Help One Another

The small rural towns of the Coulee region are about 8 to 10 miles apart. A now defunct rail system helped build the once thriving communities. Today ten miles can spell isolation to elderly, farmers, farmhands and their children.

In winter months it’s not so noticeable. We all seem to enjoy hunkering down and when we do see one another winter gives us something to complain about. But the buzz of spring is upon us and with it comes the local farmers markets. These markets serve many purposes. For some vendors it is a means to bring in a bit more cash, for others it is a chance to share their art, or a chance to catch up with neighbors and shake those winter blues.

The floods of last year left many wounds and one is fear. Fear that the old towns and the old ways of life are leaving. Well, it is true that new flood planes have destroyed landmark buildings and businesses, but the spirit of kindness that is a pillar of this region lives on.

So this is an invitation to you: Get out to the markets this season. Get to meet your farmers and craftspeople. If the musicians come out you can listen to some great music and enjoy the throwback to a simpler time. Mark your schedule to visit one or more markets a week. They’re only ten miles or so apart. Share your dollars locally to help keep our economy alive and well. And introduce yourself to your neighbors. It is always good to make new friends.

There are many visitors to our region who come to bask in the beauty of it. The people here and what we do are part of that beauty.

Rediscover the Coulee. Support the farmers markets. And help one another.

Here are a few of the markets in our area (I will add information as I get it):

Ontario Farmers Market Saturdays beginning May 25 from 9 am until 1 pm

Sparta Farmers Market  Saturday mornings 8 am- noon

Viroqua Farmers Market Saturdays mornings 8 am – 12:30pm

La Farge Farmers Market Saturdays 9am- 1 pm

Cameron Park Farmers Market, La Crosse Friday evenings 4-8pm and Saturday mornings

 

photo of the marvelous heirloom apple blossoms at Echo Valley Farm

Cloak of Belief

I avoid confrontation when it comes to belief. I don’t mind an interesting debate of facts and I relish a good conversation of shared knowledge. But belief, well you know the saying…everybody has one.

Belief is that insidious master who lays claim to you without showing papers of ownership. It comes along in our young years while our brains are being washed and sticks around like a nasty virus until we take the time to shake it off.

The ugly reality is that we have politicized our beliefs. It’s not enough to feel superior; we work hard to reduce the rights of those we deem different or lessor. It’s not enough to have enough; we ensure we remain on top through the exploitation of people and land.  And how do we justify these abnormalities: We believe. We latch onto the beliefs that satisfy us and ignore the ones that might actually make us think and allow us to feel our humanity.

My pet peeve these days are the Zionist Christians so eager for Eternal Life that they are willing to let their trumped up Christian president and his henchman march us into a war with Iran. Or that these same people are OK with the genocide and apartheid of the Palestinian people by the state of Israel – paid for and sanctioned by the United States government. Or how they ignore the fact that Saudi Arabia is behind the annihilation of Yemen, allowing innocent people to starve to death – also paid for and supported by the United States government.

These same people are quick to jump on the ‘hate queers’ bandwagon, proudly proclaim their racial bigotry, and praise God all in one mouthful.

Forget the kingdom of heaven on earth. We are too busy creating hell.

I ask you: Where have these Christians gone?  They are buried under a cloak of belief.

 

Tell the Senate “No War with Iran” by signing here.

Beyond Tolerance

There is an affliction haunting human beings throughout the world. Some refer to it as hatred. Some argue it has always been among us. Some proclaim that it will always be. Decades of reflection and numerous experiences of being “the hated”, as well as discovering the need to check my own ability to hate, I have come to the conclusion that we must go beyond tolerance.

Tolerance means that while you may hold differing opinions and beliefs you are graciously allowing others to do the same. And while that may look good in polite society it has done little to undermine the currents of hate promoted by faith leaders, political tyrants, and street gangs looking for triumph.

No, it is time we move beyond self-righteous tolerance. We must be willing to see in “the other” our own selves at every turn. It is time for our humanity to be championed. And with that comes the multi dimensional spectrum of diversity, which is the human condition and our human right. We are, each and every one of us, unique and special, a gift to be enjoyed.

We teach our children to fear the other and then confuse them with the notion of tolerance. Let us begin with the very real truth that has eluded us in our affliction; we are one people, one planet.

We wring our hands as we learn of each violent act of hate, but continue to participate in the very cultures that allow it to be. It is up to each of us, this reclamation of our humanity, this championing of the voice of clarity and the wisdom of peace.

No religion, clergy, political or charismatic leader will be able to save us from this moment of despair until we do this.

Go beyond tolerance.

Discover the splendor of being human.

 

Thanks to WDRT for airing “”Consider This” each Thursday at 5:30pm CST. Or you can listen here on Soundcloud.

Thanks to Meg Novick for the photo.

Dependency

The Amish had it right. They did not want to become dependent on electricity. It wasn’t to make their lives harder. It was to not become dependent on a government or any other body who would seek to rob their independence or their character.

I have been thinking of this a lot lately as I weigh the urgent need for immigration reform in this country. There are many people who do not want to live in the United States, but would like to work here for a while and return to their countries of origin.

Considering labor shortages on farms and elsewhere, this would make good sense. But the current short-term work programs are severely outdated. Even the George W. Bush Center’s website, “A Nation Built by Immigrants” suggests the need for new worker programs.

Instead the current administration urges us to fear these people. We are encouraged to ignore our sense of humanity and continue to allow the separation of children from parents, overcrowded and dehumanizing detention centers, and perhaps worst of all, we ignore simple solutions because of our fear.

Creating humane worker programs would be one solution. Another would be to remove United States military from these countries, and instead offer aid to help them rebuild.

Many of the immigrants and asylum seekers are being forced from their homelands and ways of life because of extraction of resources – resources that our government and military pay heavily to protect. This “protection” has in recent years cost the lives of numerous environmental activists trying to protect their homelands and their communities.

No, it is not the immigrants we should fear; it is our ignorance. We must move towards becoming citizens of the world and realize how our choices directly affect others. Let us end our dependency on stolen resources protected by blood money. On this, the Amish had it right.

Seeking Asylum

I would like to clarify some misunderstandings regarding asylum seekers. An asylum seeker is not an illegal immigrant. An asylum seeker is one who because of the very real fear of violence, displacement, hunger or other persecution is forced to leave their home country in search of shelter in a foreign country.

Adopted in 1948, Article 14(1) of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights guarantees all people the right to seek asylum. These people are known as refugees. This is international law, yet each individual country creates unique pathways for asylum seekers. Today we are in the midst of a humanitarian crisis on our southern border. Thousands of people, families and children are seeking asylum in the United States due to the inhuman conditions of life in their home countries. How we treat these people is within our domain.

When an asylum seeker enters our country at a legal port of entry and proves through documentation the facts of their case, they begin a process, which may take months to complete. During that time they have two options. If they can find a sponsor, they are allowed to live with that sponsor. They are not allowed to work and must strictly adhere to all court dates, check ins and other policies set forth by ICE. If they do not have a sponsor they are forced to reside in a detention center.

I am sponsoring a young family who were granted the possibility to seek asylum in the United States. Their journey has been ongoing for the past three months. They speak very little English and are at the mercy of strangers and a very complicated system.

Kindness and compassion must not slip away as bureaucracy steps in. Respect is imperative. At the end of the day we are all human.

 

 

The photo shown is of the ankle bracelets that must be worn at all times by asylum seekers.

Resiliency

The melting snow that brought the most recent flooding added to the widening creeks and changed topography of the Driftless. As I surveyed the battered roads and considered where to place culverts, I realized we are embarking on a dynamically changing time. The new flood planes have already forced many from their homes with more likely to come. And discussions of relocating businesses have taken on a whole new meaning as rural towns face the inevitable decisions that lie ahead.

Politicians talk of dams. And I wonder if they are seriously considering this costly and limited solution that seems akin to putting a finger in the dyke.

It makes much more sense to me to hear old time farmers talk about growing varieties of grasses that root deep into the soil and help absorb runoff, rather than build costly fixes like dams.

Then came the news of the wipeout in Nebraska and surrounding Midwestern states. Water is showing us who is king. We have gone horribly astray as we tried to outmaneuver Mother Nature instead of living in sustainable harmony with her.

Unprecedented flooding has also crippled the Pine Ridge, Rosebud and Cheyenne River Reservations wiping out roads and corrupting water supplies. Help there is also desperately needed.

We are being forced to reckon with this new reality. We are being asked to think in new ways and to help one another.  We are coming to the realization of the preciousness and the destructive nature of water and the clock is ticking.

Here in the Driftless we are cleaning up our waterways. We are helping neighbors relocate; and we are talking about community in very real terms.

The differences among us are melting along with the snow and that is how it needs to be as we face this new day and discover our resiliency.

 

Check this site for more updated information on recovery / resiliency efforts in the Driftless.

You can listen to the hour WDRT program  “Conversations” with Jen Schmitz as we discuss resiliency and recovery happening in the Driftless.

You can listen to this WDRT broadcast of “Consider This” on Soundcloud

Engaging Community

A quote by Helen Keller reads: “Alone, we can do so little; together, we can do so much.”

The obvious truth of these words can only be known as we engage in community. And while it appears that some are lost in independent silos and more interested in entertainment than in civic responsibility, that has not been my experience.

Even before the horrible floods that devastated our region last year, many were engaged in trying to find ways to curb the rising tide of farm loss, homelessness and hunger, and the isolation of people due to drug and alcohol abuse.

Then came the floods making mockery of our efforts and forcing us to reckon with the reality that there is very little we can do alone. We need one another.

And so I, like many, have sought community and ways to lend a hand. It is not always easy to offer support. As a whole we have learned to be distrustful. We have bought the story line that says, “Pull yourself up by your bootstraps” and we are ashamed to admit it does not always work. The truth is, we need one another.

Today it seems we are engaging in a great renaissance of community. For me it involves organizing the Ontario Farmers Market. Or showing up to discuss the importance of protecting the natural resources in our area from unwanted usury. It means writing these two-minute posts for our community radio station in hopes that someone will be inspired to act.

This renaissance of caring means we must be willing to listen to one another as well as ensure that we are heard. If we do, we just might find this quote by Margaret J. Wheatley to be true,  “There is no power for change greater than a community discovering what it cares about.”

 

photo: planting trees, 2016

you can listen to Consider This on WDRT Community Radio every Thursday, 5:30pm, CST or listen hear on Soundcloud

They Are Us

I have a habit of waking in the middle of the night and tuning into BBC. It’s a way to keep a pulse on what is happening around the world. It was how I learned of the slaughter of Muslim people in prayer by a white supremacist in Christchurch.  It was when I first heard the phrase, “They are us.”

I have followed the reactions and actions of the Prime Minister of New Zealand and of her countrymen. And I have found a glimmer of hope.

“They are us.” That was one of the first pronouncements regarding the massacre. And then came acknowledgements and commitments, “We cannot know your grief, but we can walk with you at every stage.”

And, “We cannot allow this to happen again.”

The compassion of the leadership is a triumph of the human spirit. It is in stark contrast to the language of division common in United States politics. The efforts of New Zealand’s Prime Minister are like balm on torn flesh.

Human beings are not designed for hatred. It is so abhorrent to the majority of us that when confronted by it, we often become numb and impotent. For some of us fear guides our silence. Fortunately Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern will not be silenced.

In her words: “Safety means being free from the fear of violence. But it also means being free from the fear of those sentiments of racism and hate that create a place where violence can flourish. “

“And every single one of us has the power to change that.” 

For the sake of “They Are Us” and “We Are One”, let us stand up to hate and say “no more”. Let us find the courage, the clarity and the power to close the door on racism and fear. Let this be our time.

 

As they carry on…One week later the prayers continue.

Cut a New Path

When winter takes full advantage of every day left to her to douse us with rain followed by snow and frigid temps, what do we do?

We stand up and carry on.

When the road to home is made impassable by snow and ice, what do we do?

We cut a new path.

There’s no time to bemoan the situation. There is no surplus energy to be wasted. There are chores to be done and needs to be met. And there’s just enough hope and strength to cut a new path and make a new way.

These frigid times challenge us to retain our dignity and sense of humor.

It is not only here in the Driftless that we are being pushed to the furthest reaches of our capabilities; the entire United States in is the throws of a harsh winter. Not simply from Nature, but in the depths of our soul. The systems that were built to provide for people are crumbling and the divisiveness leads to despair.

We are coming to an impassable situation.

For those who can stomach it, the news of the day grows ever more alarming. Our inability to address the humanitarian needs at our southern border, the ever-increasing risk to our water and air, and the insatiable lust for power and war, rivaled by an insatiable lust for trafficking women and children are but a few of the obstructions to our walk.

As I listened to the proceedings on the Cohen hearings, I heard an insistence that we stand up and carry on. There was hope in Representative Elijah Cummings words when he chided us to not stand on the sidelines and say nothing. “Come on”, he told us “we are better than this.”

Yes, sir, we are. And it is time to shake off the chill and cut a new path.

 

Thanks to WDRT for airing Consider This every Thursday, 5:30 pm CST.

Prefer to listen? Try Soundcloud.

Ode to Human Beings

There are many who take the bold steps to be human.

In honor of Black History Month I am sharing the words of Shirley Chisholm, “We must reject not only the stereotypes that others hold of us, but also the stereotypes that we hold of ourselves.”

There is great wisdom in these words. There is freedom in these words. Far too often, we are content with the labels that have been placed upon us, or the ones that we have chosen. In doing so, we often forget that our greatest gift, our greatest strength is found in our humanity.

I am currently engaged in discussions about protecting the environment of the township where I live. When we first met everyone was a stranger to me. Knowing the political climate here, it would have been easy to categorize everyone and prepare for battle. But I chose not to.

Instead I gave my ear to their concerns and when I offered my thoughts, it was without expectation. Confrontation was sidestepped with respect. And as we continue to meet, I am grateful to be in the company of people content in being human rather than in strict adherence to a label. And it has reminded me how very possible it is for all of us to live in this way.

Our country is poised to invade Venezuela. The economic squeeze that we have placed upon that country is undeniable. Our government has orchestrated a potential coup that may come to violence. What can stop it? Only our humanity can stop it.

We must encourage one another to be human. We must free ourselves from the stereotypes that have entrapped and paralyzed us. It is time we emerge as human beings, caring for the earth and caring for one another. It is our way out.

 

Special Thanks to WDRT Driftless Community Radio 91.9 FM for airing “Consider This” every Thursday 5:30 pm CST. Or you can listen here on Soundcloud.