Narrative > Truth ?
Am I the only one who wonders how they make those fruit-flavored drinks with no fruit? Lemonade that tastes like the real thing but no lemons — what? Now and then I’ll see a flavored drink that has 1% juice, but I can’t grasp how that 1% flavors the entire bottle. Then again, the “1%” shape our entire nation, but that’s a topic for another day.
As a new YouTuber, writer, and social media influencer in the making, I am hyper-aware of trends right now. While I certainly appreciate and applaud everyone who makes positive content, I see far too much viral content with only 1% substance. They’ve got the amazing thumbnail, an emotional hook within the first 10 seconds, SEO to boot, and microtargeting that would make politicians jealous, but the actual content isn’t substantive at all. Admittedly, all of those marketing things are now “required” if one hopes to actually penetrate the crowded platforms and reach an actual audience, yet, there still needs to be true substance, especially when one is claiming to offer spiritual content.
I’ve never been one that could easily build to a point. I tend to just say it and then expound, so I’ll remain true to form here. Spirit is the substance of the material realm. Spirituality is “more” real than what the five physical senses alone perceive. However, because of how desensitized we have become to spirit — because of the effectiveness of the numbing agents that bombard us physically, mentally, and even spiritually — we no longer recognize reality. Soundbytes have become more influential than speeches. Delivery has become more important than depth. The narrative has become greater than the truth… or so it appears.
There’s certainly a place for zero-calorie beverages, however, in many instances, they aren’t truthfully marketed. Pictures of ripe, delicious and nutritious fruit are artfully placed on the label while the contents are completely void of the actual substance. The mind is tricked into believing it is partaking of the medicine of the earth, but the body swells with inflammation as a result of the toxic chemicals it is fed.
While I admit this is a bit of a rant, I hope that it serves to foster an awakening for you rather than a mere alarm. Flavor is less valuable than substance. This isn’t only a condemnatory statement, it’s an observation. Drinking fruit-flavored drinks may be enjoyable, but there comes a point where your body requires the real thing or else it fails.
Flavor is less valuable than substance.
For many years, I led a multifaith spiritual gathering that drew in people from various traditions and ideologies. This beautiful experiment in coexistence was as inspiring as it was discouraging. I did my best to mask my discouragement but, in retrospect, each year my teachings became more pointed and I eventually gave up any pretense of agreement with the false Christian narratives many attendees subscribed to.
One session is still extraordinarily vivid in my memory. To illustrate a point about how differing traditions offered the same message, I literally gave two teachings in one sitting. The first was couched in Christianese (Biblical examples, traditional Christian cliches, and colloquialisms) and the second was delivered using a variety of terms and examples from many different religious traditions. In the moment, the primarily Christian group that had gathered celebrated both messages and even commented about how much more they received from the one that was inclusive of many differing teachings.
Over the following weeks, I continued to engage using a wide array of sources and the discontentment among the Christian attendees grew like weeds. It was as if my experiment hadn’t been conducted at all. I would get notes about needing “more Bible” in the teachings, members would corner me after the gathering to share how good the teaching used to be, and I was even warned not to be deceived by the devil.
Keep in mind, the message I share has not changed since I began teaching publicly. I have always taught on goodness, love, and the infinite potential within us all. My language has changed, the source texts have diversified, and I have become bolder, but the message has not changed. I still utilize the core teachings of Christ as my foundation while highlighting these same themes found in other traditions. In other words, I’m cooking with more flavors but the substance is still there. I have chosen a position, not a side. I stand behind what I believe is right, not who I believe.
I have chosen a position, not a side. I stand behind what I believe is right, not who I believe.
Our nation, and the world at large, has fallen under the spell of the illusion of flavor. Our social media feeds are tailored to deliver exactly what we like to keep us glued to that particular platform for as long as possible. It doesn’t accurately reflect the reality of what’s happening at the moment anymore. Instead of seeing what your friends are posting, you receive an echo of what you have “liked” in the past. This is not only deceptive, but it’s also dangerous.
Our brains are designed to model what we see. We have this amazing mirror within that responds the same both when we act and when we view the actions of another. This is an artifact of our literal oneness, but that, too, is a topic for another day. Mirror neurons don’t distinguish between experience and observation, and that is highly problematic in a world of echoing illusion.
Moreover, the lack of diversity is heightened by the overuse of filters. The literal filters people use to cover blemishes and make them appear different (read: better) than they are, as well as the filters of confirmation bias, prejudice, and insecurity, dominate the content world while creating a distorted perception of reality and misshapen self-images galore.
How else could a six-time bankrupt “businessman,” thrice-married adulterous “family man,” “billionaire” reality TV star “everyday Joe,” claim the office of president in a democracy while obtaining fewer votes than his opponent? This occurrence is but an echo of a much more alarming matter. The national deficit has exploded while the ultra-rich have received tax reductions, job growth has slowed while prices for goods have increased, foreign relations have imploded while domestic hate crime rates have exploded and yet nearly 40% of Americans hail the 45th president as a savior. How can this be?
Thousands of good, wholesome Christians feigned outrage about a sexually suggestive super bowl halftime show, while simultaneously ignoring, or worse, defending, the corruption of a president elected by a minority of voters amid his impeachment “trial” which called no witnesses, sought no evidence and announced its verdict before its commencement. The narrative of a “sham,” “hoax,” “witchhunt” has certainly seemed to filter out the truth for many people.
Social media patriots fumed at Beyoncé and Jay-Z’s silent “protest” of remaining seated during the national anthem, demanding they respect America or leave it and the offering a defense of their words obliviously claiming it’s their right to say what they please because “free speech.” Exceptional marketers create YouTube channels and gain millions of followers based on their labels, but they lack the substance of even the zero-calorie beverages so deceptively marketed as fruit-flavored.
“Houston, we have a problem,” and it isn’t immigrants or socialism, the president or automation, it’s our own acquired preference for flavor over substance. Headlines rule the day. Sound bytes make or break public figures. Thumbnails directly impact views. In other words, we have allowed snapshots to shape our beliefs, resulting in a shallow, underdeveloped culture that lacks the basic substance required to survive.
Trumpism has quite literally torn families apart. In a nation where we have always had a degree of toxic tribalism, we still somehow managed to disagree without completely demonizing each other. Now, for far too many people, if you even dare to disagree with “President” Trump, then you are an enemy.
Not only are you cast as an enemy of Trump, but you also hate America and are a demon rat. Reality has become too unbelievable for any fiction writer to consider drafting when a lifelong, religious conservative who won the nomination to serve as the republican candidate for president a mere decade ago can be painted as a secret Democrat operative using his faith as a crutch to take down the president. It’s truly absurd, but it is the result of a people who have eagerly consumed the artificial because the real takes too much effort.
The type of productivity we are now capable of was what dreams were made of just one generation ago. Our very recent ancestors envisioned a world where their children would work far fewer hours at a far higher rate of compensation, ultimately enjoying a better quality of life and happiness that seemed to escape them. Sadly, this generation is faced with working more hours for less pay and will make history as the first American generation to have a lower standard of living than its predecessor.
The curse of convenience has all but annihilated the fabric of our nation.
Our trust has been weaponized right under our collective nose. We have been conditioned to trust the headlines but the headlines are increasingly deceptive and outright misleading. All of this was the perfect storm for a weary people to unknowingly place their trust in a man who marketed himself as the strong, principled savior who would lift them out of despair and return them to greatness but was actually a self-serving, conman who Mr. Magoo’d himself into power. The innocent hopes and dreams of the desperate have been used to corral them into a cult whose actual operation is to the detriment of its captives.
Richard Rohr once said that there are two paths of a prophet. The first is that of Moses where you tell the enslaved that they can be free. The second and most difficult path is that of Jesus where you tell those who think they are free that they are, in fact, enslaved. Today I am waking the second path. The troubling truth is those who need to receive this message most will immediately demonize it the moment Trumpism was introduced.
While this pattern is, perhaps, most pronounced in politics, its prevalence in spirituality has far more potent and lasting implications. The dominant religion, Christianity, is no longer focused on modesty, humility, generosity, and care. Instead, it’s hyper-focused on excesses in prosperity and pleasure, even at the expense of “loving thy neighbor.” The universe is certainly abundant, but it is not designed to be excessive. Sadly, the two are often mistaken. Longsuffering is no longer extolled as a virtue but is now antiquated and ignored.
Longsuffering is no longer extolled as a virtue but is now antiquated and ignored.
The spiritual community has also shifted focus. A quick YouTube search for “Raise Your Vibration” returns hundreds of videos promising instant results, easy methods, and the secret formula delivered in under 15 minutes. What used to be respected as the result of the significant inner work that takes place over a lifetime has been reduced to “3 Steps” and instant access. Thousands have bought into the misguided notion that a single 10-minute meditation will remove all the blocks that keep them from the higher realms of consciousness, and one video teaching from a marketer peddling herself as a guru will offer the key raising your vibrational setpoint forever.
All of it sounds wonderful, yet the results are anything but. Raising your vibration, which roughly means expanding your sense of self to include others, has been misrepresented to mean raise your individual standard of living and manifest your personal wants. Sadly, people are buying into the illusion, but when reality hits they will be devastated. True spirituality isn’t microwaveable. Anyone peddling instant anything isn’t credible. While it is true that anyone can regurgitate the key concepts of authentic spiritual works, no one can transmit a substance they do not possess.
Spirituality deals with how the unseen manifests in the realm of the seen. Politics deals with how the seen impacts the unseen world. Right now, both are building on a foundation of falsehood and both are headed for utter collapse.
The warning signs abound. The question is can we hear the alarm above the din of our own echoes? Have we become so proficient at applying filters that we’ve forgotten what is underneath?
We have embraced the echo while shunning the source. Our focus has been so narrowed that we don’t just miss the forest for the trees, we are now missing the trees for the leaves. The temporary and fleeting is idolized, fads have overtaken eternal truths. We dance to the echo while the minstrel is hung.
The curious thing about the echo is it has no actual substance or sound. It’s but a reflection and silence is its only possible conclusion. An echo may be loud but it is not real. Silence is often imperceptible but it is full, it is real. Silence is uncomfortable because it amplifies what is truly present.
You don’t see many advertisements for fruit. Why is that? Commercials about alcohol abound. Prescription drug ads fill the airways yet the plants from which they were derived are anonymous. Things that are real don’t tend to market well, they aren’t catchy and don’t manufacture a void.
Real can’t be produced, it can only develop.
The 1% may be appealing, but it cannot satisfy because it has no substance. What sustains cannot be microwaved and will never be available in instant form. Spirituality and politics are both best when served raw. No filters. No additives. Just the raw, real substance.
If nothing else resonates, I hope this last point rings true in your heart space. The only real difference between a saint and a sleeper is how wide their view of the self extends. A sleeper limits the self to itself, and perhaps its family or friend group. A saint recognizes that the self is far broader and therefore the reach of its love is expanded. Both the saint and the sleeper are ultimately operating out of love, only the recipients vary. Fear is rooted in the perceived loss of identity of the self. We must begin the march back from the 1% additive to 100% inclusive if we are to survive.
Fear is rooted in the perceived loss of identity of the self.
We must journey to the place where truth is greater than narrative, where the self is bigger than “me,” and where we care less about the flavor and most about the substance. We must and I believe we will because now we are aware. We are trending towards enlightenment, but as they say, “It’s always darkest before the dawn.”
