Opinion: When is comes to politics, is there no way to stop it?

Sunrise at Mount Lafayette in New Hampshire’s White Mountains.

Sunrise at Mount Lafayette in New Hampshire’s White Mountains. Monitor file

The view from Mount Pierce, one of the most accessible mountains in the White Mountains Presidential Range, which sits south of Mount Eisenhower.

The view from Mount Pierce, one of the most accessible mountains in the White Mountains Presidential Range, which sits south of Mount Eisenhower.

By JOHN BUTTRICK

Published: 06-29-2024 7:30 AM

John Buttrick writes from his Vermont Folk Rocker in his Concord home, Minds Crossing. He can be reached at johndbuttrick@gmail.com

This past weekend we attended a performance of The Sound of Music in Concert. The fictional story is set in Austria, annexed by the Third Reich in 1938.

When Captain von Trapp receives orders to report for active duty in the navy that is now under German command, Baroness Elsa Schrader urges him to get along by going along. She sings, “No way to stop it.”

“Up against a shark, what can a herring do … A crazy planet full of crazy people, is somersaulting all around the sky. And everytime it turns another somersault, another day goes by. And there’s no way to stop it.”

The lyrics have a contemporary feel to them. There seems to be no way to stop the war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas or the war between Russia and Ukraine or the atrocities of the civil war in Sudan. There seems to be no way to stop lies and innuendos that fill social media and election campaigns.

It seems that certain feasible results of the coming election would assure no way to stop the demise of democracy and the rise of an authoritarian state. Segments of the population insist that global warming is a natural phenomenon that is not caused by human activity and therefore no way to stop it. The list goes on. The crazy planet is full of crazy people in a somersaulting world. It seems that there’s no way to stop it.

What the country needs is a breath of fresh air, not more choking smog of despair fueled by self-serving international diplomacy, war-driven industries, racism, longwinded debates, and campaign bluster promising a presidential savior. Perhaps it is not a matter of trying to stop all this self-destructive behavior but a matter of recognizing that humanity belongs to a reality greater than itself.

In the story of The Sound of Music the von Trapp family looked to the hills alive with the sound of music and the beauty of the edelweiss. In our story today, perhaps I may turn from that-which-cannot-be-changed to view the majestic White Mountains or touch the soft sand of an ocean beach. It may be listening to the whispers of a pine grove speaking with a breath of wind or viewing the quaking leaves of a stand of aspens.

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This experience may teach me that even though I cannot change the foibles of misplaced human behavior, I am welcomed to join the forces of nature that have more energy, determination, and wisdom than a humanity disassociated from the rest of creation, even with all of humanity’s independent inventions and accomplishments.

Creation laughs at the idea that there is any harm that cannot be stopped. The power of the creation, in which humans are included, dwells in its infinite possibilities. Therefore, as an instrument of creation, I need not fret about trying to stop the antics of destructive behavior. I need to get along and go along with the music of the spheres — the imagination and advocacy for a future in harmony with all creation and among all of humanity.