Writing about the quagmire of lies, distortions, allegations, and denials that beset the news media these days, William Rivers Pitt, syndicated columnist and Senior Editor for the alternative news agency Truthout, commented, “In this line of work, despair is not an emotion we can indulge ourselves in.”

            He’s right. Despair leads only to a desire to pull the covers up over our heads and hope the world will go away.

            But his advice applies to much more than just despair.

            Because a number of emotions are cancerous. They tend to destroy their host.

            Anger, for example. And hatred. Hate generally harms the hat-er much more than the hat-ee. Contempt, too. Jealousy. Helplessness.

Know your limits

            In many situations, the only factor you can control is yourself.

            Because you cannot – by yourself – change the policies of Monsanto, Exxon, or the National Rifle Association. You cannot boot Donald Trump or Vladimir Putin out of office. You cannot prevent earthquakes, volcanos, hurricanes, floods, droughts, and plagues of locusts.

            We are all victims of what Shakespeare called “the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune.”

            So what can you do about it?

            (Disclosure: I have plagiarized the following suggestions from a variety of workshops attended over my lifetime. I have no special knowledge of or training in psychological counselling myself.)

Know what you can do

            First, back off. Slow down. Reassert control over your emotions. Breathe.

            Yes, breathe. Few people can voluntarily control their heart rate; I doubt if anyone can control their liver function. You may feel you can’t rein in your racing thoughts. But you can control your breathing. So breathe deeply, slowly, and deliberately.

            Second, try not to take it personally. It’s probably not about you at all. Donald Trump’s daily dose of falsities are not about you, but about him. Even if you feel personally attacked, your attacker may feel backed into a corner by circumstances, convictions, or policies beyond his or her control.

            Third, turn a self-destructive emotion into a constructive one. Anger can be a good thing, if it gives you energy to combat an unjust system. Despair and helplessness, once named and confronted, can lead to recognition that you have nothing to lose by taking a stand.

            Fourth, do something. Take that stand. Write a letter. Sign a petition. Change a habit. To use a word beloved by preachers, repent. For example, stop buying products that require cutting down tropical rainforests – and make sure the store knows why.

            Talk to your elected representative, at any government level.

            Donate to a charity that supports your aims.

            Live your convictions every day.

            Above all, work with people who share your despair or anger. What one person cannot change, many acting in unison can. Lynne McTaggart’s books, such as The Power of Eight and The Intention Experiment, document ways that individuals sharing a common intention can influence events -- even at a distance.

            Remember that, to quote one of my church’s creeds, “You are not alone.”

            As William Rivers Pitt noted, indulging yourself in destructive emotions benefits no one. Not even yourself.

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Copyright © 2017 by Jim Taylor. Non-profit use in congregations and study groups, and links from other blogs, welcomed; all other rights reserved.

            To comment on this column, write jimt@quixotic.ca

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YOUR TURN

Infinity, my theme in last week’s column, is a fairly weighty subject. Fortunately, my cousin Mike Parmenter, a former professor of mathematics at Memorial University in St. John’s, helped make it simpler (I think): “You anticipated that I might have something to say about this week's Soft Edges column, especially the contention that infinity is logically impossible. Actually, your logical comments are correct and there is indeed a problem if we insist that infinity is a real number like 1,3/4, pi, etc.

            “But......

            “Let's ask the question ‘How many integers are there?’ It's clear from the reasoning in your column that the answer can't be a real number. So we define the answer to this question to be a new number called infinity (I'll write INF since I don't have the right symbol) and it makes sense to also consider it larger than any real number. INF is certainly a different kind of number -- as you point out it satisfies properties like 1+INF=INF and 2INF=INF. However, looking back at the question that defined it we can see that it does make sense to think of INF as a number.

            “At the risk of confusing matters let's ask a slightly different question ‘How many real numbers are there?’ Again the answer is a new number called infinity, but a cute argument shows that this infinity is different (and logically larger) than INF. In fact there are lots of different infinities, but we won't pursue that any further right now!”

Jack Driedger and Ted Wilson gave infinity a theological twist. “When you talk about infinity you are talking about God,” Jack wrote. And Ted Wilson suggested that infinity (or perhaps God) = “the limit of our understanding + 1”

Bob Rollwagen explored the changing ways we know stuff: “When I was in Sunday school, eternity was a concept related to heaven and Pluto was the last planet before that unknown space. Infinity was just a math concept.  I had not given much thought at that age to the fact that the Bible was written by scholars who lived on a flat planet and believed they would fall off if the sailed too far in any direction. They only had stars to limit their views of eternity.

            “Now, thanks to science, medicine, and technology, we have a much wider concept of the universe, an awareness of just how very small our world really is, and a life style which consumes resources at a faster rate than ever before. Global population is many times greater than when the idea of “’eternity’ was first envisioned.

            “This is not to say that their intelligent understanding intended was not the same as modern scholars, and while the average level of education of the population has significantly increased in many areas of the world, we cannot be sure that the average level of intelligence has. Infinity has become a real aspect of the universe that has introduced much greater levels of uncertainty, so I am not sure if we are any better off being aware of all these realities.

            “We are evolving. Let’s hope it is fast enough.”

Steve Roney commented, “It seems to me that you have demonstrated that the mental world, as in mathematics, is different from the physical world. In the mental or spiritual world, things can be eternal and infinite. In the physical world, they are transitory and limited.

            “Traditional theology has always been perfectly well aware that the physical universe is limited, had a beginning, and must pass away.”

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PSALM PARAPHRASES

“Make a joyful noise,” says Psalm 100. If you don’t already know it, I commend to you Linnea Good’s song based on Psalm 100, available from lg@linneagood.com -- it is a genuinely joyful noise. But since I can’t include audio files, I based this paraphrase on a street party.

1          Two guitars and a washtub bass,
a country fiddle, an old-time caller.
Come on, everyone, join the dance.

2          Dosey-do and allemande left,
swing your partner, bow to your corner.
Clap those hands and stamp those feet.

3          Oh God, O God, this is good!
God enjoys the square dance of our lives;
Our individual colours and patterns
swirl into God’s living kaleidescope;

4          So step onto God's dance floor
with a song in your heart and a smile on your face. 

5          God loves a good time too.
God is in the sweat and the swinging,
in the sawdust and the singing.
God IS the dance of life.
Whether you join the dance or sit on the sidelines,
the beat goes on,
and fills the night with music!

For paraphrases of most of the psalms used by the Revised Common Lectionary, you can order my book Everyday Psalms from Wood Lake Publishing, info@woodlake.com.

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TECHNICAL STUFF

If you want to comment on something, send a message directly to me, jimt@quixotic.ca.

            To subscribe or unsubscribe, send an e-mail message to jimt@quixotic.ca. Or you can subscribe electronically by sending a blank e-mail (no message or subject line) to softedges-subscribe@lists.quixotic.ca. Similarly, you can un-subscribe at softedges-unsubscribe@lists.quixotic.ca.

            I write a second column each Sunday called Sharp Edges, which tends to be somewhat more cutting about social and justice issues. To sign up for Sharp Edges, write to me directly, jimt@quixotic.ca, or send a note to sharpedges-subscribe@lists.quixotic.ca

            I’m leaving out some of the links to other blogs and pages, to see if those links have caused the recent blockages, preventing some of your from receiving the columns at all, and preventing others from sending responses. We’ll see.

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PROMOTION STUFF

To use the links in this section, you’ll have to insert the necessary symbols.

            Ralph Milton ’s latest project is called “Sing Hallelujah” -- the world’s first video hymnal. It consists of 100 popular hymns, both new and old, on five DVDs that can be played using a standard DVD player and TV screen, for use in congregations who lack skilled musicians to play piano or organ. More details at wwwDOTsinghallelujahDOTca

            Ralph’s HymnSight webpage is still up, http://wwwDOThymnsightDOTca, with a vast gallery of photos you can use to enhance the appearance of the visual images you project for liturgical use (prayers, responses, hymn verses, etc.)

            Wayne Irwin's “Churchweb Canada,” an inexpensive service for any congregation wanting to develop a web presence, with free consultation. <http://wwwDOTchurchwebcanadaDOTca>

            I recommend Isabel Gibson’s thoughtful and well-written blog, wwwDOTtraditionaliconoclastDOTcom

            Alva Wood’s satiric stories about incompetent bureaucrats and prejudiced attitudes in a small town -- not particularly religious, but fun; alvawoodATgmailDOTcom to get onto her mailing list.

            Tom Watson writes a weekly blog called “The View from Grandpa Tom’s Balcony” -- ruminations on various subjects, and feedback from Tom’s readers. Write him at tomwatsoATgmailDOTcom or twatsonATsentexDOTnet