OVERWHELMING

  If there is one word needed to describe life today in America it is overwhelming. One does not know where to look or not to look in order to maintain stability and sanity. If one does not monitor reactions to our world today, one can become paralyzed, fearful, unable to move in any direction other than backwards. A full and free life becomes almost impossible in an unthinkably toxic and threatening world.

So how does one cope in a world seemingly concentrated in battering us with one disaster after another, some of Nature  and others not, but so many preventable, even those of Nature. We do not pay attention, or give lasting, meaningful attention and responses to varied crises and then act shocked when the horror is repeated somewhere else, with new numbers, and all meaningless, awful tragedies that add up to nothing if weighed by any permanent answers. We weep crocodile tears for the most part, buy another teddy bear to leave at the site of yet another preventable massacre site and move on, leaving behind more mourners whose lives have been permanently altered and awaiting yet more mourners just around the corner in the increasingly violent American life.

When do we act? When do we stand firm and give permanent and meaningful solutions or at least attempt to do so, with full intent to actually do something meaningful, something worthwhile, something real. An example? Simple. Gun control. No, that does not mean the government busting into our homes and confiscating all domestically owned weapons. What it does mean is stricter laws, stricter controls, bans on assault weapons and accessories that turn semi assault weapons into the murderous assault weapons used to slaughter the innocent. It means that guns are kept out of the hands of the violent, the abusers, those who threaten others with violence, the mentally ill whose illnesses prevent them from always acting rationally. Why can we not do this? Why must the GOP continue to maintain their benighted stands even as the death toll increases and the tragedies multiply. It is overwhelming to any sane, caring, thinking being.

The whole issue is overwhelming. Which crisis do we react to first? How do we prioritize? What weighs in the heaviest, the most urgent and can we even delineate that in the face of overwhelming realities? Well, Biden had the right idea when he calmly stated that yet another North Korean missile test is business as usual. Just another belligerent act that in the end means nothing, so why go nuts and not keep on the steady path needed in more pressing areas, such as getting this country back on a positive track? Pay no attention to the blustery acts of the blowhard bully and he will have to turn to other areas far more pressing, such as poverty and starvation in his own country and the growing demands and restlessness of his own population.

Overwhelming can be broken down into manageable segments, just like the huge assignment given by a teacher or employer. Take it apart, separate it into less challenging demands and it will get done, less overwhelming, more manageable. We could then oppose the Big Lie return, the fascistic policy that the GOP has embraced whole hog. We can attempt to get at the truth. To talk sanely about the border crisis. We can figure out how to stem the problem at its roots - the impossible situations in the mother countries of these desperate people. We can remember that our ancestors were as desperate as them, in their own time, and came here for the same reasons. Hatred then and today tried to block entry, to deny the promise and hope of America.

Overwhelming are the phone calls that the former Columbine High School principal gets after each mass shooting, particularly those that take place in Colorado. Overwhelming are the tears, the vigils, yet what do they all mean and amount to in the end if we do nothing, or worse, spout off reasons why we cannot act, why we cannot fix this problem, why we cannot find solutions, why we cannot sit down and talk, hear each other, hear the cries echoing in the wind, never to end, until there is justice and meaningful response. End the blustering and harmful talk and get down to action. The country needs it, demands it.

So how about for five minutes, relatively speaking, that we take on another aspect of overwhelming. For the first time in a hard year there will be overwhelming reunions of families, vaccinated, able to hug their grandchildren, their sons and daughters, see them once again in physical form and not as Zoom denizens. Who would have imagined we would get to this point after the inaction by the Trump administration, the lies and denials. But breaking the problem down into manageable segments allowed the response to work and under the calm and responsive Biden administration we made progress, are moving forward with plans and actions. G-d willing we will do better in the coming year, get a grip on the fractures in our society and stomp overwhelming out of our negative lexicon of terminology.

So in this holiday period, so different from the most recent one at Christmas and Chanukah, let us be overwhelmed with good feeling, with joy and hope, with true sympathy for the wounded by life, real answers and responses and the joys of seeing and holding our loved ones again. A happy and healthy holiday to all.