Before I begin, let me flatly state I’m not a physicist, an economist (heaven, forbid) nor a guru on the lecture circuit telling people how to get wealthy. Neither am I a religious zealot, a Republican or Democrat. That should allay any concerns that I have an agenda to push or answers to ultimate questions of the Universe.
What I’m going to say, however, may upset you and many others on the above list. If it does, I’m sorry. On the other if you find value in what I’m about ready to tell you, then hurrah. Let’s get on with it.
We live in times of economic distress, war, famine, greed and hopelessness. For many of us in the United States and elsewhere we watch silently and sadly as people we know lose their jobs, their homes, their retirement nest egg and their spirits. The old expression–”these are times that try men’s souls”–is an understatement.
We’re tired. We want things to get better. We want to return to “the good old days.” We seek inner peace and resolution to the problems we face as a nation, a community, a family and ourselves.
I needn’t recite the turmoil and broken hearts of people in our communities. Consult your local newspapers, broadcast stations and the Web for that. Bad news abounds; stories of hope and triumph are harder to find.
Here’s the hardest, most wrenching question: “Could it be that what we’re experiencing was meant to be? Are we part of a contracting Universe where economics and the law of abundance no longer apply?”
Cosmologists have proposed for a number of decades that the so-called “Big Bang” that set our known Universe in motion occurred after a contraction of an existing Universe. That, indeed, the Genesis story of “let there be light” or the scientific version of the current Universe establishing itself in a split second are one and the same.
Before continuing, let me say that, like economic theories, the belief of expanding and contracting Universes is not an established fact and this post is not about cosmology or God. But it is about life as we know it, a sequence of events starting at our “birth,” ending in our “death” and includes all of our perceptions and observations while alive on this planet spinning through mostly empty space.
Making this “real” in our minds is hard. So let’s dwell for a moment about our current state of economic uncertainty. Since World War II, citizens in the United States have experienced a period of nearly constant expansion. As this has occurred, many people grew up in a society expecting greater prosperity and abundance. For some people, the opposite occurred–declining prosperity due to circumstances both under and not under their control. For the most part, though, we’ve experienced improvements in our lives and national prosperity.
Define prosperity as you will: making more money, buying things that money offers, becoming happier in our relationships, reducing anxiety and worry or achieving inner peace. These are only examples of our own personal universes improving through expansion, concurrent with our known Universe growing larger and more distant from multiple sources. Yes, the Universe is expanding in all directions simultaneously and, if the scientists are correct, will reverse itself in the unknown future.
On the other hand, since World War II, we and our parents experienced years of decline. Economists refer to these periods as recessions, “economic downturns,” and even economic contractions. In the 1970′s, oil prices dramatically climbed raising the cost of gasoline. OPEC nations became rich while people in non-oil producing nations took more out of each paycheck for fuel.
Several times in the past 60 years, we’ve watched our economy shake, rattle and roll for no apparent reasons at all. Some might attribute the declines to government intervention, business life cycles, fate, bad luck, poor timing, lack of sound judgment or other causes. However, no one can fully explain why these contractions took place. They just happened.
You’re probably thinking right now that I’ve lost my marbles. “How can humans compare the ups-and-downs of their lives with Universal events?” “What does this have to do with my life?”
Quite a bit. In fact, totally. The ancient adage “as above, so below” is strikingly true. Suddenly, like a massive reversal of the big bang, our personal lives shook. We remembered Newton’s law: “What comes up must come down.” Prosperity and continued monetary growth were not assured. Nest eggs put away for retirement were no longer safe. We felt our lives turn upside down. Fear negated hope. We felt lost.
But feeling lost and unsafe is the natural order of the Universe. The trauma we’re experiencing can give us a better understanding of our circumstances. It’s o.k. to feel the way we do. It’s “natural” to want to hide in a closet. It’s understandable to become confused, lack direction, wander or feel empty.
Why? Because that’s exactly what the Universe is doing. Expanding and contracting, stars going super nova, others becoming dwarfs. Particles of matter and energy dancing in a sea of mostly empty space. We are connected to a Universe of infinite possibilities and unpredictable outcomes. Like asteroids, we too wander through galaxies where time and space open doors of opportunity. Stepping through the open doors is our challenge.
So where do we go from here? How do we cope with our daily existence and bring focus back to our contracted lives? It’s not easy but reaching out to others, sharing our doubts and fears and pausing our anxiety by going inward offer hope.
While we may feel out of control as planets spin and suns rise and set, we control the decisions we make and the lives we live in a mysterious Universe of wonder. And, in the end, if together with everything else we collapse into a piece of matter the size of a pea, so much the better. We’ll really feel close then.
