Beliefs – Page 2 – let kindness win

Socrates and Spring

Just when you think Spring isn’t coming, up pokes the proof that you were wrong again. Nettles, Angelica, Motherwort and Daffodils are poking out of the ground and even though temperatures are far from inviting, they are ruthless in their desire to emerge.

I’ve given up on facts when it comes to knowing. Facts and reason, as our old friend Socrates told us, are slightly above belief and opinion, but still don’t cut it if what you really want is to Know.

We live in an era of facts. We beat each other up with facts, because we have not understood that facts change. Politicians are very good at manipulating and dividing people through facts. And science, well, a good scientist will tell you as science learns, facts change. The use of facts in day-to-day living may serve as a guide to mundane choices. How much water should I consume in a day? How much alcohol, how much fiber? If you live more than three decades, I can assure you these kinds of facts will change.

These are harmless facts. But there are the not so harmless facts that govern war, economics, health and environmental destruction or protection – take your pick. How do we gauge what is fact, or what is truth in this sea of duality?

I have only found one way to arrive at my knowing. I have to stop thinking and feel. Sure I can take in the news and all the facts thrown at me in a day, but at the end of it, when I must chose, when I must decide what will provide the best outcome, the only certainty I have is what I feel. Not emotion; not thought; but a bit of a deeper dive.

Socrates called it “Know thyself”. I call it “Being human”.

If you want encouragement to take a deeper dive I suggest reading Prem Rawat‘s book, “Hear Yourself”.

Enjoy Spring as it comes!

Ubuntu

If the past few years have shown us anything it’s this: it’s time for us to rediscover the meaning of the Zulu word Ubuntu, “I am because we are.” I say rediscover because I have a firm belief that Ubuntu is rooted in every human being. It’s just that some of us have forgotten.

A society that has lost its ability to care for one another – that holds individual freedom, wealth and ownership as top priority – has lost its way. And while we may be top heavy in wealth we are lopsided in humanity.

A society that does not support the welfare and goodwill of all will fall short of its dreams of equality. A people who refuse to acknowledge the sins of our forbearers and do not act to correct them will remain divided. A house divided will surely fall.

People boast of patriotism. Flags are waved. The Pledge is affirmed. The checklist is checked and then we go on our individual way. But the celebration of individuality is a curse unless it’s rooted in the understanding of oneness.

People demand freedom. We have fought wars with “freedom” being the carrot that drove our youth to their graves – not to mention the blood of countless innocents.

The word freedom should not be used lightly. It demands a reawakening to Ubuntu, and the resurgence of our collective humanity and our strength as individuals.

That reawakening is internal. It cannot be taught; it must be felt. It cannot be found in useless debates of right and wrong. It won’t be felt in the endless game of judgment.

But there it is. Waiting. Tied to our compassion and our empathy. We are worthy of this reawakening and we are capable.

For a look at Ubuntu as inclusion.

Diversity, Inclusion and Equity

Our local paper reported on a recent school board meeting. During public comments a representative from “Education, not Propaganda” explained that words like “diversity, inclusion and equity” should not be taught to our children.

Hmmm. I always thought those words were used to champion our collective humanity. You know the “one people, one race” ideal. It appears that brotherly love is taking another hit these days, as is the notion of learning from our past so as not to repeat it.

The new bandwagon is demanding that school boards whitewash our history replacing facts with fiction. They have taken a page from Steve Bannon’s playbook and are punishing school board members who violate what they consider to be conservative principles. They are threatening members, shutting down school board meetings, and forcing their propaganda wherever they can.

My father was a conservative. He fought the Nazi’s in WWII. He honored freedom of speech and applauded my willingness to explore critical thinking on all subjects. I don’t think he would look kindly on this ill wind blowing across our land. I think he would fear it. I know he would fight it.

But since he’s not here, I’ll honor his legacy by taking up the fight. There are numerous statewide organizations leading the way towards reconciliation and equity. Among them is a Christian interfaith organization called Wisconsin Counsel of Churches. Their latest effort is called “Taking a Faithful Stance for Equity”.

And although I do not profess a faith, I signed up to take a stand.

The time is long gone to sit idle thinking everything will be ok. It is not OK. But it is within our power to make it right. “Diversity, inclusion and equity” should be our mantra until they are understood and until they are lived.

Check out these Wisconsin faith organizations countering ignorance and hate:

Wisdom

Wisconsin Faith Voices for Justice

The photo is from “Taking a Faithful Stance for Equity”

Rethinking Progress

Our township is quaint. Most people have lived here their whole lives. Many were dairy farmers before the time of “Get big or get out”. They’re first hand witnesses to the shortcomings of that adage. To some the small family farm die off of is “progress”. But progress shouldn’t have to come on the backs of people or in the destruction of the earth.

It was progress that drove most indigenous people away. Had they been encouraged to stay, or allowed to teach their ways of stewardship of the earth, things might be different for all of us.

But as it is, I hear the bulldozers cutting new paths for the loggers who are going to cash in on the land. There is no regard for animal life. No regard for the fellowship of the trees. Freshly cut-logging roads in these hills will add to heavy spring runoff and an increase in floods. There’s little regard for life when money is at stake.

In the beginning of autumn colors we will watch the trees come down. It ‘s dark now but I can still hear the bulldozing. There is no legal recourse to stop it and talk is futile when you’re a woman telling men there are better ways.

“This is how we’ve always done it”, ends the conversation. Maybe you have always done it this way, but there are people who understand their relationship to the land and to one another.

The Menominee are internationally heralded for the way they harvest their forests. Care is taken to ensure an ongoing healthy ecosystem. It is never too late to learn.

Just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should. I’m weary of living in a world driven by ignorance. Money will not heal unconsciousness.

A Pathway to Peace

I was thinking the other day how good it would be to stop shackling our children with beliefs we inherited. The innocence of a child is delicious to behold. Then we lather them up with all kinds of crazy ideas. We teach fear instead of instilling in them the possibility of consciousness. We teach hatred and alienation as we rob them of the sanctity of being human. We teach conformity in our desire to have them walk lock step with the status quo. And we let them fall prey to the same ideologies to which we unwittingly succumbed.

For instance, since 1493, when a Pope issued the Doctrine of Discovery we have supported the idea of conquest and have used it for appropriation and colonization of indigenous people. And it can be argued that the subjugated role of women in Christianity combined with the notion of conquest makes way for the ongoing missing and murdering of indigenous women.

We teach, “Thou shall not kill”, making exceptions of war and capital punishment, and expect others to do harm on our behalf. This slipping away of our humanity did not come all at once and it will take a deliberate effort to retrieve it.

But what is our recourse to reclaim our humanity? Conquest and violence are failed principles. Fighting fire with fire has does not work. Creating a culture of peace is the path we have yet to take. Understanding that our need for peace is as vital as breathing will give us the impetus to act.

Cultivating our personal peace quickens the soul and cuts the chains of ideology. A recent international conference on Peace Education highlighted the good works of people world over towards this end. It was hopeful and inspiring.This is our moment to shine, bring on the peaceful.

Stop Blaming CRT

By local news accounts, it appears that some people in our community have their knickers in a twist regarding critical race theory. At recent school board meetings they’re demanding critical race theory not be taught.

A little more perspective is in order. An academic reflection since the 70’s, CRT points to the obvious: racism is systemic. The theory is rarely mentioned outside of legal or academic circles, but now debunking it is the war cry of revisionist thought.

In my opinion, systemic racism is the unfinished business of a people who were willing to wipe out the original people of this land – unsuccessfully, of course – willing to enslave Blacks, imprison Japanese during WWII and have been very willing to separate families and keep brown children in cages at the border. And let’s not whitewash the repugnant Jim Crow laws and the current voter restrictions that some are attempting to implement. With this in mind how could any person of empathy doubt that racism is systemic?

I don’t really think it’s critical race theory that has people so upset. It has more to do with reckoning a past that does not fit into the narrative we have woven into this “Christian” nation.

The concern that white children will suffer from truth is to cover our own unwillingness to rectify the past. The truth is being told and no one can stop it.

Tossing around concepts to create fear is an old game. Let’s play a new one. Caring for the underserved and maintaining good will is not only possible, it’s necessary. This is the underpinning of all faiths.

Our ignorance should be challenged, not the truth.

Photo credit: graffito to the memory of Abdul (Abba) William Guibre in Milan (at the corner where he has been killed).Author: Bramfab. wikimedia commons

My guest in this one hour show is Rabbi Bonnie Margulis and our conversation covers racial equity, voter rights and yes, critical race theory. Thanks to WDRT Community Radio. Listen here.

A Wink and A Nod

Confederate flags, a noose and the cross referencing of Jesus and Trump signs were the images from the failed insurrection when five people died and some of us realized how vulnerable we are to white supremacy.

It’s amazing how easily human beings can be led when given the dual excuses of racism and patriotism. Off duty police were part of the mob and called their fellow officers, who were there to protect and to serve, the enemy. Blue lives didn’t matter that day as one on-duty officer died of the beating he sustained. Allegiance to party disintegrated as calls for Pence to be hanged could be heard. No one is safe when the thirst for power is unhinged.

There it was displayed for the world to see the drama of white nationalism run amuck. But it’s the continued allegiance to the ignorance that has stymied me. Republican Senators and Congressmen wouldn’t wear masks as they crammed into the safe zone at the Capitol, giving way to a rise in covid among them. And the calls to impeach are met with delusional grandeur by Congressmen still trying to sell election lies and defend the indefensible.

The wink and the nod is the way we keep our secrets. The wink and the nod hides the insidious truths behind the façades of religious piety and a government that has never risen above the duplicity of violence and racism that was its foundation.

It’s in the systemic corruption that allows peaceful protestors to be hosed, gassed and met with rubber bullets, while white terrorists are escorted in and out of the people’s house as they disrupt government proceedings.

We won’t change it, if we don’t name it. This is not a partisan issue. It’s a human issue and we need to call it out.

A Fart in Church

Someone called and invited me to contribute to a political party. I explained that I couldn’t support either party, as they are “wings of the same bird” and that unless and until one or the other stopped putting profit before people and the earth, I wouldn’t be offering my support. The caller became a bit exasperated. And I thought of my mother who would have said my comments were a “fart in church”.

People don’t enjoy being challenged to think. It’s easier to cling to belief than to take the leap of faith into knowing. It’s easier to pick winners and losers and to gamble whom the winner will be, then to take into account our mutual interconnectedness and the consequences of our action or inaction.

We have yet to accept we are one people, one planet. And what befalls one of us is destined to harm us all.

Take the covid nightmare that morphed into the mask versus freedom nightmare and now is the vaccine versus the enemies of the people nightmare. It would have been much easier to stand united from the start in the best interest of all, but that would have been a fart in someone’s church. Instead our march of death continues and history will remember us as fools.

Two billion people are suffering shortages of water, with two thirds of the world’s population expected to face water crisis over the next four years. Our solution? We have begun trading water as a commodity on Wall Street. There is not a hint of compassion in this capitalist response.

It’s the religion of greed and the gospel of prosperity, which we need to put to rest. Solutions will come more readily when kindness regains the helm. Until then don’t be afraid to cause a stink.

Sweet Bounty

No need to work on being scared this Halloween. There’s no need to watch movies that will make your skin crawl. Just listen to the news. Doesn’t matter which “side” you’re on. There is hatred and violence brewing everywhere. Fear is in the air and it is more present than the elusive corona virus.

There is a belief that this time of year holds the thinning of the veil between life and death. When you live on the land that makes total sense. The emerald green of summer has long faded and the glorious leaves have gone brown. Soon the decomposition will begin and if you are lucky enough to live where the snow flies, a blanket of white will cover the earth. And as if by magic, when the brilliant white disappears, the early risers of spring will once again breath life into being.

This is what we know. We know this time of death is preparation for what is yet to be. We know there is always waxing and waning and this is the time to shelter and gather strength. Now is the moment to take stock of all that is good, all that has held us and all that will continue to throughout the months ahead.

This is not a time for fear and wasted energy. This is not a time to create havoc and spin tails of woe. This moment is for celebration and for effort, to separate the wheat from the chaff, and to preserve all that we will need to make it through.

This is a time of sharing; to gift one another the sweet bounty of our harvest and to offer good tidings and hope.

This Hallows Eve we don’t need to be frightened. We need to be grateful and ready.

Photo: sheep having the final gleaning of the garden.

Category: Beliefs