These Are the Times That Try Our Integrity and Put Our Essential Spirit to the Test

100% human writing. Zero AI.Thanks for your support: 30% off 💙 40% off 💙 50% off 💙 60% offWill we rise to the occasion or succumb to the pressure of corruption? That is the essential question of this moment.Throughout much of our lives, we’re forced to navigate a formless void. We’re born without awareness into a world we must accept on its own terms. Our first challenge is merely to survive.Along the way, we’re all tempted to betray the people around us for the sake of our own benefit. Some embrace that choice easily. Others resist. Often, it feels as if the path of resistance is the one that never offers any reward.Yet many of us take it anyway.The people I respect are the ones that chose to live simple lives. My wife is an ELL teacher in a city that accommodates refugees. She helps children who have been removed from their culture, their continent, and their families.The rooms they grew up in are gone. The stuffed animals they used to hold to provide comfort have been burned. The embrace of their mother is a fading memory.The United States of America can be divided into two opposing ideologies. There are those who look at the meek and vulnerable and see them as an exploitable opportunity for personal enrichment. Then there are those like my wife who allows herself to be guided by compassion. Her instinct is to help. She doesn’t even consider any other option.The issue humanity faces is that the corrupt always end up inheriting all the power. They lie, they steal, they cheat. They amass great fortunes and weaponize that wealth to engage in further destruction.This is the world we’re born into as vulnerable children. We all know what it means to be the target of malicious men with insatiable appetites for cruelty.We’re surrounded by people who are so offended by the sight of happiness that they’ll launch an unprovoked attack on an innocent child who is only minding his business.As a consequence, we learn to suppress our joy so that bad people cannot see. In some ways that’s a victory. In others it is a defeat.Survival is our first challenge. As we meet that challenge, we navigate our world. The less inclined we are to exploit others, the more our power grows, but we cannot see it. Our strength is not to be found in external extravagance. Instead, it’s a fortification of the spirit. A hardening of the will that makes us deliberately choose decency even though we’re externally compelled again and again to make accommodations for evil.We would avoid the battle if it were up to us, but evil forces are industrious. They overextend themselves, and they seek us out.Eventually, we reach a point where conflict can no longer be avoided. They come together in a clash where the future of humanity will be decided. It is a manifestation of the eternal struggle between corrupt forces who are nothing without their frivolous, external, and anointed power, and the decent people who put the needs of others above their own.In these moments we discover where true power exists. It doesn’t come through flash and inheritance. It doesn’t come from artificial constructions and inventions.The foundation that endures is one that’s built on kindness. That’s the enduring truth even though it’s obfuscated through the illusion of our shared experience.We all watch the bully abuse a child and escape unscathed. We see awful men make cruel jokes to the delight of an uncouth mob. We see men without merit appointed to positions of reverence even though they’ve done nothing to earn the ascension.It’s enough to make even the most compassionate among us grow cynical.Cynicism is a survival response. Oftentimes, the most gruff and frustrated among us are the most committed in their persistence to the righteous cause.A poor person sleeps better on a slab of stone than a rich man sleeps on a featherbed. The poor person does not have the torment of his conscience to disturb his dreams.Those of us who are part of the resistance have been surprised to discover how prepared we are for this moment. The universe does not take chances. Today, it feels as if we were placed into situations of struggle to prepare us for this. Our whole lives have been a crucible. We’ve become fortified. If we didn’t break before, it’s not going to happen now in this time of greatest consequence.Above all else, that’s the lesson that has become clear to me. In a way, the internal conflict is easier now. I have spent decades determining which side I’m on. Long ago I determined I’d rather make a bad choice of my own than be forced to bear the burden of somebody else’s selfishness.We have guidance. We only have to listen. Anyone who insists on controlling your decisions does so because they’re too cowardly to endure the consequences of their compulsions.These are the times that put our essential spirit to the test.I didn’t sell out my classmates to satiate the cruelty of a bully. I didn’t betray my children. Above all us, I refuse to betray myself.Little by little we’re all beginning to perceive the essential weakness of authority. They have tasks for us not because they’re so powerful, but because they’re so weak. It’s up to we the laborers to assemble and operate the world. Soon it will be revealed that the cruel men who stand behind the levers of control got there because they have no skill to offer.Their threats are empty. Without us they crumble.Their wanton indulgence of luxury only represents a deferral of their condemnation. The rest of us have begun to pierce the illusion. All the noise and the flashing lights are but distractions.The truth is like a stone at the center of your eternal self. We must never exchange anything essential for a promise that will never be fulfilled.Another era of the charlatans and the liars is coming to an end. The people who made the wrong choice long ago, are crying out in desperation. But we need to be mindful that it wasn’t a single mistake. They made that choice again and again. They committed betrayal after betrayal, laughing all the while, hundreds of them, seemingly infinite...They plead for a chance at redemption, but they’re really only looking for another opportunity to dig their claws in. They ask for money and power based on the promise that a reward will be given.No reward is forthcoming.If these corrupt souls truly sought redemption, they would live as we do. They’d retreat from the spotlight. They’d eschew the artificial trappings of control. Instead, they’d work humbly to help the innocent who have been deprived of their footing and their families and their power.Our first challenge is survival, but you do not meet that challenge by insisting every companion is a rival.The time has come for the universe to determine if we have made good choices or not. It is beyond the scope of humanity to make the final judgement. You’ve put in the years. You’ve made your decisions. The only thing left is for the program to run out.I’m not afraid.The same can’t be said for those who currently claim all the accolades.Observe their fate and remember.Thanks for your support: 30% off 💙 40% off 💙 50% off 💙 60% offI'd Rather Be Writing is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to I'd Rather Be Writing at walterrhein.substack.com/subscribe