Every so often in history there are major turning moments. In living memory the coming down of the Berlin Wall certainly has to be up there. Now the tragic scenarios in Afghanistan are there for us to view, though what do I know about such troubles? Yes we pray, but even still it is hard not to feel a sham in the light of what many are going through on the ground; they living in the very real fear of what might yet unfold.
There are geographies that are key to unlock much greater areas and I am sure Afghanistan is one of those. On the silk road, a theme that has been highlighted for a number of people, both in terms of the shift West to East and a restoration of trade that is not based on exploitation and greed (the sin of Sodom?). Kabul as a major crossroads, now in the centre of news.
Afghanistan has been described as the ‘graveyard of Empires’ having lived through successive attempts to be controlled. In recent centuries Britain has had a dubious history there; there are strong pointers that the initial arming and financing of the Taliban came from USA sources. I have no idea what should be done / should have been done politically, and it is certainly much easier to find what is wrong rather than propose something truly redemptive (co-words are compromising and ‘fallen’).
I am deeply troubled by the pain in that area of our globe, and do not write lightly. Yet it is a global sign that an era is ending. The end of an era does not normally come in a moment but there are often major ‘earth tremors’ marking the time. And so much of what was just continues (Jesus refusal to become the emperor of Rome, signalled the end of Rome but the history books tell us the empire continued for centuries).
I consider that the next years will increasingly signal the shift that is taking place, a shift from West to East, and a shift in where the control of financial exchange takes place. I am sure much will continue but 2022 will see a series of shock waves, even a number into what we might consider is very secure.
In history so much shift of power is from one power to the next, with the new power ‘eating’ the previous one. We have to see something different, something deeper that opens our world to dimensions of the kingdom of God. A simple shift of centres is not enough. Shifts in the global scene are a signal that there are shifts in the ‘spiritual’ scene that can be engaged with. I think we have to lose glib talk of the ‘sovereignty of God’ as if s/he is in control in some sort of ‘ruling over’ kind of way. Seems that the control was always to be in the hands of humanity, and that control was never to be over other people, but to lovingly shape the future, dig the channels where healing water can flow.
The future is going to be messy… but God will be found in strange places.
And for Afghanistan. It is one of a number of places where the memory is held strongly. The bloodshed embeds the memory deeper than before. Just as with the human person and the memory embedded within the body, so the land acts as the corporate memory, people no longer knowing why they act the way they do, simply responding to an unconscious but very real memory. A healing of the memory is so needed in that area. If there are those who have connections within the land, come into agreement with them about the healing of history.
And we have to pray in this messy era that there are those who become channels for the ‘love stream’ of heaven, and praying without simply pulling on history to suggest they will have to be immediate followers of Jesus. The messy days are here; but where we go Jesus will go before us.
“Jesus refusal to become the emperor of Rome, signalled the end of Rome but the history books tell us the empire continued for centuries”
Endings and “new” beginnings
I’m not claiming any credibility as a historian, but I’ve long thought that the Roman Empire never actually “died” rather it lie dormant for a time.
Perhaps better to say Greco/Roman. The dominant root of the “classical” in todays western society is just a renaissance of that same cultural root (or can we say Spirit) surely.
Our legal and political systems (‘Demo’cracy), education, sport, cultural preferences (architecture, music, art) would be well recognised by a citizen of Rome or Athens. The Olympics for goodness sake.
Seems to me the Roman Empire is still very much alive and well
blessings all
Nigel
Total agreement, Nigel. And in a very real way… Babel, Egypt, Assyria, Greece, Rome… are all one continuum?
The shift is far more than one of political and economic power from west to east. It is a permanent shift in the context in which we act. That is due to climate chaos. Patriarchal civilization, the basis for all imperial thinking and action, was founded during a particular set of climate conditions. Those no longer exist and will never exist again. That is not to say that humans, as a species, will be unable to survive and thrive on this planet. However, the assumptions that underlie all that we do have changed. Forever.
I know that is a difficult one for people to accept. That is why I long ago gave up any conversation about ‘sustainability’. Sustainability presupposes stable ecosystems (dynamically so). There is no stable ecosystem on the planet right now. And there likely won’t be for at least the next 20 years. That is the location for the messiness. We used to think it took possibly hundreds of years for ecosystems to change. We will now watch it all in real time over the next 20 years. Of course they have been changing for the hundreds of years of industrialization and burning of fossil fuels. Most of us just did not notice much.
When climates change they destabilize economic systems. Destabilized economic systems shift political and social systems. Is the east rising right now? Yes. Can they hold on to that for any amount of time? Questionable. Maybe. Who knows? Can any rigid, patriarchal construct survive what is coming? Again, a question. It is all being shaken, hard. What emerges during and afterwards depends upon us. We can hang onto memories of what was and thereby make transition ever more difficult. Or we can accept the changes we have set in motion and get on with increasing resilience and adaptation. The change is here. It is now. It will only increase. We choose what we do with that. In the end, it is a moral choice. Refusing to act rightly in a changed context means people and other species perish. The events in Afghanistan right now are an example of that.
Very interesting Martin. I grieve for the people and yes the land is steeped in blood and war and the blood of the innocents still cries out to be heard and asks for justice! You are so insightful in saying that people no longer even realise why they’re behaving as they do they are responding to spiritual memories in the land. I am broken hearted at the way the west has just thrown in the towel, washed our hands of the situation and turned our faces away. After making such a hash of the situation there I feel it is utterly wrong and reprehensible. We see protectionism in all western powers now. They are putting our needs first and in Britain cutting the foreign aid budget, keeping out refugees etc. which will not bring us blessing I believe and so we do not seem to learn our lessons and get harder and harder in the process. There was a lot to criticise under the patriarchy in the 19th century but yet much reform for the betterment of the plight of humankind on the positive side and a duty of care for the poor even if it was driven by religious motives- this seems lost now. I am so saddened by the greed and self serving agendas we are living under. The church seems impotent and irrelevant as a voice in our country too, I am sounding angry and cynical I know. I hear so much talk about moves of God coming from prophetic circles, but how can they in this self serving arena. Particularly charismatic Christianity becomes ever more introspective and about individual encounter yet the gospel is about the outward expression of the interior life. Thinking of the Jesus who washed the feet of the disciples such a different way as you said in your last post and unless we have this stance how can we change a thing? What I’m doing about it, nothing really apart from praying, promoting awareness in my limited sphere of influence and lamenting wishing I could make a real difference.
As a US citizen one thing that stands out to me is that as a “nation building platform” democracy seems to be a complete failure…but never fear democracy has a bigger brother we like to call “capitalism” and it seems like a much more powerful nation influencing platform…which brings me to another thought:
Silk Road also has another context in modern technology as being an internet blackmarket for illegal and very bad things…it has been shut down and dragged into the light several times…the idea that the original silk road might be exposed to capitalism after democracy failed is an interesting paradigm to consider.
It kinda reminds me of Stings lyrics in All this time:
“Blessed are the poor, for they shall inherit the earth.
Better to be poor than a fat man in the eye of the needle.
As these words were spoken I swear I hear the old man laughing.
What good is a used up world and how could it be worth having?”
not sure about capitalism being the bigger brother.
Democracy begets capitalism when participants are self interested.
Only two economic systems broadly
1) Private Ownership
2) Common ownership
For common ownership to flourish, it requires lack of self interest from participants.
Capitalism emerges when self interested participants are left alone.
If participants are in fact self interested then common ownership has to be imposed by force to function. Many versions of that in the last 150 years.
Capitalism without democracy? Feudalism.
or something like that anyway
I pinned a map of Afghanistan on my flip chart when this all started to happen. Something to help me pray. “Bit late to start now,” I thought to myself, “should have been doing this a while back”.
But…I know it doesn’t look like it, but if everything has changed then there is opportunity to shape the world now that weren’t there two years ago.
I work as a psychotherapist, which means a lot of attention goes to ‘inner worlds’. A lot of my clients are Syrian, and soon could be some Afghans.
As you point out Martin, there is a very direct and immediate connection between inner worlds and outer worlds of family, nation, creation. Change in here makes change out there and vice versa. Hope then for people like me who spend way too much time trying to resolve (own) internal problems! Maybe it was global after all.
So where might be the opportunity? There is going to be a hidden treasure of vulnerability within the Taliban movement, that if we can dismantle the polarizing, reactionary forces around it, will be opened up. The land might show us where it is hurting. The name in itself at least implies teachable-ness, impressionability. The danger is of course yet another polarizing force taking the place of a departing one. If we could somehow enfold this territory with non-binary, humanising, compassion, calmness, curiosity, creativity….etc. Can’t do this from a ‘given’ West or East perspective. Polarizations at home intended to rob us of readiness or give us practice?
Who knows… I’ll try to let the map keep talking to me.