Big Changes, Big Questions

What I am going to try and touch on is a topic with which I am currently grappling. It is something I am not going to pretend I fully understand. Still, it is weighing heavily on me these days. I am talking about change; not necessarily with me as an individual, but within our country and throughout the world. Like most everyone else, every day I read reports and view stories of people struggling to hang onto or find jobs, movement in the ecology of our planet due to changes in climate and natural disasters, power shifts within and among nations, alterations in the balance of cultures, and the struggle within and between economic classes. And these are only some of the more significant areas of conflict that I see.

What does it all mean? Why is this happening in virtually every major category or part of our world? Further, is this new? Has it ever before been this intense or all-encompassing? What does it all mean? What can be done to help us as individuals better understand it, deal with it, and help ensure where we are headed is better than where we have been and where we are? From a selfish standpoint, I wonder if anyone else is grappling with these kind of questions, too? If so, then let's talk. If not, then I think they are worth considering. I firmly believe we are living through a time of seismic change. Our world and the planet are undergoing profound shifts in balance in most every area that we know.

One reason people are struggling as much as they are is because they do not understand or even recognize these changes as being as profound as I believe them to be. Take the fundamental topic of employment as one example. People lose a job and immediately begin seeking another. They find it difficult and frustrating, but their focus remains on the need directly before them: get a job. Never mind that many current are disappearing due to advances in technology. Employment opportunities, as we now see them, are shrinking. Consequently, our leaders need to put on their communication hats and begin national and even international conversations about this. The same holds true for many other areas in the national and international community. Until people better understand the shifting landscape before them, the more they will struggle without a proper contextual vision and direction.