Followers

Tuesday 5 July 2016

Were you a 48% or a 52%?





Such troubling times. Political parties in turmoil, many people who voted Leave now wish they hadn't, some political careers ended (no bad thing in some cases, you might well point out!), the economy suffering, EU politicians angry and confused about the future - and foul displays of unwarrented aggression, of xenophobia and racism by a small minority, but a visible and noisy one, on our streets.

A friend of mine, a Quaker, said that she thought all the prayer and meditation that people like her do should provide some equilibrium for them. 

I think a bit of historical realism also helps - this isn't 1940, with the Nazis watching us from the other side of the Channel; it's not the Cuban missile crisis of 1962. It's not the Irish famine, nor is it the Civil War. But it is troubling, whatever side you voted on.

I think meditation does help, if for no other reason than it helps us stay with the present, and not project possible and depressing future scenarios, which may or may not come to pass. 

But sometimes the meditation or the prayer might need a gateway out of the headlines and into a calmer space. I was one of the 48% who voted to Remain. Here's a little treat - the first prelude of a different "48," Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier, book 1 prelude one of his 24 pairs of preludes and fugues. It could help you into a calmer place, whether you were a 48% or a 52% person.
 

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