The planet and step one

The Jellinek Curve symbolizes and describes a process of alcoholism starting innocently and gradually getting into trouble, with increasing evidence of being seriously off track, until one spins around in chaos at the bottom of the curve, perhaps having been thrown out of one’s house and fired from work. Then one finally reaches step one: recognize that we have gotten into a condition that our human resources are powerless to fix. That is step one. At that point the curve slopes up in recovery of health, sanity, happiness, and productive living. 

            When I speak about personal struggles for self-mastery or about the current phase of planetary history, I often bring in the Jellinek Curve—and I always add that it is not necessary to spiral down into the worst of the chaos. As soon as one becomes genuinely disillusioned with the selfishness and materialism that has been dragging us down, we can begin then and there to seek truth and righteousness and start on the long, difficult upward path. 

            If I rely on the news, I would say that my country and the world are in a downward spiral, and that chaos will get worse until a critical mass become disillusioned with the selfishness and materialism that is driving us downward and turn to seek truth and righteousness. At that point, there will be a planetary teachable moment. My caveat about relying on the news means that I am unaware of the divine labors going on behind the scenes. There is always more wisdom, power, guidance, and hope than we can humanly grasp. If I knew more, I might give you a different message for this season. The teachable moment may be closer than I suspect.

            For those of us who aspire to help uplift our world, these are times that call for the mind of perfect poise, for complete trust in God, dedicating our will to the doing of the divine will, following Jesus as best we are able, and adding another layer to our discovery of what it is to love God and serve one another. 

            During the present phase, we need to keep the torch of truth burning bright during these times of diminished receptivity. Remember the parable of the sower: some of the message falls on deaf ears; some of it is received by those who have enthusiasm but not the stamina required during the downward spiral; but some will be received by those who will inspire others by what they will do in cooperation with the spirit of God within. Sooner or later, the planetary teachable moment will come. And we want to be torches of truth and give voice to truth in ways that lead to health, sanity, and happiness for this world. 

For more, here’s the 9:12 video and the audio file.