Upside Down
“When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, "Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.” - Fred Rogers
After tragedy strikes, this quote often circulates on social media. It is reassuring. When the world is turned upside down, we can find comfort in the fact that there are always people walking calmly, confidently toward the crisis. They are trained. They know what to do. They have given their lives to bring order from chaos. They carry the right equipment and have the skills to put out the fire, arrest the bad guys, suture the wounds, heal diseases, put minds at ease and help us process trauma. They use the power voters have given them to make and uphold laws that protect and defend. These are the helpers. These are the people we respect, we trust, and we go to in our weakness and need.
What happens when those helpers no longer help? What happens when they retain power, authority, and trust, but become the ones who inflict tragedy, rather than help us heal from it? What happens when they lie and demand we lie too? What happens when a parent has a child in a world where every place they turn for help is staffed by those who unintentionally cause great harm, at best, and intentionally destroy at worst? What does a loving parent do when they have entrusted their most priceless gift to a school, a therapist, a doctor, who actively works for their child’s ruin and has the full backing of their government and society’s popular opinion?
What happens when the parent becomes the bad guy that is locked up and the true criminals are praised and promoted for their crimes?
A person could go crazy in a world like that. A person most certainly feels afraid.
You walk upright, but the world is upside down. Instead of protecting your children from calamity, you find you must protect them from those commissioned to help. You are not crazy. You are not alone in feeling a loss of trust in almost any and every institution. You are not strange to grieve a loss of community and perceived safety. You may feel exposed and suspicious every time you walk outside your front door (or open your computer), but you are not alone.
Philosopher Jiddu Krishnamurti says “It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society.” You are not out of alignment with the truth; a profoundly sick society you are living in is. In order to restore health, it will take many of us to “live not by lies” as Alexander Solzhenitsyn reminds us. It is a terrifying thing to hold on to the truth when those around you have their lost grip on it, but it is the most loving and courageous thing you can do. Because of our deep pain and loss, we are uniquely gifted to be a compassionate tether to reality for those around us.
This article brought the following bible verse to mind: “And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold.” Matthew 24:12 NKJV
Although the future may seem bleak, I believe we can find encouragement and hope in the following verses: “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things. The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you.”
Philippians 4:6-9 NKJV
You have spoken the truth so clearly. Thank you for that. I read PITT posts, especially after taking a beating from the madness. I keep turning to people I love and who I thought loved me—but they either don’t want to hear it, pretend to care, give me advice I’m sure came from a “positive” meme, or yell at me because I’m negative or offensive. Few people can handle what I tell them but expect me to handle it. I find all of this so hypocritical. Then again, I thought that doctors believed in The Hippocratic Oath. In fact, the professionals are the worst of all. They stand in judgment but do not expect to be judged. I say we judge the hell out of them. I say fight back. I say be annoying, be their worst nightmare! after all, they have been ours!