Concord Monitor – Opinion: When it comes to politics, is there no way to stop it?

John Buttrick writes from his Vermont Folk Rocker in his Concord home, Minds Crossing. He can be reached at [email protected]

Last weekend, we attended a performance of The Sound of Music in concert. The fictional story takes place in Austria, annexed by the Third Reich in 1938.

When Captain von Trapp receives orders to report for active duty in the navy now under German command, Baroness Elsa Schrader urges him to go. She sings: “No way to stop it. »

“In the face of a shark, what can a herring do… A crazy planet full of crazy people, doing somersaults in the sky. And every time he does another somersault, another day passes. And there’s no way to stop him.

The lyrics have a contemporary feel. There seems to be no way to end the war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, the war between Russia and Ukraine, or the atrocities of the civil war in Sudan. There seems to be no way to stop the lies and innuendo that pervade social media and election campaigns.

It seems that some possible outcomes of the upcoming elections do not guarantee any way to stop the demise of democracy and the rise of an authoritarian state. Segments of the population insist that global warming is a natural phenomenon that is not caused by human activity and therefore there is no way to stop it. The list goes on. Crazy Planet is full of crazy people in a world in turmoil. It seems that there is no way to stop it.

What the country needs is a breath of fresh air, not a smog of suffocating despair fueled by self-serving international diplomacy, war industries, racism, endless debates and campaign bluster promising a presidential savior. Perhaps it is not a matter of trying to stop all this self-destructive behavior, but rather of recognizing that humanity is part of a reality larger than itself.

In the story of The Sound of Music, the von Trapp family gazed upon the hills alive with the sound of music and the beauty of the edelweiss. In our story today, perhaps I will turn away from what cannot be changed to gaze at the majestic White Mountains or touch the soft sand of an ocean beach. It will perhaps be to listen to the murmurs of a pine forest speaking with a breath of wind or to contemplate the trembling leaves of a stand of aspens.

This experience can teach me that while I cannot change the weaknesses of misplaced human behavior, I am invited to join the forces of nature that have more energy, determination and wisdom than a humanity dissociated from the rest of creation, even with all the independent inventions and achievements of humanity.

Creation mocks the idea that there is an evil that cannot be stopped. The power of creation, in which humans are included, lies in its infinite possibilities. Therefore, as an instrument of creation, I need not worry about trying to stop the antics of destructive behavior. I must adapt and be carried along by the music of the spheres – the imagination and advocacy for a future in harmony with all creation and between all humanity.