THE LAST RIVER MILE

If I’m on a canoe float on a river and my canoe keeps turning over, that’s a symptom that something is wrong. I’m not maintaining balance in the vessel, weight in the canoe is poorly distributed, I’m not leaning correctly in turns, the person in the bow and I are not in sync, I’m guiding us into the “V” in the rapids… something or some combination of factors is working against a good float. The last thing I want to do is to just ignore that it keeps happening, put up with it, and go from one swamping to another.

In the health of an individual human being, if a symptom persists or increases in severity or frequency, to ignore it, to just endure it, or to dismiss it is denial. Denial of symptoms usually doesn’t end well.

Think of the massive prevalence of gun violence of all kinds and mass shootings in particular as a symptom in the organism which is our great nation. Something is terribly wrong. In schools, stores, churches, public settings, political rallies, concerts…whatever the virus is, it is spreading. It seems to me that all of us are participating in a kind of denial. We respond to every event the same way. There’s a flurry of outrage, sadness, anger, blaming, finger-pointing, polarized presumption of causation, and demands for action (from someone other than us). Then we settled back into business as usual until the next one happens. Our programmed response follows a predictable trajectory, becomes in fact a way to avoid doing anything, and changes nothing. How is that not having a symptom and in effect denying it? We wouldn’t practice such denial on a canoe float. We shouldn’t engage in such denial with a person’s health. Why are we willing to practice denial with innocent people, including our own children and grandchildren?

I sure don’t know how to address this deadly symptom. But somehow we need to work together (yes; right and left, conservative and progressive, TOGETHER), to focus on the complexity that is causing it and to actually address it. What we’re doing now, or actually not doing, is not working. The overworked cliche is nonetheless true – insanity is doing the same thing the same way and expecting different results.

I’ll see you around the next bend in the river.