As many of us prepare to celebrate Christmas, while the world is ablaze with war and suffering, it is easy to feel comforted by our relatively safe and cozy lives within our relatively peaceful country. There is nothing wrong with that, in fact our gratitude should really be boundless as we see how others are forced to live, through no fault of their own.
But gratitude can easily morph into entitlement, as if there is something other than luck that determined the circumstances under which we were born. There are many people who are asking you to believe that you are unique among humans, and that you “deserve” what you have, therefore requiring you to “expel” those who would “poison” the blood of Americans. Huh? Is there really only one King of the Mountain? Or maybe just the King and his buddies, up there keeping us safe from the “others”?
Despite the many possible layers of camouflage, whether money, power or fame, all humans struggle with the underlying question, “Am I safe?” We have many ways of manifesting this survival instinct: we fight, we flee, we freeze, we follow. We tend and befriend. Or we accumulate more wealth and power, not realizing that there will never be enough. Even “strongman” types of authoritarian leaders reveal their insecurity when they try to destroy their enemies rather than work together for universal benefits.
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