Redtree Times

Blue Moon Rising– At West End Gallery

Self is.

Self is body and bodily perception. Self is thought, memory, belief. Self creates. Self destroys. Self learns, discovers, becomes. Self shapes. Self adapts. Self invents its own reasons for being. To shape God, shape Self.

[…]

All prayers are to Self
And, in one way or another,
All prayers are answered.
Pray,
But beware.
Your desires,
Whether or not you achieve them
Will determine who you become.

— Octavia Butler, Parable of the Talents (1998)

I read these verses several years ago in the sequel to the 1993 dystopian classic The Parable of the Sower from the late Octavia Butler. The books depicted a world not completely unlike our own right now, one torn apart by corporate greed leading to extreme wealth disparity, water shortages brought on by overuse and climate change, and growing unrest among the citizens. In fact, the books are set in the 2020’s.

Butler was pretty darn prescient in her writing.

It appears that prayers were answered for the greedy few who realized that their desires could only be achieved by making those desires the same for the masses. Once the desires of the many became the same as those of the greedy few, even though these desires could never be achieved by the masses, we became a different people.

Greed became good. More, more, more became our credo. Emathy for the unfortunate and the poor became disdain. We no longer saw ourselves in their plight, couldn’t imagine walking a mile in their shoes. We instead saw them as almost inhuman others who took from us, keeping us from achieving our desires.

We began to put style and glitz over substance. We began to make celebrities out of people who achieved nothing, who became our fascination by displaying the worst of human behaviors.

Conspiracy-driven belief overwhelmed knowledge, science, and intellect.

Honesty became a poor man’s quality as lying and deceit became accepted, even applauded, behaviors.

The greater good and accountability became punchlines.

It seems as though the prayers of a greedy few long ago have been answered. And we, the ones who will ultimately pay and suffer for it, sit waiting for those same prayers which are now our own to be answered.

Of course, the only answer we receive will come when we look in the mirror and shiver at what we have become.

Maybe then a new prayer will be born.

Wow.

Had no idea I was going to write this just now. Surprised me. Hope it makes some kind of sense since there’s little if any editing on these things.

I actually intended to focus on us as individuals, how our desires shape what we become. How those desires shape our decisions and perceptions.

How we must take care when taking a desire into our hearts. How while every prayer may be answered, there is always a price to paid in the form of unintended consequences. How we must try to look a bit into the future when forming our desires in order to weigh if we are willing to be changed in ways we may not be able foresee in order to attain them.

In short, any prayer is asking for change of some sort. Make sure your prayers are in line with the person you wish to be.

Nobody would choose to become greedy, cruel, uncaring, or hateful. But some desires create those things in us.

Be careful. Just saying.

Here’s a song in a somewhat similar vein. Maybe it is, maybe it isn’t. I don’t know. But I like it and needed to hear it this morning. This is the Talking Heads’ Once in a Lifetime from David Byrne’s stage show American Utopia from a few years back.