The Clinton scandal continues to dominate the news, and people around the world have once again chosen to play the ultimate interactive game - Global Escapism. If this sounds familiar, it should. The world played the first release of this game a few years ago - The OJ Simpson Saga.

In the early issues of ECR, I presented what I saw as the consciousness of the world moving towards a time period of denial, escapism and polarization. Shades of gray would be replaced by extremes of black and white, both polarities forged by mental states of denial. I stated at that time that this polarization would encompass all facets of society, but would especially impact politics and religion.

With the help of our instant global communications, including the Internet and its vast capability for sharing opinions and conjecture with anyone and everyone, the OJ saga became the ultimate interactive drama. In living rooms around the world, everyone could participate. Was he guilty? Or not? Billions of people tuned in daily for the latest update. As a society, why were we willing to spend more time and money on this escapism than on real world problems such as the environment, education, healthcare and the elderly, not to speak of the more immediate issues concerning our families and communities?

The answer is:  cycles. If we were to ask an astrologer, he or she would tell us that such behavior is caused by specific planetary and stellar forces that only occur at key cycles in history, and that we are now in just such a cycle. While I believe they are right, astrology only addresses the patterns for changes in individual consciousness. It does not speak to the outcome of these cycles as they affect our communities and our society as a whole. What else is going on? On the simplest physical level, a good economy and the fact that our nation is not at war has a lot to do with this current cycle. We now have over 500 satellite television channels alone, thousands of radio and television stations, and tens of thousands of newspapers and magazines, each very hungry for anything they can report. They must be fed, each minute of the day, 24 hours per day. There simply aren't enough stories to fill all that air time!E Enter - "real-life" drama.

But it still takes another layer of energy to push society into these destructive patterns. That force - latent, to some degree, in all of us - is denial. For if we allow ourselves to look within at what is needed for healthy changes in our lives, our families, and our communities - and indeed, in the world at large - we would need to face a truly daunting challenge, and become part of the solution. As a society that has in many ways lost its ability to see shades of gray, most of us are not willing to look too deeply into the scary reaches of our inner minds. It often takes a crisis for us to do so, such as illness, a death in the family, divorce, financial downturn, or a job loss - anything that stops us in our tracks and causes us to reflect. Even when confronted with such life-changing experiences, we may still choose denial, missing an opportunity to increase awareness of our true spiritual self.

The current Clinton scandal is a prime example of polarization in action. So strong is the energy that drives this - under the auspices of judgement and punishment - that we are willing to ignore the many problems our society is currently facing, and to forego the responsibility of finding solutions, both on the local leval and globally. (Editor's Note:  Early ECR subscribers may recall that GMS predicted Clinton would not complete his term. He did not know then, and still can't predict, exactly how this will come about.)

This polarization now affecting the world will not last forever. Like a health crisis that enables us to stop and look carefully at the causes and options, as a people we too will shortly experience a crisis of some sort. In our collective case, it will be the downturn of the economy, Earth changes, and wars abroad. The positive side of this is that the Universal Mind, in its infinite wisdom, provides mechanisms for change, enabling us to seek a way out of what can appear to be a maze of confusion. Once these changes begin in earnest, this mechanism for change - on the positive side of the polarization - will be the new communities of the future. Community will be born anew, out of need. Instead of the few making decisions for the many of our nation, smaller, independent states and local communities will have control of their own decision-making processes.

This month, ECR looks at communities of both the future and, in my DreamVoyager column, the ancient past. Cynthia and I also share insights and practical things you can do now to bring about positive changes in your communities... beginning with your own family - the first level of true community.

Until our next issue in January/February 1999 - when I will give "Predictions for 1999," including information on the Y2K situation - may your dreams be happy ones, and your lives joyful.