There Ain’t No Sanity Clause

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.