Getting Past the Chaos

“A focus on conflicts locks a person in his interests, in what’s in it “for him.” A focus on love frees a person to focus on the other and the other’s good. Getting outside the prison of one’s “I” is the indispensable first step toward embracing a “common good.”” Read more here: How a Catholic Handles Social Conflict

So many of us are filled with conflicting thoughts and emotions. The causes vary and usually due to more than just one or two issues. Living in a chaotic environment only adds to everyday stress.

I have been blessed with having worked in a hospital and two major corporate companies. I, again, was blessed with managers who were caring, compassionate and helped me and my family when necessary.

I made a point of arriving at least 60 minutes before my start time. That allowed me to attend mass, get breakfast, and read one or more newspapers to catch up with the news in the office before my official start time.  Then I would watch the news in the evenings, and sometimes not even then. When it was time to work, I would stay focused on my responsibilities.

My day-to-day life was as normal as most people. The usual stresses that life challenged us with were something many of us were able to handle, with or without support.

But then, again, I was not as worried about my and my family’s rights, the concern for our national security due to a chaotic government administration. For a family and friend being arrested for being “brown” even if a citizen or with proper papers. The mass firings of experienced security employees (FBI, NSA, military) based on conspiracy theories and lies. The instability of this country and our allies.

As a survivor of both the February 1993 (Vista Hotel bombing) and especially the 9/11 attacks in NYC, I know and understand the patience of extremists, especially those in the middle east. I have had decades to get an appreciation of extremist patience. The decades have also allowed me to find a variety of ways to stay calm during fearful times.

The difference today, in this environment, is the chaos was started by our American leadership. The violent language posted on social media about people in this country and other countries is not to be taken lightly. The threats by this president, or any president, made with no cause to other countries may encourage less than friendly countries to retaliate. n

And that is my concern, my fear. Retaliation from radicalized extremists who are already in this country. Individuals who hear the hatred and malevolence shared on the news or social media. This is not an inconceivable possibility.

“The Holy Father warned against the dangers of ideological partisanship in society, but especially within the Church, noting that U.S. society too has some “ideological Catholic groups”. “Polarization is not Catholic “, he stressed. “A Catholic cannot think either-or ( aut-aut) and reduce everything to polarization. The essence of what is Catholic is both-and (et-et)”. He recalled that Jesus went beyond the divisions among the Jews of the time between the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the Essenes and the Zealots. proposing the Beatitudes, "which are also something different".” Read more here: Pope: Polarization is Not Catholic, Dialogue is the Only Way

A great reminder from 2018 about staying calm:

“Down through the centuries, Christians have maintained their dignity and carried out their mission in the face of trials, hardships, and persecutions. Their deep faith has sustained them and led them out of the darkness.”

““Then, if you spend yourself in behalf of others… then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday,” Isaiah 58:10”

Read more here: Stay Calm in the Midst of Chaos

Millie Padilla

FSJ Admin