I wrote this last week  The world seemed to be continuing to fall apart then.  But then I saw all my “friends” on social media going after each other for their beliefs.  I thought about sharing this then – but, honestly, I was afraid I would get caught up in the vitriol, so I didn’t.  I guess it was out of fear.  Fear seems to be at play a lot lately.  Maybe this article will give you hope.

 

Something isn’t right.  We all know it.  We are living through truly terrifying times.

 

Shootings in schools.  A young female refugee stabbed to death while people take video rather than helping, a political pundit, husband, and father assassinated while hosting a public lecture.

 

We are broken.

 

Morals and traditions have been fading into nothingness for a hundred years.  We are left on our own to sort out right from wrong, truth from lie, reality from fantasy, while the machinations of our screens and “social” media manipulate us with their algorithms.

 

We are lost.

 

And if we don’t stop pointing fingers and looking for who’s to blame, if we don’t take responsibility for true change soon, we might be lost permanently.

 

Jonathan Pageau, a renowned liturgical artist, writer, and public speaker, produced a beautiful and frightening documentary titled The End of the World about the symbols and situations in cultures that harbinger the end of era or epoch.  When you watch it, you can certainly see some of the similarities between our times, and the end of the Roman Empire, or other dynasties.

 

On the other hand, maybe it’s not time for us yet.

 

You see, my hero and mentor, Dr. Viktor Frankl, lived through some destitute and difficult times.  His country, Austria, home of the Habsburg Dynasty, one of the most powerful and longest standing empires in Europe was on the losing side of WWI.  The empire was parcelled off and Austria was a fraction of it’s former size and power.  It had not power.  Unemployment was rampant, there were no jobs for families to support themselves, and youth felt like a burden.  The suicide rate for young people was at an unheard of level.  Today, we see youth suicide and homicide played out on our devices seemingly constantly.

 

Frankl started clinics for youth and prescribed Meaning through work and creativity.  The suicide rates changed for the better with his work.

 

Then he was detained in the Nazi concentration camps of WWII for three years of his life.  Here, he certainly thought of taking his own life in times of hopelessness.  But his theory of Logotherapy – the Psychology of Meaning – was his guiding light.  It sustained him, and eventually became his gift to the world.

 

He lived through Dark Times.  But was able to find meaning in his work, and in love.  Despite losing his entire family – his parents, siblings, and pregnant wife, he found new meaning in his beloved Ellie.

 

We are living in Dark Times.  Sometimes it feels like “The Upside Down” of Pageau’s documentary or from pop culture shows.

 

Something isn’t right.

 

We are lost.

 

But we come from a long line of people who are lost.  If you study ancient wisdom – mythology, religious and spiritual writings, the Bible, the Torah, the Koran, and the myriad of other writings throughout antiquity, you might come to the same conclusion I did – “we come from a long line of really messed up people.”

 

But in most of those stories, somewhere there is hope.  Somewhere, there is redemption.

 

So maybe we shouldn’t lose hope.

 

Frankl, in his Dark Times prescribed Meaning, Purpose, and Resilience – my words not his.  Meaning in creative values – in creating art and music, in bringing our essence to our work, whatever that may be.  Meaning in experience – finding awe in nature, or in architecture, wonderment in experiencing and embracing life.  Meaning in our attitudes – our attitude toward life in general, but also our attitude toward the suffering that is inherent in human existence.  We don’t get to choose how we suffer, but we choose how we face it.  We can choose an attitude of resilience of turning that suffering into achievement, or we can let it cripple and embitter us.

 

Meaning through LOVE – truly embracing the uniqueness and potential of someone dear to us, our beloved, our families; but also, I beg us, to find that in each other – in those we don’t agree with, or those whose opinions bother us.  Human history has shown that kind of love – that love of our fellow humans, despite their flaws, ‘agape love’ as the Greeks called it – a general empathy or lovingkindness toward ALL people – that is the key out of the Darkness.

 

We are lost.  We are losing.  But ALL is not lost.

 

Discovering Meaning is the answer.  Helping each other find Purpose is the answer.  Developing the Resilience to protect that meaning despite ANY trauma, despite any mental health issue – I believe these are the answers.

 

Without them, my fear is maybe we truly are lost.  Maybe this is the end of our epoch.

 

With them.  With love and true empathy – embracing each other in our uniqueness and potential; who knows?  Maybe we might rebuild the morals, values, and traditions we have lost. 

 

Maybe there is still hope.