If you take a quick glance back at the passage of time, you know that this moment is but one jot in time, and yet we are allowing ourselves to be pulled down into a darkness beyond all reason that has no bearing on the truth of our lives.
Shakespeare said it best in Macbeth and it feels applicable to our time: “Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage and then is heard no more. It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury signifying nothing.”
Why are we allowing the thoughts and opinions of others, these tales told by idiots full of sound and fury, draw us into their drama? The spiritual call is not to attack their delusion, but to live our truth.
Gandhi believed that pursuing truth with patience and steadfast adherence to principles was a much more effective path to victory than to be always on the attack.
And so, the best antidote to fear is love. The most effective action to take in the face of greed is to share more of our worldly goods. The best remedy for judgment is compassion. The best cure for blindness is to see the truth. The best way to address opposition is non-violent resistance.
We find ourselves with exactly those choices today. Are we going to allow ourselves to drown emotionally in “tales told by idiots” – whether that is a politician, the news media, or social media – or will we continue down our own personal path characterized by love and compassion?
Will we let our rich, long and beautiful lives of experience, growth, happiness, service, compassion and empathy succumb to the words of poor players that “strut and fret their hour upon the stage” or will we – like so many before us who were dedicated to fulfilling a mission of spiritual purpose – be steadfast in our pursuits?
The most effective answer to those who would bring us down in fear is an answer with no words whatsoever. The answer is to choose happiness. The answer is to live a life of faith. The answer is to be helpful. The answer is to trust life itself, and the Source of life itself, and let that be the only Word we listen to.
This is a plea for everyone to find JOY in this moment and to live in gratitude for the grace that gave us this moment in which to live out a purpose that is far greater than anything this world can imagine, and certainly far more meaningful than this jot in time that has fallen prey to a maelstrom of voices “filled with sound and fury, signifying nothing.”
~ Syndie Eardly
