Category: community

Only If You Let It

The fall colors have been exceptional this year. It’s as if Nature is trying every trick to make us pay attention to what is important, to why we are alive.

I live in a sea of color. I also live in a sea of Trump signs. Where I live the predominant thinking is that covid is at best a hoax or at worst a political tool. The state mandate to wear masks is routinely ignored as we watch the number of infected rise. 

The majority of people here speak loudly about their religion, but seldom of their humanity. They are quick to point out their fear of Sharia law, but ignore the fact that they are ushering in their own brand of control.

Yet the colors of autumn are extraordinary, breathtakingly so.  

With very little effort you can understand the cycles of life, the withering of age and the preciousness of each moment. Ironically, most of the leaves will be gone by November 3rd along with much of the political hype. Then winter will set in and the echo chambers of beliefs will continue to be passed in churches, at gas stations, in bars and on and on.

Winter holds it’s own unique embrace. The silence can caress your weariness and the beauty of the snow can wash away your pain. But only if you let it, and only if you notice.

There’s so much we have forgotten to notice. We have forgotten the power of love and our interconnectedness with it and with all life. We have forgotten how to honor relationship; we have forgotten how to dream.

We live in the time of the dying. But death is nothing more than the beginning of rebirth. And now the leaves are teaching us. Pay attention.

Time to Say “Uncle”

I found a young evergreen we had given up for dead. I wondered what tripped me and turned around to see this young sapling waving or so it seemed. It had been mowed, driven over and walked on, yet still it stood. I was impressed with its resilience and promised to return. 

An all day rain seemed to give it more life as I pounded a few stakes and fenced it for protection. One never knows the outcome when love and attention are given, but the very act of kindness offers immediate reward for the giver. 

The destruction of Hurricane Laura and the seemingly endless wildfires out west on top of a pandemic and an exceptionally dysfunctional leadership are testing the resiliency of many. As the numbers of homeless rise and I hear the sadness and fear in the voices of my friends, I know we have come to the time of saying “Uncle”. 

Saying “Uncle” dates back to the Romans and was uttered by children being bullied into submission. I don’t believe anyone deserves being bullied, nor do I believe in submission. But I do believe we have come to the end of a road. Climate change has intensified due to our energy choices and our inability to care. And while some are enjoying the high life, the truth is that a majority of us are being forced into poverty. We have come to the end of the road. The signs that pointed to prosperity neglected to tell us of the hazards along the way. Greed and indifference have taken their toll. 

But as my young sapling reminded me today, it’s never over ‘til it’s over and a little care goes a long way. So here we are friends, with the opportunity to help one another. Let’s step up.

The Dilemma of the Status Quo

The rock and the hard place have us. Some are treading water; some are content to be sunk. Our love of reality TV has come to life as vigilantes are given thumbs up by those sworn to protect and serve. Yet all that is getting protected is the right to remain racist. 

Change is inevitable. Change is natural. Anyone who has lived through four seasons will attest to that, yet somehow we cling to the way we were as if it were not dysfunctional, as if it were superior in someway, as if it deserves to be the only thing that does not change. And that is the dilemma of the status quo. White knuckling and holding on at all costs. These last gasps of white supremacy can be horrifying, but they loose their grasp when I realize why they roar and thunder.

They roar because the end is near. Not the apocalyptic end that churches use to control people, but the end of an age of ignorance that allowed dominant cultures to enslave people either by chains or credit cards. They thunder because they have been pitched the idea that they are the last bastions of civilization and they are finally being given their due as important players in this game. They are being played.

And if we fear them, we are being played. Because the best way out of this nightmare remains our love and devotion to the earth and to one another. And Love cannot reign where fear is king. 

Yes this election is important, but far more important is how we proceed now and after, regardless of outcome. Put anger and fear aside and fight with determination and clarity. The history of hatred will not hold a candle to what Love can create.

photo compliments of wikimedia commons

Take a Breath

The unrest continues in response to the police brutality used in the attempted homicide of Jacob Blake. White vigilantes fan the flames of racism on the streets of Kenosha. Too many on social media are applauding the seventeen year old who killed two protestors and far too many are defending the police who held a man by the shirt and shot seven bullets directly into his back.

And then there are the white commentaries bashing protestors for destroying property while omitting to comment on systemic and brutal racism.

Take a breath people. Jacob Blake’s mother asked that of us and I think it is a good starting point.  And once you catch your breath, I think we should defect. To defect: to leave, without consent or permission, allegiances that we have espoused or participated in.

In this moment when insanity is breaking loose; we need to defect from our allegiance to inhumanity. We need to defect from the thinking that tells us there are many races and we need to embrace the single race of being human. We need to defect from the position that might is right and restorative justice is impossible. And most of all we need to stop judging one another and listen.

Over the years I have taken time to be with people different than myself. I have an Indigenous Grandmother, a Black Daughter, Sovereign Sisters and a Muslim Brother, not by blood or marraige, but by choice. And I choose to listen.

Our stories are different. Our hearts are the same.

So I’m defecting from ignorance and hate and I suggest you do the same. Peace is possible. Love is real and as we move towards that understanding, the world will change.

It’s up to us. It’s always been.

 

photo: wikimedia

Assert Our Humanity

For nearly four years we have watched a man upend human decency while far too many of us have cheered. Faith leaders have excused and even exalted him. Men have envied his power and women have given their power to him. We have heard him brag of sexual exploits and even boast that he could kill someone and get away with it. Well, from what I can see he has done far worse.

What could be worse? Fueled by our tolerance and by our loathing he has worked to dismantle human empathy, respect, and compassion for personal gain. But worse than breaking our dignity, he has modeled that behavior for imitators and children to emulate.

He has totally unleashed the “me, not us” attitude and has invited everyone to participate in the madness. He has turned a blind eye to those who are most likely to suffer from the pandemic. “It is what it is”, was what he offered. His bashing of anyone and everyone who is different should have ended his career in public office before it began. But Donald Trump is a master manipulator and we were ripe for the picking.

We have a long climb ahead of us to pull out of this gutter. But I believe we can do it. How we do it is key. We cannot keep throwing gasoline on the fire. We must find ways to mend the divide. His defeat in November needs to be a resounding thumping as we signal our return to “us, not me” and reject this era’s selfishness.

Let us keep walking into that “good trouble” as John Lewis invited.  And remain vigilant. The time to assert our humanity has come. Let the richness of our spirit lead us. Let us not be fooled again.

Through the Eye of a Needle

There is a lovely canopy of green that blankets my world this time of year. From May through October my cabin sits in the midst of it. My closest neighbors are deer, coyote and a variety of birds, small animals and insects. Through these months as I sit in the silence of an Internet and television free environment, I have the opportunity to think and to feel.

During the days, I catch glimpses of the news, and from social media I learn what many are thinking. For the most part we think about and are driven by what we believe. We have an allegiance to what we believe and so we seek the company of people and of the ideas that uphold those beliefs. This is the beginning of the isolation and the division we are witnessing today. We have become more invested in our beliefs than in our humanity.

Today I took a moment to recite the Pledge of Allegiance and was a bit surprised that I remembered it. When I got to “with liberty and justice for all” I was jolted by the memory of why I stopped saying it. For me, it simply wasn’t true.

The sentiment is lovely, the ideal is honorable but I couldn’t pledge allegiance to something that did not exist. It brought me to that incredible moment when belief and knowing collide and you must choose which you will follow.

To leave beliefs behind is not easy. It’s like passing a camel through the eye of a needle. But I have found a simple solution. I follow my knowing. And I am honing my knowing to some very basic things: our humanity is what we share and kindness is our greatest strength. “Liberty and justice for all” will be born of this.

 

 

Photo is a Czech movie poster to Czech film Velbloud uchem jehly (1936). A comedy film with an allusion to the “eye of a needle” aphorism.

Play To Your Strengths

Summertime social distancing is pretty easy when the venues are the open spaces. Living near Wildcat Mountain State Park and the Kickapoo Valley Reserveoffers immense beauty, incredible night skies, and lots of people seeking to escape their cities during the pandemic.

Nothing new, except for this: the gratitude that people are expressing for the land, the quiet and the simplicity. The appreciation is palpable. It’s as if, the world has had to come to a stop to help us remember how intoxicating living on the earth really is…

We’ve had a young man visiting who enjoys fishing. Nearly everyday he explores another of the wondering creeks that feed into the Kickapoo. When he returns, he recounts the trials of fishing but he also delights at the beauty he witnessed and I get to enjoy his enjoyment as I listen. Sharing this little piece of heaven is easy when appreciation gushes so readily.

People stop by, eager for conversation. Hoping to hear some good news and relieved when no hardships are discussed. Rural people are accustomed to solitude. We are accustomed to challenge. For the most part we love the land and try our best to do no harm.

And now in these summer months as people seek solitude and the immense beauty that is here, we can welcome them and invite them to be here conscientiously. Maintaining social distance and wearing a mask while entering our businesses is a sign of respect, not of weakness.

Autumn will soon be here and winter will be on its heels. If we’ve not yet learned the importance of protecting our selves and our loved ones, the cold months may bring a harsh visitor to our doors.

We have great strengths. Now it’s up to each of us to use them.

Nothing Less Will Do

Native peoples and environmentalists celebrated this week as a judge ruled that the Dakota Access Pipeline should be shut down pending a full impact review. The Atlantic Coast Pipeline has been cancelled and the Keystone XL Pipeline was stalled again in court. In addition, public pressure on a Washington, DC football team is forcing them to remove their racist name. Finally.

“Take your knee from my neck” is the silent and not so silent sentiment among people no longer willing to suffer senseless inhumanity.

While monuments of bronze and granite are being toppled, it is the ideals of colonialism and capitalism that are being unraveled. We are learning the torturous costs of building empire and the dismantling of it is long overdue.

Goliath does not go down without a fight, but the battle will not be won on his terms. The battle is won by conviction and the knowledge that there are better ways to coexist.

We do not have to fear this transformation. We have explored the brutal side of humanity; now let us lead with kindness and respect.

In these uncertain times, the certainty is this: to the people who have fought tirelessly for water and the earth; for those who honor their ancestry with a will to do more than endure; and for the ones who recognize that humanity is far greater than we have ever allowed it to be – this is our time.

Mainstream politics may not reflect it. Some religion may fight to conceal it, but this resurgence will not be stopped.

The strength and the resiliancy of our communities will be reflected by how we care for one another, how we listen to one another and how we honor one another. Nothing less will do.

 

Photo taken at Oceti Sakowin camp. My time in the camp continues to inspire and direct my course. Water is Life.

Do Not Be Deceived

Do not be deceived. Masks, no masks; rioters versus protestors; defund, no reform the police; pandemic or flu; economic crisis for many, capital gains for a few. Confusion is easy in this moment. Intentional confusion brings hopelessness and inaction. And that is what some are working towards, that we will become hopeless and impotent.

But there is a way I have found that cuts through confusion and provides the courage for action, and it simple. Listen to your heart.

I cannot remove the image of a knee on the neck of a man from my mind. That image is enough to keep my heart on track. There is no rationale; there is no excuse, which could make me falter. I may have been taught racism, but I have come to a cherished understanding: we are one people. And there is no amount of fear or hatred that can alter the conviction of my heart to see human dignity restored.

When people defend the systems of racism, which are crushing all of us, I realize they have traded their humanity for some vague notion of law and order. They are human beings who have left dignity behind.

When I listen to my heart, I am uplifted beyond doubt. I am freed from confusion. Anger is transformed.

When I hear people talk of the virus “culling the herd”, I know they have suffered the loss of their heart. They have forgotten the preciousness of each life and that is something our leaders have yet to understand.

We don’t have to debate ignorance. We don’t need to give power to the greedy.  Transformation doesn’t need to take time. It can come in a breath and it is born on the wings of understanding.  Don’t be deceived. We all hold the key.

Listen to your heart.

Care for the Living

A benevolent spring is upon us. Time has come to plant gardens or to connect with those who do. Food pantries, farmers markets and Facebook pages are gearing up to share life-supporting food and information. Videos and live-streamed classes teach us how to cook and process food. There’s no reason for anyone to go hungry.

Rain seems to be ignoring us this year. It’s making it possible to repair damages from previous floods and ready our homes for any rough days ahead. There are lots of good, local hardware stores and handy people to help get jobs done.  And while we are readying our homes let us think of our neighbors. There are unused houses and cabins, which could provide shelter for individuals and families who are and will be facing eviction.

Many may be facing hard times. Yet while this virus has wounded our ability to carry on as we have, it cannot keep us from cutting a path forward that may be better for all.

With the argument to reopen businesses now, we are weighing financial concerns over the value of life. There will be plenty of time to regroup our finances. Now is the time to care for the living – and that includes our health care workers. Now is the time to ensure that each of us has basic needs met. There are many fine organizations working against great odds to help those in need.  Find one to support.

This is not a time to cower. It is not a time to be confused or angry. Everyone’s efforts are needed. Too many are living on the edge. We have allowed this for too long. Time to snap out of it.

Throw out the old playbook. There is a new game afoot. Help one another and enjoy all the good we have been given.