[Dialogue] Birthdays and Bankruptcies on the verge of a nervous breakdown

[W. J.]

Yes, I had a birthday this week, with a great cake and party. The party was my weekly Tuesday night Movie Group, with dinner, a movie (Almodovar's Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown), and. . .ta da! . . . the Movie Conversation! Which was about . . . being on the verge of a nervous breakdown. It can be a transformative experience. I've been there; maybe I am there. Tillich says, "It happens or it doesn't happen." And to add a voice with 40 years of transformative experience, Kit Krauss joined our group for the evening!
 
So . . . the financial universe is on the verge of a nervous breakdown this week. (And I suspect the Order has been, at various times, on the verge of a nervous breakdown as well.) This morning I got up, and to celebrate the temporary reprieve of the unravelling and collapse of our global financial system, I had a BIG slice of decadent birthday cake for breakfast. There are times to be totally decadent before you go back to the old raisin bran (or, maybe . . . what's that goo they eat in the great Down Under? Vegemite? Maybe it has kangaroo in it. I'm sure they don't add moose, like in Alaska!).
 
So, in a week of birthdays and bankruptcies, I wonder . . . is the Order bankrupt as well? I mean spiritually, not financially! We know about the money part.
 
With the multi-trillions of dollars at great risk this week, I started thinking of it as Monopoly Money that we somehow have to make "real" again. Or at least try to believe or at least act as if it's real.
 
Trouble is, Monopoly is played on a square board. Remember? And hopefully some folks--the right folks, of course--will go directly to jail, not pass 'GO', and not collect their $200. But I seriously doubt it. Nope, they're not goin' to Gitmo [Guantanamo].
 
The Order, on the other hand, was and is seriously Round. As in global. And there's no upscale progression to the Boardwalk, where you can charge Big Bucks after you build hotels. (Well, maybe a lucky few retirees get to buld their casas in Mexico.)
 
But our Symbol of the resurgence of humanness was and is Round. And connected. And in every time zone, literally a Global Band. Thirty years ago! People actually got up every hour in the 24 time zones, did the Daily Office (however secretively, as in Kelapa Dua), and went about their incredible business of recreating the local, starting with the economic base. And many of us, like Rupert, literally died with our boots on doing that. Who cares about Bush/Cheney or McPain/Palin and the Titans of Finance, I'm so grateful for us all and that we did that!
 
So, as an indication that we're, most of us, still alive and well, I thought I'd share some of the responses I received this week, starting with Isobel's.
 
Hello Wayne,
I can remember your face very well...     and I hope that your Birthday was a special time for you. I am 72 now, and Jim is nearly 79.  We are both doing well, Jim says it is because of all the mung beans we ate --especially while we lived in The Philippines....not to mention India, Japan, Sth Korea, Venezuela, and Indonesia for starters. I well remember a delicious lunch we ate on the south side of Chicago--  I was introduced to collard greens--spelling?
I wanted to say a big "thankyou" for the way you have described the
current scene, on the run up to your November Election. Many Aussies think a great deal about the US-  so we want to assure you of our ongoing care about how it goes for you in November.  Your Election is always held on Australia's greatest Annual Horse Race....! the Melbourne Cup.  Oh for a set date for a National Election... ours is on some sort of whim of the current Prime Minister, and is three yearly...
Keep the spirit, Wayne.
Cheers and beers;  as we say  here,
Isobel Bishop. 


Susan Fertig-Dykes wrote:
 
Substitute "Barack Obama" for every sentence where you refer to Sarah Palin, and you might be on track. 
 
Catherina Whitney wrote:
 
Oh, wow--did you ever nail it! Thanks so much for this, Marshall. By the way, if it's any (very tiny) comfort, you were one of my heroes in Chicago back in the early 70s. I wanted to be a writer, a journalist, a publisher, and you were an inspiration. Now I see that my admiration was well founded. Hang in. The wrath of God works both ways, I hope.
 
David Dunn wrote:
 
Writer to writer, this was just superb writing. 
Man to man, the financial part of this is not something I share company by company, but I sure do identify with the image of nightmare. I'm going to do a whole lot of creative message thinking for the Obama communicators and am considering working half time for the Obama campaign in October and early November. 
Geez, what a fucked up society. 
Thought for the day: mavericks are often attractive, but by nature reactive and past oriented. 
Bad choice. 
Hang in there and stay in touch. Happy birthday. I'm 66, eight days after the November election. 
Geez again. 
David
 
That ‘Old Coot’ Lee Early wrote:
 
Well said, Mr. J. 
Leah read some theologians assessment that one of her woman friends sent her and came into my office crying. I don't remember when I last saw her cry. I have adopted a tactic with everyone I meet at work. It is supposed to be humorous enough for them to swallow the pill. When they enter my van I say: 
"WOW, don't you feel better today? Didn't you feel a heavy burden lifted from your shoulders over the night? Why, didn't you hear the news? McSame told the folks at Saddleback Church that he would destroy evil. And, just last night he said he would eliminate greed on Wall Street. Evil and greed. Now, don't you feel better? 
I figure he'll go after god's seat next. After all evil and greed have existed for centuries on his watch and you see what's happened." 
Cheers, 
Lee 
Maybe we all should have an election party on the 4th. Either get drunk and celebrate my birthday on the 5th or celebrate a victory and get drunk for number 71. Care to join us?
 
Jaime Vergara wrote:
 
There is an intensity about you that is both refreshing (it is not common) and scary (heat-seeking), but I would not have you any other way. Full-fill another year!

(After a recent visit, Jaime may know more from personal expeience than some of you!)
 
And Lucille Tessier Chagnon wrote:
 
Marshall, 

You turned your angst into one of the most relevant witnesses-to-the Vision yet, and I thank you for the time, courage, faith, and yes, love that it took. Grace and Peace be yours.

Lucille, only four years your senior but not your equal by a longshot.
 
(She’s VERY modestly ignoring her own great presence and contributions to human transformation.)
 
So, boys and girls, that’s the Global Order Report for this week! Now, for extra credit: which one is the Republican?
 
Marshall
 

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