Children Of The Devil
“Do you know that we are both children of the devil?” Yes, that is what we are. The devil is the spirit, and we are his unhappy children. We have fallen out of nature and hang suspended in space.
—Steppenwolf by Hermann Hesse p. 126
Suspended in space. That’s how I usually feel these days. So many reports of words and deeds far and wide, seeming to be out of sync, that do not add up (in my view) to the needs and requirements of life, to the down-to-earth essentials of well being.
Where do I start? I could start anywhere and the destination would be the same. To reflect on the local scene, the Chicago public schools are deeply, perhaps irretrievably in debt, with declining enrollment, especially in neighborhoods of color, as the poor leave the city if they can. How to solve that rubics cube of adverse circumstances?
On the national side, just yesterday the President walked out of a meeting which he proposed to discuss rebuilding our neglected roads, and other public infrastructures. He was miffed due to the public comment that some believe that he is covering up evidence of obstruction of justice. He is pissed off and so roads, bridges, and harbors continue into decrepitude.
A final example of our having fallen from nature, our suspension in space–a friend emailed me a snippet of information about a privately minted coin featuring the visage of President Trump and the image of Cyrus the Great, a Persian King of 2,500 years ago. Cyrus is lauded in the Torah for restoring the temple and permitting exiled Jewish people to return to their homeland.
You can purchase one of these coins for a mere $45.00, as a reminder to pray for President Trump. This keepsake is being promoted on the Jim Bakker television show.
Humanity, more to the point, you and I and everyone else is suspended in space, in free-fall, having fallen from nature. I can think of no better argument for the exercise of compassion, of great patience with one another. We are easily possessed by insane and crazy ideas, by megalomania-like points of view.
Only love will keep us alive.
