Bad Things

For all my particular complexities, I’m a rather simple guy — I try to keep bad things from happening (especially things that are close to home, around me, or involving those I love).  This is probably not too far off of what a normal human being would do.

But, more often than I like, I can’t do it — I can’t prevent bad things from happening.  I’m just not that powerful (in fact, against the broader backdrop of our collective existence, what I often feel is more like powerlessness).  Sometimes I forget that.  And, when I do, I get pretty tangled up…quickly.

That’s what I am today — tangled up.

This meditation touches on some of the cords involved and the dynamic related to the mess of it:

Father Richard Rohr explores how getting in touch with our grief allows us to transform our anger:

Anybody who’s on the edge, disadvantaged in some way, or barred from a position of hegemony or power will naturally understand the tears of the prophets, with their gut-level knowledge of systemic evil, cultural sin, and group illusion. Black Americans might have seen white people act nice or speak of human equality, for example, but they knew we lived behind a collective lie. Collective greed is killing America today. We make everything about money—everything—and injustices like these will naturally leave us exasperated and ultimately sad. How can we look at the suffering taking place in Gaza, Ukraine, or Sudan and be anything but sad? It’s sad beyond words or concepts. Only the body can know. 

I recently turned eighty and the older I get, the more it feels like I must forgive almost everything for not being perfect, or as I first wanted or needed it to be. This is true of Christianity, the United States, politics in general, and most of all myself. Remember, if we do not transform our pain and egoic anger, we will always transmit it in another form. This transformation is the supreme work of all true spirituality and spiritual communities. Those communities offer us a place where our sadness and rage can be refined into human sympathy and active compassion. 

Forgiveness of reality—including tragic reality—is the heart of the matter. All things cry for forgiveness in their imperfection, their incompleteness, their woundedness, their constant movement toward death. Mere rage or resentment will not change any of these realities. Tears often will, though: first by changing the one who weeps, and then by moving any who draw near to the weeping. Somehow, the prophets knew, the soul must weep to be a soul at all. 

Spiritual teacher Mirabai Starr describes the compassion that can arise as we experience both our anger and our grief: 

Anger is a natural response when we let the pain of the world into our hearts. It is not the only appropriate response, of course. However, when we can welcome the fire of the Prophets into our own lives, we tap into the true nature of righteousness and draw the vigor necessary to step up in service to that which is greater than ourselves. We remember our essential interconnectedness with all that is and we are motivated to act on the impulse to protect the web of inter-being with all our might.  

Personal and planetary grief are inextricable. Our encounter with the manifold losses that characterize the human experience can till the soil of our hearts so that we are more available to the suffering of other beings and the earth we share. When we have been broken, we recognize the brokenness around us and compassion naturally grows. Sorrow can be paralyzing at first, but compassion, which can sometimes take the form of anger, is a wellspring that offers infinite sustenance. 

Into A Better Shape

I have been bent and broken, but — I hope — into a better shape.

-- Charles Dickens

Inner Peace

Do not let the behavior of others destroy your inner peace.  

-- Dalai Lama

Darkness & The Soul

I’m wondering…about the notion, some of us have inherited, that our soul is dark; that light is something external.

According To The Way We Have Treated

Christ has prophesied what will happen at the last judgment: we shall be judged according to the way we have treated him in the persons of the poor, the oppressed, the downtrodden.

-- Dom Hélder Câmara

3 Observations & A Question

We can all live far more simply — it’s our culture that’s telling us not to.

When you’re in serious trouble, you care much less about who throws you a life ring.

More often than not, doing the hard thing is easier than we thought.

Do you want to know or want to grow or just want the status quo?
 

Prior 3 Observations & A Question….

Three critical stories that are getting buried by Epsteingate

Three critical stories that are getting buried by Epsteingate

Not to mention:

The silencing

Before Winter Solticr, I Remember

Poem for the week' -- "Before Winter Solticr, I Remember":

This, too, is what we are born for, this waking in darkness, unable to see, but still able to hear the 

shush 

of wind in bare branches, able to 

feel 

the charge of our heartbeat, the 

swell 

of our belly as it fills with borrowed air. 

I have spent my life learning to 

love 

these shapeless hours before the 

light 

finds us, these shadowsome 

nights when 

my whole being seems to stretch 

beyond 

the bed, beyond the room, 

beyond the home, beyond the valley, beyond even 

the globe, 

as if I rhyme with the dark all 

around us, 

the dark that holds us, the dark 

that surrounds 

this whole swirling spiral of 

galaxy. 

Sometimes, I feel how that infinite 

darkness 

calls to the darkness inside me as 

if to say, 

remember, remember where you 

come from, 

remember what you are. And the 

darkness 

inside me sings back.

-- Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer 

Darkness and disorientation often go together (at least initially).  This poem struck me this week as I’ve walked past the homeless around a conference in downtown Louisville and as I think about a current phase of disorientation in the journey of a good friend of mine.

Disorientation

Many times disorientation is the result of a perceived separation.

We become disoriented when we feel disconnected from something that otherwise centers us. This happens in, at least, a couple of ways.

One is when we do things that cause us to lose track of what our center is or what centers us. This could be a result of drift (we just stop paying attention to the things that orient us well to reality). Or, this can happen when we take up things that become habits which move us away from connection to what serves us well. In other words, this can be either conscious or unconscious things.

Another way this happens is when what we thought was the basis of our centeredness changes. This happens when something about that thing is revealed in a way that makes us question the validity of that basis. Perhaps, rather than it being rooted in our sense of something being right, it turns out to actually be wrong. Or, something about it no longer squares in a consistent enough way with what we had thought it did.

At these moments we're forced to recalibrate. And sometimes that calibration involves complete separation from it in the first place, often leaving us feeling disoriented in the mean time.

I have a friend who is going through the deep-throes of disorientation right now. It is not only difficult to go through, it is difficult to watch.

A meditation on the concept...here.

But, there is also an observable pattern in such things; it often takes disorientation to enable reorientation to what is actually true or, at the very least, to a deeper understanding of it.

Some call this process transformation.

Forgiveness

Forgiveness does not change the past, but it does enlarge the future.

-- Paul Lewis Boese

Improve Today

It doesn’t matter what position you find yourself in right now. What matters is whether you improve your position today. 

-- Shane Parrish

Listen To My Body

I've noticed...that our bodies are designed to communicate with us.  I'm learning how to better listen to what it is telling me.

Persecuted

Let me never fall into the vulgar mistake of dreaming that I am persecuted whenever I am contradicted.

-- Ralph Waldo Emerson

3 Observations & A Question

When it’s over, we’re going have to explain whether we were a part of it…or not.

We must pay attention to what needs our attention, especially within ourselves.

You already have what you think you need.

What is the narrative you’re going with right now to describe your life?

 

Prior 3 Observations & A Question….

Flow

Beauty and harmony are often a result of flow. Where things collect and get congested, things breakdown. 

In the physical realm, most designers of hard surfaces include some slope. This facilitates the flow of whatever collects on the surfaces. If they don’t incorporate opportunity for flow, substances collect on them and over time they start to break down the surfaces.

In fact, most of nature already works this way; everything is about flow (movement). When that is happening in harmony, beautiful things seem to thrive. 

Assuming this is more than just an observation (and perhaps a model), one might project that a similar dynamic of flow enhances the quality of most relationships. In other words, when congestion occurs on our surfaces, all kinds of other things have opportunity to grow. So, what would it mean to observe and understand how flow works in our lives so that we could also understand it in someone else’s? 

One obvious thing would seem to be related to what we try to hold onto — where we try to block the natural flow of things. We’ve all heard the phrase, “let it go". 

This is true more profoundly than we know.

I Am…Here Now

Breathe in, “I Am” — Breathe out, “Here Now”:

After a long and wonderful hike to some of the most beautiful scenery in Idaho (Sawtooth), my wonder continued in a ‘restorative’ yoga session.  Doors open and fresh mountain air surrounding our guided time struck me afresh how healing (and necessary) being present can be.

Breathe in, “I Am” — Breathe out, “Here Now”

These words were repeated over and over throughout the session. As our time came to a close, they finally sank fully in and I was filled with unexpected emotion.  I was actually here — more importantly, I realized it.

Breathe in, “I Am” — Breathe out, “Here Now”

Who we are is often best discovered by more fully being where we are.  

Here’s some of what set the stage:

Breathe in, “I Am” — Breathe out, “Here Now”

More pics...here.

Insults Your Soul

Dismiss whatever insults your own soul.

-- Walt Whitman

Rest Ethic

The best work ethics requires a good rest ethic.

-- Kevin Kelly

Closeness AND Pleasure

Ever noticed…how much we want closeness AND pleasure?

We want both. Sometimes we feel like we have neither. And, when that happens, we may think we will be happy with just one. But, we really still want both.

There is a degree to which pleasure is not ultimately satisfying without closeness.

And, similarly, relationship without enjoyment feels lacking.

Over the course of our existence, we do likely experience all three (each and combined) at one point or another — though, perhaps, much less than we would prefer — but, more often only one of them, as life seems to anticipate the likelihood of longer stretches of one without the other.

The trick is to learn how to honor the gift of either (or both) from life, rather than demand them from it. As with many things, our lack of demand is what opens us more to experiencing the possibility.

Human First

Picking up a bit on yesterday's observation: You have to be human first...repeat, human first.

Not male, not white, not American...not even Christian.  

Human.

From there, you can be the other things, too. But, if you don't start there, the other things seem to get skewed pretty quickly.

And, if you're worried about that identity prioritization, humans are made in the image of God. Humans can (and should) reflect that image in how they relate to each other (to everything really).

This understanding informs our sensibility of what it actually means to be human…and what it looks like when we don’t.

3 Observations & A Question

You have to be human first...repeat, human first.

If happiness is something you feel for yourself, joy is something you know with others.

At some point, you have to recognize what isn’t serving you well and get rid of it (does it make it more true if Joe Rogan learned this, too?).

Most people leave where they don’t feel safe, either simply because they can or because they’re desperate enough — wouldn’t you?

Prior 3 Observations & A Question….

On The Lighter Side: Favorite Child

 On the Lighter Side:

Dehumanizing

Instagram: sharonsaysso

If we weren't already, we really need to consider this IG observation on dehumanization by Sharon McMahon.

I say 'we' because the range and content of the comments are...frightening.

Judge Each Day

Judge each day, not by the harvest, but by the seeds you plant.

-- William Arthur Ward

Like A Little Empty Attic

I consider that a man's brain originally is like a little empty attic, and you have to stock it with such furniture as you choose. A fool takes in all the lumber of every sort that he comes across, so that the knowledge which might be useful to him gets crowded out, or at best is jumbled up with a lot of other things so that he has a difficulty in laying his hands. 

 -- Sherlock Holmes

Though fictional in character, the observation isn't.  It seems pretty descriptive, on a number of levels, with all the things that now clutter our minds.

Perhaps this is why clear thinking these days seems to have escaped us.

Care For The Oppressed

I’m wondering…as a society, why does it seem to require courage to care for the oppressed?

Life Experience

No matter the religion or denomination in which we are raised, our spirituality still comes through the first filter of our own life experience.

-- Richard Rohr

4 Observations (from Others)

We cannot know love if we remain unable to surrender our attachment to power.

-- Bell Hooks

I believe that in times such as these, we are all being called to listen. 

-- Barbara Otero-López

It may be that when we no longer know what to do, 
we have come to our real work and when we no longer know which way to go, 
we have begun our real journey. 

The mind that is not baffled is not employed. 
The impeded stream is the one that sings. 

-- Wendell Berry

How shall we negotiate postmodernity without inner strength?

-- Barbara Holmes

Prior 4 Observations (from Others).

I Love America

This 4th of July, I'm not sure what to be more discouraged about, the ideologies of the current President or the congress that keeps bank-rolling them...all not under the premise of more limited government, but by unvarnished increasing the size and scope of it (ICE is now the most heavily funded law enforcement agency in the government...does that seem right to anyone?) to enable the priorities of the President.

Because...

I love America.

Though there are growing parts of it that I love less and less, I love America.  Not for all the vagaries and travesties it has wrought throughout its history, but for the ideals of freedom it represents.

And, selfishly, I love America for the personal benefits that I have enjoyed from that freedom (I know that not everybody has, for all kinds of reasons — choices they’ve made; choices that others have made — and that tarnishes my enjoyment). 

Both its great ideals and amazing beauty are wonderful to behold.

In many ways now, I am afraid for both.  Values seem to be overtaken by the power of money.  Perhaps, it has always been this way, but it seems like it is getting worse.  Though some people have always treated others badly, it now seems fashionable to do so.  

The common good seems more like an after-thought at best.  People seem myopically focused on their own needs and no longer seem to consider how those are met, at least in part, by the things we gain from a common good point of view.  Leaders seem more energized by personal gain through the manipulation of the common good than the ideals of them overall.  Serving the common good seems to have been completely reconfigured.  

Sacrifice for the sake of others at one point seemed emboldening; now it seems to be passé. 

As my recent posts reflect, it is easy to point out the prevailing fallacies of our time.  But, I love was America and want to be a part of promoting its ideals even more.

The America I love...loves each other.

The America I love...looks out for the disadvantaged.

The America I love...values differences.

The America I love...invites people to a vision for all people.

The America I love...does not promote fear.

The America I love...protects what is good.

The America I love...acknowledges where real power comes from.

The America I love...works at unity (not uniformity).

The America I love...honors sacrifice for the benefit of the common good.

Does any of this seem like what is happening now?  Well, not really, but if we can just get all these immigrants out of here....  Seriously?  How did we even get here?  This may explain at least some of it.

I'm getting together with friends and family today and doing many of the things we have all come to enjoy about the innocence of our freedoms.  I will eat hotdogs and ice cream, drink a beer, throw water balloons and...wave a flag for America (pics here).

But, in the back of my mind, I wonder (even fear) if what I love about America is actually still here...for the common good (or even for me).

Strengthened By Use

Courage is very important.  Like a muscle, it is strengthened by use.

-- Ruth Gordon

'Big Beautiful(?) Bill', Con’t

Please read this. We don’t have time to wait. People will suffer.

Senator Chris Murphy just sent out this report from the Senate Floor: He specifies what each American can do, pronto. He says we do not have the luxury of waiting until mid-terms or 2 years at the rate the dismantling and deletions of our programs have taken place:

“Last night in the Senate, something really important happened. Republicans forced us to debate their billionaire bailout budget framework. We started voting at 6 PM because they knew doing it in the dark of night would minimize media coverage. And they do not want the American people to see how blatant their handover of our government to the billionaire class is.

So I want to explain what happened last night and what we did to fight back:

The apex of Republicans’ plan to turn over our government to their wealthy cronies is a giant tax cut for billionaires and corporations. And they plan to pay for it with cuts to programs that working people rely on. Popular and necessary programs like Medicaid, Medicare, and SNAP, are all being targeted. In order to pass the tax cut, Republicans have to go through a series of procedural steps. Last night, they took the first step which requires them to pass an outline of their plan, but with it, any senator can offer as many amendments as we want. So my Democratic colleagues and I did just that.

Now, we knew that Republicans would largely unanimously oppose them, but we had two objectives here. One, Republicans were forced to put their opinion on record — many for the first time — on the most corrupt parts of Trump and Musk’s agenda. Two, as I’ve been saying, I am going to make every process and procedure as slow and painful as possible for as long as my colleagues choose to ignore the constitutional crisis happening before our eyes.

So what did we propose?

We proposed no tax cuts for anyone who makes a billion dollars a year.

We made them vote on whether or not Elon Musk and DOGE should have limitless access to Americans’ personal data.

We made them vote on whether to protect IVF and require insurers to cover it. Every single amendment Democrats proposed was shot down.

On almost every single amendment, Republicans universally opposed it. Every Republican voted against our proposal to prevent more tax cuts for billionaires. The corruption and theft is happening in the open here.

The whole game for Republicans is taking your money and giving it to the wealthiest corporations and billionaires — even if it means kicking your parents out of a nursing home or turning off Medicaid for the poorest children.

They know what they are doing is deeply unpopular. They are offering a tax cut to the most wealthy that is 850 times larger than what they are offering working people. Oh and by the way, any tax cuts for working people are going to be washed out by higher costs for basic necessities, like health care and food. It’s a fundamental injustice.

Thanks to your pressure and support, many of my Democratic colleagues have joined my effort to do everything we can to make sure they cannot destroy democracy and steal your money in the dark of the night. We are being loud about what is happening. I’m going to continue to grind the gears of Congress down as much as possible to make it that much harder and slower to get away with this corruption. That’s why the votes lasted until nearly 5 AM.

DO NOT PRESS SHARE. JUST COPY THE ENTIRE POST AND PASTE IT ON YOUR OWN WALL.

This is a five-alarm fire. I don’t think we have two years to plan and fight back. I think we have months. It’s still in our power to stop the destruction of our democracy with mass mobilization and effective opposition from elected officials.

So we can’t miss any opportunity to take advantage of opportunities to put Republicans on the record and shine a light on what is happening.

And you have a role to play in this as well. I need you to amplify what’s happening, support the leaders who are fighting for you to make sure they can continue speaking truth to power against Musk and Trump’s billionaire cronies, and show up at rallies and town halls.

Use every tool at your disposal to send a message loud and clear about how you expect my colleagues to lead and fight in this moment.”

-- Chris Patrick Murphy, US Senator

The insidious part (of which there are many) is that our President is gloating about what this will enable him to expand against people he has wholesale characterized in terms quite similar to those used in Nazi Germany less than 100 years ago (just trade Jews then for immigrants now).

Most Republicans are either too naïve about what is happening or too scared to stop him (only 3 Republican senators voted NO on the bill).

Polls continue to show the majority of Americans oppose the bill.

It's Authoritarianism wrapped in bureaucratic language....

We have to wake up before it is too late.  At that point, saying "Gosh, I just didn't know..." will be such a pitiful response.  We need to respond now (especially, since we didn't earlier — that's on us as Trump has told us all the way along what his intentions were...and are).

Differentiation Comes From Clarity

Companies that offer too many options often struggle to differentiate. Differentiation comes from clarity of WHY, not excess of WHAT.

-- Simon Sinek