the world – thoughts which might be helpful now and in the future.
That’s not easy of course because there are as many „current situations“ as there are people in the world. All of you deal with it in your own personal way, all of you experience it in your own personal way. We simply cross our fingers for you and hope you you come through it well.
One thing though is heavy on our mind: what will come “after it’s over”? Many of us will end up with a positive learning experience at the end of the day. They will structure their everyday life differently. For that to be successful we also send out our best wishes and positive thoughts.
One „lesson“ though is becoming visible already: How fast and how thoroughly nature would heal itself from our being exploited in our relentless consumerism. Hardly a more telling signal, when you observe dolphins again in front of St.Marcus Place in Venice, isn’t it? Or you see alpine lakes filling up again, because they do not have to feed snow cannons any more. These are only symptoms and symbols, but their language is telling.
The word crisis comes from the ancient Greek and was the term for „Decision, Opportunity“. It would be really great, if we could see these trying times as an opportunity instead of reverting back to some same-old-same-old or a “state of normalcy.” That would the head-in-the-sand method of old.
For it’s the routine agendas of the past, that need changing for a long, long time now. For many centuries they let us live like a bunch of termites, who (today in a very „democratic“ process) have elected leader termites, as long as they promised that the woodshed Earth, which we are devouring at the moment, will provide nutrition and protection forever and ever.
Commonsense driven and visionary contemporaries of ours, who mumbled that „growth at any cost cannot end well have been ignored, blocked, fired, locked up, burnt at the stakes. An ancient practice. Global warming? A hoax invented by the Greens to take away our third cars.
For real, darlings, if we do not manage successfully the transition from a growth-progress to a preservation-and-care-progress, there is no difference between us and the termites devouring the woodshed until there is not a shred and morsel left – all in the firm conviction, that it will always be like that.
But if we do it right and understand the lesson of these times, the Corona was a blessing – crazy as this may sound right now. To do right for example would be not only to protect the „big ones“ from bankruptcy. These “big ones“ belonged to the termites most of the time, my friends. We have to help the small businesses to get back ontheir feet. Der small shops, the organic farmers, the many unknown and thankless helpers in your immediate neighborhoods, the people in the vicinity, the companies in the vicinity. The danger is real, that afterwards everything will be done to get big business on ist feet ASAP to ist old, destructive level. We all can help that this does not happen.
Never ever any government in the world would have succeeded in proclaiming reasonable bans without endless protests, strikes and concessions without real value for nature and our future.
Let’s grab this opportunity and start anew! Almost everybody has now time and leisure at his or her disposal to rearrange priorities and find valid answers for the question: „What are the real and valid Essentials in my life?” This question has nothing to do with egotism, on the contrary!
To shed light on certain relationships and contexts we often tell short parables, tales and anecdotes. Maybe the following does the trick.
Once upon a time there was a woman taking a stroll in a small forest. Suddenly she came upon a small greenish forest spirit. „Wow,“ the spirit cried out, „ich notice that you can see me. That’s why I grant you a wish, but make it quick!“
„Hmm“, the lady said, „can’t think of anything at the moment, just onbe thing: I always wanted to know waht the difference between heaven and hell is“.
Pooof! And the small forest spirit took her by the hand and led her to a wooden shed suddenly appearing in front of them from out of nowhere. They went inside and through the first door on the right.
A strange scene unfolded in fron of them: Many people sat on chairs around a gigantic wooden table. They tried to eat from a magnificent foof bowl right in the center of the table. But it was not possible. For the very long spoon with which they reached into the bowl was firmly tied to their hands. Thus they couldn’t direct the spoon to their mouths. They appeared desperate ausschließlich if almost starving.
„That’s hell“, said the forest spirit. And took the woman’s hand and led her to the next room in the house.
An lo! the exact identical scene unfolded in front of her eyes. A huge table, people who tried to fish the delicacies from the far away bowl in the center of the table. Only that the general atmosphere was one of good cher, merriment and laughter and the telling of hilarious stories – and feeding each other without any problems.
„That’s heaven,” the forest spirit said.
There is no crisis which is not an opportunity at the same time. This crisis though is a little different from most previous ones. It is probably our last chance bestowed on us to turn this planet of ours into the paradise it is meant to be.
Maybe we are accused now of naiveté. But that much is very certain. Naive to the highest degree is to think once this is over we can carry on just as before.
But certain is also this: This chance and opportunity is REAL! We still could travel onwards into a good future for us all. Let’s get to it!
The real has a future!
Sincerely
Johanna Paungger-Poppe & Thomas Poppe
Paungger & Poppe - Wisdom of the Ages 