Fraught times

We are living in fraught times. An age of anxiety. The origin of fraught comes from the Middle Dutch for filled with cargo. It has similar roots to the word freight, and has morphed from use as a noun to an adjective.

What is this strange cargo we are trafficking?

Fear. Fear abounds in everything. We see and feel it plainly. The social fabric is rife with fears and anxieties. A friend of mine is an astrologer. She analyzes the stars for answers, and what she sees is challenging at best.

We know there are forces of good, and there are forces of darkness. In summer, we have light and heat, but we also have smoke from wildfires raging, uncontrollable and unfortunately far too common. In fall and winter, the days naturally darken. For those of us who are prone to depression, there is too much darkness.

My astrologer friend advises us to consider “our spiritual options.” This is a phrase that doctors used when my friend Lenore was diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer. She had been experiencing pain, and trying to self medicate with a hot water bottle and marijuana. Clearly, that was not enough.

The translation of the Portuguese is “Entry prohibited to people who are strangers to the work.” And the work is survival.

Our times are fraught with spiritual options. Or is rife a better word? We must choose our words wisely. It is important to continue to learn new ones. Often words that may be new to us, have been around for hundreds of years.

Like fraught. Cargo. Freight. It seems to me that the message here is to lighten our loads. If we want this ship corrected, we need to consider what to throw overboard. We need to do more than de-clutter. We are in stage 4 climate crisis. We have ignored the signs. We have driven off the cliff, and are in free fall.

But wait. The anvil is falling from above.

We are Wile. E. Coyote. Everything freezes.

What now?

We need to be strong for those who are feeling overwhelmed.

We need to reach out and draw those whom we love closer.

We need to keep our fears at a social distance. We need to hold and hug the people in our lives. Let them know every day that they matter. That they are loved and worthy.

Because in the end, love and light may be all that remains. That is my fervent belief.

Love and light.

Consider that as your spiritual option.