The above title is taken from
a scene in the 1935 Marx Brothers film A
Night At The Opera, where Groucho is trying to explain the details of a
contract to Chico, which gets him absolutely no where because Chico
misunderstands everything that Groucho is telling him. The high point in the conversation is when
Groucho tells him that there is a “Sanity Clause” in the contract which would
make it null and void if either of them were deemed to be insane. Chico laughs out loud and tells Groucho, “You can’t
fool me! There ain’t no Sanity Clause!”
(Santa Claus). What a good way to get
out of a life lesson or a karmic debt in this life if we could just be judged
as too crazy to manage it. And how
wonderful it would be if there was a Santa Claus and all we had to do to
receive a reward in life was just be good.
I know of no sign in the
zodiac that can claim immunity to the stresses of current culture and world
events that plague us now. There are
certainly divisions in astrology that tend to make some of us better at
thinking and contemplating the problems.
Some of us are better at physically doing rather than just pondering
things. There are some that excel at
organizing and some that can show us by example how to toss aside our cares for
a time, but none of us are immune to the effects of a breakdown in society and
most all of us are experiencing a time of mourning at the loss of what
friendships used to be like and how it was much less complicated to have a
loving relationship with another person before social media, virtual dating,
and a delusion that we deserve to be special and adored.
Each individual sign has its
own strengths and weaknesses which, if recognized, can make these problems less
of a burden when we acknowledge what we are and are not capable of, but the
tests of a true human are being challenged in ways that are pushing us to the
brink of sanity in some cases. Many
people are failing the tests and causing an acceleration of trouble by refusing
to own up to their personal contributions to the problems. When this happens we cannot expect a well lit
path to order out of chaos. Many of the problems that we have now are truly
necessary ones because it is only through trauma, pain, and severe stress that
humans will get up off their backsides and rethink their position on how the
world works or should work. A lot of our
pain is a mandatory lesson to be learned, but the burden of such pain is not
necessarily distributed equally among us.
Some have many more lessons to learn than others do because of a long
history of refusing to see past their own noses, or anger and resentment toward
some for not being equipped to keep up and live by a standard that has been
dictated to us by those who need that standard to maintain a level of
superiority. Some people are quite
capable of needed change and some are not.
It is those who are not managing this time of tribulation well that we
need to shift our focus upon as in the ones who may be alone and have no real
support in their lives, and those who are just too overwhelmed by the struggle
to survive that they cannot devote the necessary time to acknowledging what
their place is in all of the madness. Too many people have gotten to that place
where it is impossible to come back, and they are pleading for help in ways
that will most likely not bring about any change for the better.
The peace and joy that many
of us are still seeking, especially at this time of year can only come about
and make a difference if we are clear about what peace truly is. It is not a
world where our every need is met automatically at the touch of a
smartphone. It is in taking stock of how
many of us are lost in a world of such abundance for some and precious little
for others. What we are given in this
world comes from what is taken from some part of it. Nothing is forever and nothing is
inexhaustible. We look at others and
see their misfortune and fear it happening to us so much that we take more than
we need so the cycle of poverty cannot possibly end. There
is much to be afraid of in the world right now but it really all comes down to
recognizing that we are sharing a
home and sharing a planet. We are a family of earth beings who need to
realize that our contract with life does not contain a “sanity clause” that
gives us an opt out on our part in sustaining life. What you take from life has to balance with
what you give back. America is suffering
from extreme gluttony and a false façade of benevolence. You may give to charities and donate some
spare change to the bell ringers in front of Walmart for the less fortunate but
what would you give as an individual to make it possible for there to be no
more hunger and homelessness and want in the world? Your donation to a better role model for the
world is needed. Check your ego at the
door for the next two weeks as we end 2015 and begin 2016. The soul contract that you have with the
other inhabitants of earth is binding until the day you leave it for the other
dimension. Unless we fulfill our part to
correct the imbalance that we are experiencing it will be impossible to reach
those who have a true misunderstanding of what they hear, as Chico does in that
scene in A Night At The Opera. And their continued misunderstanding will be
the death of a civilization that was capable of so much better.
If you possess four houses
can you still live well if you give up two?
If you own more than one car can you give one away and still get to your
destinations? If you have five winter
coats and a pair of jeans for every day of the week can you manage with less so
someone else can be provided for? And will it cause you harm to give up $1,00
of your hourly salary so that if 15 people in a company could do the same and
provide a modest salary for someone who doesn’t now have a job? I read on Wikipedia today that they are in
financial trouble but could stay afloat if everyone who reads it would
contribute just $3.00 to help save a wonderful information service that so many
of us look to everyday for needed information.
There are so many people in
this world who are not as mentally and physically sound as you and I may be,
but that does not mean that they are any less deserving of a good standard of
life. It only means that their ability to acquire it is not the same. Just as we help other life forms that are
without the ability to participate in a capitalist ideal it is up to those of
us who can to take care of all living things on the planet. To not do so produces the sad state that we
are experiencing now with our own needs at risk and our very lives at stake
when any life is threatened with annihilation and we do nothing to stop it. Try
to think on these things while the Christmas spirit is current on your mind,
but know that these are issues that need to be addressed all the time. We are suffering a breakdown in humanity
unprecedented in modern history that is happening because of the unbalanced
distribution of the things that are necessary to sustain life and a peaceful
existence in the world.
I wish you all the best for
the holiday season. Take the best that
you receive and please pass it on. You are a needed and necessary element in
this life. You are not meant to stand
alone and neither are those who are being forced to just because of a misinterpretation
and misunderstanding of the rules set forth by hostility and greed.
