Tell Them About the Dream

This book is called “Life After Doom”. But what does “doom” mean? Its roots lie in the medieval concept of “law” and “justice”. A “kingdom” (“dom” being the root of “doom”) is a place where a king exercises his laws and justice. Later the word came to refer to the “Final Judgment”, the Day in which God would judge the world and determine the fate of every person.

“Doom” could be understood as what happens when a power greater than you or us determines what happens to us, be that a king or a god. McLaren suggests that that greater power could also be nature.

“The Earth – the planet’s geosphere and biosphere, a judge and jury consisting of the whole web of life – is issuing a sentence upon our current civilization, even while its crimes are still being committed.” (pg 231)  “The Earth’s sentence upon our civilization is based on laws, not laws made by kings, congresses, parliaments, or courts, but deep laws written into the fabric of the cosmos, set in motion at the dawn of time…The Earth’s judgment will be expressed not in decrees, but in degrees of rising temperature, in numbers and intensity of storms, famines, droughts, and fires…The Earth is now judging the leaders of our civilization to be a confederacy of fools – arrogant, ignorant fools – and her judgment is just, and her judgment is here.” (pg 232)

Jesus often talks about the foolishness of rich men, and the judgment that comes upon them because of their foolish arrogance. And in contrast to the rich fools, he tells his followers to “not worry about your life, what you will eat, or about your body, what you will wear. For life is more than food and body, more than clothing…And do not keep seeking what you are to eat and what you are to drink, and do not keep worrying. For it is the nations of the world that seek all these things, and your Father knows that you need them. Instead, seek God’s kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.” (Matthew 6)

“It’s time to withdraw emotional attachment from the collapsing human system, Jesus implies. It’s time to transfer attachment to the ecosystem of God, the sacred web of life that ravens and wildflowers thrive within, free of barns and bank accounts, free of worry and stress. Every system of self-centered civilization with its barns and banks for hoarding will eventually collapse…meanwhile, the divine economy, the divine ecosystem of interdependence and sharing, the holy and harmonious arrangement of life in which wildflowers and ravens live and thrive…it goes on. That’s where to put your heart. That’s where to invest your energies.” (pg 235-6)

“What Jesus calls the kingdom of God…is not a destination after death; it is the higher, bigger, vaster, deeper way of life here and now – that includes plants, animals, and humans.” (pg 236)

The word “doom” implies “despair”. It rhymes with the word “gloom”. To the extent your life is intertwined with the kingdom of the world, with its extraction mentality, exploitative ways and deliberate overshoot, doom and gloom will come. The judge and jury is the world, the ecosystems, themselves.

“But if you withdraw your consent from the rich man’s human system of wealth[i], if you transfer your trust to the larger system, if you seek first and foremost the divine ecosystem, you will end up with everything you need….Your life has meaning because of its place in the divine ecosystem.” (pg 237)

“We need to talk about doom. We need to grapple with doom. We need to face the scenarios of doom and do all we can to avoid the worst of the bad scenarios. But in the end, doom isn’t the point. The dream is. After doom runs its course, life will go on…perhaps without us humans, but I hope with us, a humbled and wiser version of us.  So, as we grapple with doom, please don’t let doom have the last word. Focus on life, and remember the dream...” (pg 237-8)

[i] NV: One might ask how to “withdraw consent from the rich man’s human system of wealth”. We are so deeply embedded in it. And in the end, it is impossible to fully withdraw. Here are a few things that can be done by everyone: 1) Reduce debt as much as possible. The rich man’s systems of today are running on debt and thrive on enticing people into debt. Don’t do it. Stop using consumer credit, and do everything you can to reduce your home mortgage to nothing as soon as possible. You will experience freedom as you withdraw at least partially from that system. And remember that credit card points are won on the backs of the poor who use credit to survive and end up paying, in interest, for your “free” plane tickets or vacation stays. 2) Do something concrete in your life to actually help those who are marginalized. Volunteer. Support financially. Pray, if you pray. Read books by Native Americans, people of color, women, people from the LGBTQ community. Take steps to understand where these people come from and why they look at life the way they do. 3) Connect (again) with nature, or art or music. Go ahead, hug a tree. Take long walks. Enjoy music. Take an art class. 4) Find or deepen authentic friendships. Find people with whom you can share your life on different levels. This will take effort – you will likely need to be proactive, because our society has lost the skill of forming and keeping real friendship.

There are many other ways to withdraw consent. Be creative and willing to change your life. You will find it freeing and enriching.

(For all posts in this series on Life After Doom, click here or on the Life After Doom box below)