Bargaining with gravity. The perfect metaphor for our collective state of being. No right, not wrong. Just chips on the table. The tragic comedy of it all.
Coming at this as a Christian theologian, it resonates with the passion and death of Christ. Rather than escaping his fate (which one can easily imagine he could have), Jesus walked all the way through the suffering and death that was demanded of him. The Presence that came out the other side was recognized by some, but not all, and many have simply re-cast him as a standard-bearer for Empire. I personally believe there will be a resurrection for our planet; whether humans will inhabit that new world, I cannot say.
What you're pointing to is the hardest thing to communicate.
The cross is not the end of the story, but you have to go all the way through it for the other side to be real. No shortcut, no bypass, no resurrection without the full weight of what preceded it. That's precisely what the sophisticated denial refuses. It wants the peace without the Gethsemane.
What I've watched, in field contexts, in ceremony, in the coaching room, is that the people who complete the grief curve don't become passive. They become clarified. The energy that was spent maintaining the story, negotiating with reality, keeping the back door open, that energy comes back. Not as hope in the old sense. As presence. As the specific freedom of someone who has nothing left to protect.
That's not inaction. That's Kurukshetra in another tradition. You fight because it's yours to fight, not because you've secured the outcome.
Whether humans inhabit what comes next, I hold that the same way you do. Open. The planet has its own resurrection timeline.
Our job is to be honest about where we are in the fall, and to act from that honesty with everything we have.
That feels like the most human thing possible.
Which, as it happens, is what Part III is about...
I oftne wonder why we need all the metaphors? As soon as we move away from what we have lived and deeply integrated through life experiences we find ourselves copying other peoples projections of other peoples ideas. I have sailed many hours and days and so I feel clear when I say: when the bow dips in a trough and the wave rolls over the foredeck as I glance at the compass heading and feel the drive of the hull through the swells knowing we are fully tuned to lay the mark in about 20 minutes.
My point is that too much of human imagination is leveraging other peoples experiences without the time and integration to feel the life in ones LIFE. to develop integrity as one expands ones life diversity.
La Haine isn't a borrowed idea. It's a precise instrument. When a metaphor names something that resists direct description, using it isn't avoiding lived experience — it's recognizing that someone else found the word first. That's what culture is for.
The writing behind it isn't borrowed. Thirty years of fieldwork, seventy countries, thousands of hours in the coaching room (read Part I: https://www.gabriellovemore.com/p/journey-to-nowhere-part-i?). The metaphor serves the experience. It doesn't replace it.
For example, your sailing image is exact. That's the point, you lived it, so it carries weight. Same principle.
Bargaining with gravity. The perfect metaphor for our collective state of being. No right, not wrong. Just chips on the table. The tragic comedy of it all.
Indeed, who knew when we bought the ticket that the show was a one way ticket?
Coming at this as a Christian theologian, it resonates with the passion and death of Christ. Rather than escaping his fate (which one can easily imagine he could have), Jesus walked all the way through the suffering and death that was demanded of him. The Presence that came out the other side was recognized by some, but not all, and many have simply re-cast him as a standard-bearer for Empire. I personally believe there will be a resurrection for our planet; whether humans will inhabit that new world, I cannot say.
What you're pointing to is the hardest thing to communicate.
The cross is not the end of the story, but you have to go all the way through it for the other side to be real. No shortcut, no bypass, no resurrection without the full weight of what preceded it. That's precisely what the sophisticated denial refuses. It wants the peace without the Gethsemane.
What I've watched, in field contexts, in ceremony, in the coaching room, is that the people who complete the grief curve don't become passive. They become clarified. The energy that was spent maintaining the story, negotiating with reality, keeping the back door open, that energy comes back. Not as hope in the old sense. As presence. As the specific freedom of someone who has nothing left to protect.
That's not inaction. That's Kurukshetra in another tradition. You fight because it's yours to fight, not because you've secured the outcome.
Whether humans inhabit what comes next, I hold that the same way you do. Open. The planet has its own resurrection timeline.
Our job is to be honest about where we are in the fall, and to act from that honesty with everything we have.
That feels like the most human thing possible.
Which, as it happens, is what Part III is about...
Yes. All of this. Kurukshetra and Calvary. As I'm writing in my own blog, death is inevitable, it is not final. Looking forward to your Part III.
Thank you for seeing that. This is right on point!
I oftne wonder why we need all the metaphors? As soon as we move away from what we have lived and deeply integrated through life experiences we find ourselves copying other peoples projections of other peoples ideas. I have sailed many hours and days and so I feel clear when I say: when the bow dips in a trough and the wave rolls over the foredeck as I glance at the compass heading and feel the drive of the hull through the swells knowing we are fully tuned to lay the mark in about 20 minutes.
My point is that too much of human imagination is leveraging other peoples experiences without the time and integration to feel the life in ones LIFE. to develop integrity as one expands ones life diversity.
La Haine isn't a borrowed idea. It's a precise instrument. When a metaphor names something that resists direct description, using it isn't avoiding lived experience — it's recognizing that someone else found the word first. That's what culture is for.
The writing behind it isn't borrowed. Thirty years of fieldwork, seventy countries, thousands of hours in the coaching room (read Part I: https://www.gabriellovemore.com/p/journey-to-nowhere-part-i?). The metaphor serves the experience. It doesn't replace it.
For example, your sailing image is exact. That's the point, you lived it, so it carries weight. Same principle.
That was a great read. Thank you:)
Thank you Murielle!
Yes, the seeing, accepting, and choosing to grow together through it. We can't change the trajectory, but we can love more(!) while we're in it. ❤️
Thank Maya , love more yes, what else is there?