This Tearing of Our Souls

For those wishing for a return to the way things were, it might be time to surrender. The old is giving way to the new. No need to look back longingly. There is no time.

This demolition of life as we knew it, this tearing of our souls, is right on time. 

It’s a moment of rebirth and reset and Life demands our attention, our love and our courage to meet it. Our collective histories have been plagued by violence, isolation and inequity.  We have been wounded, but we’re not lost. 

In this season, as we celebrate the victory of light over darkness, in whatever ways we do, remember to celebrate our own light. We can acknowledge our significance to the whole. And we can play this instrument that we are and the gifts that we have been given with the skill of a virtuoso. 

This is not a time to curse the darkness, but to be grateful for what it gives. We’re being driven to stillness. And our actions are required to be conscious and deliberate. These are great skills to hone. 

We’ve spent years and some of us decades waiting for a hero or placing others above ourselves. Our ability to adore is tremendous. But to what end? And now we wait for the hero vaccine. 

In the meantime the clock ticks. And the most precious gifts are yet to be opened. 

I will never doubt the power of the human spirit to do good or to cause harm. 

It has and always will be our choice.

And what we choose absolutely contributes to the outcome of this moment. Clinging to the past is folly; blind faith is fruitless. If you’ve not yet discovered how powerful you are, it is time. 

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.  

Our Ability to Love

They say that even with a vaccine we must be willing to stay distanced and wear masks well into spring. To some this is a great sacrifice. They scream of freedom lost and stand firm in their disbelief. To those freedom fighters, everything is suspect including the surging numbers of sick and dying.

The hardest part is that it didn’t have to be. The pseudo warriors have already sacrificed something greater than freedom. They have forsaken our inherent gifts of clarity and compassion. 

But I can’t waste time talking about ignorance. I want to talk to talk to the warriors who have not forsaken love and compassion.  I want to say, “Do not give up.” 

It’s not lost on me that scriptures share the phrase, “Leave the dead to bury the dead.” And I do not think for a moment this refers to our loved ones who have succumbed to this horrid disease. But there are those who have chosen to walk with the death of spirit in their hearts, forsaking the living. And they are very willing to lead us into their living hell.

But I am telling you, “Do not go there”. Do not live in the despair that makes one abandon heart and clarity.  Do everything you can to stay alive.

And what does it mean to be alive? It is to wake every day to the realization that life is a gift, and that we are, in fact, a gift to life. We hold within us the strength and the courage to persevere.  We hold the clarity and the wisdom to right the most grievous wrongs.  We can ask for help and we can receive it.

We have the ability to love. And it is time we use it.

Stop Line 3

This week the last of the permits required for Enbridge’s Line 3 were granted. Construction can officially begin, although it’s been going on illegally for some time.

The granting of the permits was of no surprise. The governing agencies grew out of the diminishing era of fossil fuels and are reluctant to rock the boat. Even though we know fossil fuels are being replaced by clean energy, even knowing the threat to water from ruptured pipes.

Enbridge was granted the right to totally abandon the original corroded line and build a larger, higher volume corridor.  It will transport the dirtiest of tar sands oil from Alberta, Canada to Superior, Wisconsin even with our knowledge of diminished need.

Disregarding tribal sovereignty and indigenous ways of life, Line 3 will traverse Minnesota passing through tribal lands, wetlands, lakes and wild rice beds. 

Minnesota’s Department of Health now show that covid infection rates are higher along this new corridor than any other parts of the state and Native Americans are among the highest at risk for covid hospitalizations. Increasing the number of construction workers at this time, when we are asked to stay in place, is unreasonable and dangerous. 

Since 2013, many have opposed this pipeline, but more of us are needed to stand up for indigenous sovereignty and to protect the land and water. Now more than ever, as covid is ravaging our people and overwhelming our health care workers, we need this irresponsible act to stop.

The Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians, the White Earth Band of Ojibwa, Honor the Earth, Youth Climate Interveners, the Sierra Club and Minnesota’s own Department of Commerce have filed a court appeal for a stay on the construction.

For more on efforts to stop line 3, visit the website: stopline3.org.

Or call or write.

Office of Governor Tim Walz & Lt. Governor Peggy Flanagan 
130 State Capitol 
75 Rev Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. 
St. Paul, MN 55155

Staffed office hours are: Monday – Friday, 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM

Telephone Numbers 
Telephone:  651-201-3400 
Toll Free:  800-657-3717 
Minnesota Relay:  800-627-3529 

As We Bow Our Heads

The beauty of Thanksgiving is that we celebrate the fruit of the harvest. It is a perfect time to do so, before the dark and cold winter days become too much of a burden, before the best of the surplus is gone.

Many cultures celebrate giving thanks in one form or another around this time of year.

The narrative of Pilgrims and Indians was an added construct and a peculiar twist given to a celebration of bounty. It’s twisted in the fabrication of myths it extols.

The celebration of harvest has always been, but the Pilgrim and Indian narrative was introduced after the Civil War to a country in need of healing. The truth is that the Pilgrims, who were not known as pilgrims but as separatists, took control of Wampanoag land after the village was wiped out by small pox the previous year.

It is worth a study of the origins of the twisted narrative but more importantly of the truths regarding the first settlers and the tribe.

Squanto, the famed Indian helper, was captured by the English in 1614 and sold as a slave. He returned from Europe in 1619 to find his entire community dead.

In 1637, it is estimated five hundred Wampanoag women, children and men were slaughtered in retaliation for the life of one separatist.

There are truths and there are falsehoods. Lies make us sick. They keep us from our becoming. 

Perhaps as we bow our heads and give thanks we can pray for the strength to end the lies. We can hold the sanctity of life as priceless and we can recognize all people as one. 

Healing demands truth. And if there is anything this moment in time will teach us, it is this: the lies of yesterday and today are killing us.

Never Ever Give Up

One would think with all that we face, the politics of division would run its course, but splintering continues and divide and conquer maneuvers are at an all time high. 

It’s as if we thoroughly enjoy seeing the human race fail. We don’t have to hate one another. We don’t have to fear one another. As far as I can tell our needs  – not our wants – are the same and we would get a lot further with just a bit more respect and a touch of compassion.

People are dying. People are missing their loved ones and people are wondering if they will have a roof over their heads as winter looms. Some are not sure if they can continue to feed their children. And as the covid numbers surge, some will not be able to receive the care they need regardless of the disease that stalks them. 

We are succumbing to addiction and domestic violence and for too many suicide is the final solution. We have opened the door to madness and it seems we are unwilling to try and close it again.

But through all of the ugliness and all of the loss I choose to believe we can turn this around. The tears that come so easily these days are reminders of a heart still capable of loving. The efforts to create and to discover new paths are a testament to the resilience that we all share.

Our foundation is being cracked and that is as it should be. It was a house of cards. The winds have come to tear it down and for those who are ready to see there will be new growth, new life and new ways.

Love one another through this horrible nightmare, and never, ever give up.

Snap Out of It

I learned of a relative who is waiting on the results of a covid test. Her son sat next to a child in school who tested positive. A single mom, she will have to quarantine and miss work for nearly two weeks or longer if she falls ill. Many workers are not receiving any compensation for unworked hours and must spend vacation days – if they have them – to recoup. Our front line caregivers are facing harsh realities as the virus escalates and no safety nets are in place to help them.

Also, Wisconsin hospitals are warning they will soon be unable to help those in need due to the escalation. This, while the Republican legislature goes to court once again to revoke the virus precautions ordered by Governor Tony Evers.

Hitting back at the ignorance of the current administration, the CDC issued another finding that masks do help keep the wearer from either spreading or contracting the disease. 

No health care for too many, no safety net for the working class and a government so enmeshed in division that it cannot or will not help its people. This is what we are facing, as well as a host of people unwilling to wear a mask while in public.

While it’s easy to hunker down in division, we are not helping ourselves as a nation, if we pretend this virus is going away any time soon.

Snap out of it.

Your president was able to get socialized medicine at Walter Reed Hospital, but you won’t have that luxury. And if you are one of the millions without health insurance or live in a state like Wisconsin, you may not get any help at all.

This is no time for fairy tales. Sober up. Wear a mask.

Healing the Divide

As of this writing we’re no closer to knowing the outcome of the election. What we do know is that while more people voted for Biden, much of that vote was anti-Trump, not a ringing endorsement of Democrats.

What we do know is that the majority of us do not trust the government or the two parties that currently hold power. We don’t believe the government is working in our best interest.

What we are discovering is that there is more that unites us than separates us. In recent polling over 90% of us want clean air and water, protection of personal data and the right to a quality education.

Similarly, we want to see racial equality, affordable health care and we believe in the right to a job. 

The two-party system does not serve us. False allegiance does not serve us. Fighting among ourselves does not serve us. It serves the power brokers of both parties and it serves extreme wealth.

It is estimated that $14 billion dollars were spent on this election – and it is not over. 

If you led the nation, what would you do with $14 billion dollars? Feed and shelter the growing number of homeless?  Provide proper PPE for health care workers and provide adequate testing to end the rise of the corona virus? 

You with your heart of love and concern for others, what would you do? And if you say, “Yes, we should help one another”, than I have to ask, “Why don’t we”?

And when you say,  “It’s not that simple.” I will say, “Stop following lies. We are more powerful than we think.”

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.

Love The One Your With

Amid the anger of those who ignore the reality before us there is also a grieving for all that is being lost. Conjecture on when life will “come back to normal” only salts the wound and confuses the issues at hand. 

Reality looms before us: a dysfunctional government, an educational system in jeopardy long before the pandemic, and a clash of fundamental human beliefs will all soon diminish by the onslaught of winter and an increase in homelessness, hunger and sickness, which we will surely face. 

Many are paralyzed by fear. Some insist on acting out of anger. Yet others are engaged in finding and creating new possibilities.  It’s as if we are being given a chance to do over much of what we have had horribly wrong. 

Our resiliency is being tested. And as far as I can tell there is only one solution: love.

Fear and anger cannot dwell in a heart of love. And love is a practice. I can let the caterpillar be killed as it meanders across the busy road, or I can give it a lift to the other side. Not because I should, but because I love. 

When the young man comes to talk to me about being saved, I can tell him it’s not my cup of tea but I can love him for his effort and I can tell him so. I can love beyond my boundaries. I can witness a human being through my righteousness. 

When another friend laments that good is being overpowered, I can hear him, but I can assert my truth that as long as we care, as long as we love, we cannot be defeated.

Love is a powerful asset that does not need understanding to be felt.

It’s time we use it.