I found myself chuckling bitterly at Twitter today when I saw someone commenting “thoughts and prayers” in reply to a news story about proper comeuppance. It’s ironic and bitter and appropriate that this phrase has become so clearly UNsympathetic when it’s the only thing offered by a large section of the populace in regards to large, preventable tragedies.
I do my best in public internet spaces NOT to comment directly on politics as much as I can get away with (although sometimes I can’t help myself) since I am very much a religiously-oriented person and I am ALSO ordained and I VERY MUCH believe in the separation of church in state. And, while I DO pay my taxes and don’t enjoy tax-exemptions like other religious officials that legally obligate them to keep their opinions out of politics, I still try to maintain some distance anyways, because I do feel it’s important. So I try to focus on ethics, morals, how we treat each other, our communities, environment, and planet, and how we go about making decisions in the first place instead – and then trusting people to make those decisions well rather then telling them what their decisions should be. It might be a fine line, but it’s still a line. So if you feel that this post crosses this line, I apologize, but I’m going to do my best.
Anyways, so I saw “thoughts and prayers” offered unsympathetically once again and it reminded me how a good portion of the new age/spiritual/witchy community has come to use “love and light” in the same way.
“Love and Light,” like “thoughts and prayers” at the root are good and positive things, but there’s a way that a certain majority of our communities use these phrases that is… not good. It reeks of spiritual bypassing, but isn’t quite the same. It’s a specific… disinvestment. A certain… “not my problem.” It has come a way to say “I’m not going to help, but good luck anyways,” and somehow it still makes the person saying it feel like they’ve done their part – and the person(s) hearing it are for some reason obligated to accept the statement as a true gift in lieu of real help and assistance.
Mainstream Western and Christian societies are not the only ones guilty of this disinterest in their communities, because new age/spiritual/pagan/witchy folk do it, too. There are lots of reasons for this – and most of them are not bad reasons – but this disinterest and disinvestment from those around us in our various communities is NOT healthy, and so we need to reconsider whether or not a lack of ease or convenience is truly a good enough reason for us not to do more for each other.
We all have our own problems, personal responsibilities, things we’re busy with – there is a limited number of hours in the day and we all have a limited amount of energy available to us and we have to be smart and thoughtful about how we spend those things – this is a true fact of life. But it’s important to really sit down with yourself and think about what is truly important to you in life and this world and universe we live in – what do you, your ethics, beliefs, and values really prioritize and are you making decisions in your life and in your efforts that reflect those priorities?
Even if efforts are small and budgeted, they’re still better than obligatory and conciliatory “thoughts and prayers” and “love and light” – it can be as small as budgeting a $5 per month donation to an important organization that actively works on a cause you believe in, it can be reaching out to someone you know who is having a hard time, just to see how they are doing or feeling and to lend an open ear to them, to taking the time to educate yourself on topics or issues so you can share that information as opportunities come up and make more informed decisions in your life.
Efforts CAN be big, but they don’t have to be. Small efforts add up over time, and large groups of people making small efforts lead to an avalanche of effort – and we don’t even have to coordinate those efforts if we don’t want to. You don’t have to see the whole path, only one step at a time.
