Order, Disorder, and Re-Order by Killian Noe
Spiritual teacher, Richard Rohr, describes the journey toward transformation as a path from order, through disorder, to reorder. He points out that there are no direct flights from order to reorder; that the journey to transformation requires a layover in disorder or disorientation. Think about your own spiritual journey. Does that ring true to you?
Societies follow a similar pattern of movement from order, through disorder, to reorder. Many in our nation are in favor of the disruption taking place in our policies and practices. At the same time, others of us are devastated by the terrorizing of immigrants, dismantling of policies that have helped level the playing field, defiance of court orders and due process and abandonment of some of the most vulnerable across the globe.
Whatever one’s political perspective, few would deny that we are living in a time of disorder, disruption and disorientation.
How do we live fully, with joy in such a time as this? I would like to offer 3 suggestions.
One: Now, more than ever, we must stay grounded in love. That means we must stay committed to whatever practices keep us connected to that source of limitless love at the core of our being. For some, that is a daily prayer or meditation practice. For others, returning many times a day to Recovery Café’s Guiding Principles keeps them grounded in love-force. Others find in times like these they need more silence and less news. As overwhelmed as some of us feel, now is not the time to abandon, but rather to fortify, whatever practices keep us grounded in love. We must stay grounded in love because “hate is too great a burden to bear.” (Martin Luther King, Jr.)
Two: We must stay grounded in authentic community. During this time of pervasive distrust, we need to be held by, and to hold onto, each other. We all need a circle of trust and realness where we are deeply known and loved. This is the power of Recovery Circles, the small, loving accountability groups in which all Recovery Café Members participate.
For those who find authentic community among their work-team, I highly recommend reading The Thin Book of Trust, Third Edition: An Essential Primer for Building Trust at Work by Charles Feltman.
Even though stress is intensified in times like these, we must take care to support our teammates giving each other the benefit of any doubt. This requires forgiving each other of any and all hurts; it requires honest, respectful, constant communication which leads to forgiving everything. The world needs to see communities practicing forgiveness–practicing forgiving everything. The world needs to see what it looks like when small groups of individuals live like we belong to each other. The deepest call of the Recovery Café Network movement is to embody an alternative to the divisive, demonizing, dominant culture.
Three: We can find at least one place, in addition to our Café community, to put our weight down in support of the values we hold most dear. The thought of taking on one more thing may feel overwhelming, but we can choose to educate ourselves about what is happening in at least one other place of suffering and use whatever influence we have to help stop the bleeding in that place.
Has something occurred during this time of disorder that breaks and expands your heart even just a little more than the rest? If so, educate yourself about the impact of that action and find ways to share what you’ve learned with others.
One such area for me is Medicaid. Most of the individuals Recovery Cafés serve depend on Medicaid for their physical and mental health care. Seventy-nine million Americans depend on Medicaid nationwide. Without physical and mental health care, many will die. Therefore, I have aligned myself with a group of physicians who are helping me understand more fully the devastation that will be wrought if further, predicted cuts to Medicaid occur. I am walking alongside those physicians in resisting further cuts because aligned, raised voices do make a difference in times of disorder.
Sending each of you love and strength as you continue to live from love and do what is yours to do. May we keep each other close as we journey through disorder toward a transformed world in which everyone has the love and support they need to thrive. It may take a long time to realize this transformed world, but we must never stop moving toward it. The Brazilian writer and journalist, Fernando Sabino, put it this way, “In the end, everything will be all right. If it’s not all right, it’s not yet the end.”