Dappled sunlight hits the ground through limbs almost naked of their leaves. A fat squirrel scurries across the leaf covered lawn, just outside my window. And the elections are over! This is the dawning of “what happens next” in a democracy faced with despair, but under girded now by hope.
Some ask, where is the hope? Some have already begun their protests and harsh criticisms of the outcome of Tuesday’s outcome. Some are prepared to be the “thorn in the side” of a nation and a system which is looking to recover from a long and frightening nightmare.
No one is misled into believing that one man in one four year term can or will repair all the damage done in the last eight years.
However, I believe there are some things expected of us over the next four years. Here they are:
#Decide to give the benefit of the doubt, without canceling your right to disagree, with the Party in power.
#Decide, for a change, to be optimistic and not knee jerk cynical.
#Decide to be better informed. Give up following the likes of the professional critics (i.e. Limbaugh, et al) who make their living skewering others. Evaluate the real meaning of “fair and balanced.”
# Prepare your answer for those who will be quick to point out the weaknesses and failures of an Obama administration, even before it begins.
# Replay the scenes, worldwide, which demonstrated the millions of people who drew hope from the new direction America has chosen to take.
#As some of us have had to do during the past eight years, decide to bite your tongue before putting down or discrediting the ideas and actions which will greet us after January 20.
#Read history. Look at the greats who have occupied the office of President. Draw from history, clarification of solid accomplishments that have taken place under the most unlikely of leaders.
#For those with children, remember your example and behavior will contribute to the attitude of those children.
#Encourage your elected representatives to be bipartisan in their negotiations.
Resolve to look at the new year differently. Leave the baggage of the past in the past. Travel light, preserve your credentials of credibility, play fair, but keep playing.
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Vindication and Affirmation
For some of us who lived through the 60’s and fought the battles, particularly those waged around civil rights issues, Tuesday was a day of vindication. A Lutheran colleague emailed me last night; his note read,
“A dream realized... I don't mean just the election of Obama... But the dream we worked for... The diversity of people at the celebration.. All colors, All ages, holding hands and crying for joy..... A glimpse of heaven on earth... Congratulations old friend.”
He reminded me of just how far we have come.
We were on the front lines of numerous issues in Omaha, Nebraska from the mid sixties forward. There was no issue of major import in which our footprints weren’t found marching to and for issues of justice and equality.
Before the City Council, we testified in behalf of enabling equity in locating housing for minorities all over the city. Once, it was necessary to be escorted out of the City Council’s chambers, because of those whose vehemence toward our stance bordered on volatile. The changes eventually came.
We stood with younger people, who wanted a place to assemble, peacefully, in Memorial Park and Elmwood Park. We met with the Police Chief, urging calm and compromise.
We organized to work in favor of integration in the public school system and busing. The School Board became our target.
We detected discrimination in the funding provided to agencies through United Way. We were able to bring that issue to the forefront and to accomplish fairer and more balanced
distribution of community funds.
We created interracial dialogs enabling whites and blacks to confront each other with their prejudices and fears. Hundreds of groups came to Omaha for exposure to urban life and racial issues. Many had never been in the same room, or even town, with a person of color.
In 1969, we were able to create major funding through church sources to address many of the inequities in minority communities. This program stretched beyond the city to address growing disparities in rural areas. Many of those programs continue to this day.
In the face of racial tensions in minority neighborhoods, sometimes leading to riots or near riots, there were few white faces to be found. Because trust had been established, our presence was granted safe passage.
Ours was an advocacy and arbiter role. In retrospect, we did not accomplish all we might, but we helped to open doors and windows that too often were not only locked, but nailed shut. For every major issue, we were able to pull together coalitions to help keep the issue focused and the outcome fair.
Omaha, still not without its own problems, has become a major cosmopolitan city. Douglas County, in its vote Tuesday, supported Barack Obama. In a way for a couple of ministers who found our calling in Omaha, Tuesday gave vindication and affirmation to much of what we sought to accomplish in those long ago years.
Indeed, “Congratulations, old friend!”
“A dream realized... I don't mean just the election of Obama... But the dream we worked for... The diversity of people at the celebration.. All colors, All ages, holding hands and crying for joy..... A glimpse of heaven on earth... Congratulations old friend.”
He reminded me of just how far we have come.
We were on the front lines of numerous issues in Omaha, Nebraska from the mid sixties forward. There was no issue of major import in which our footprints weren’t found marching to and for issues of justice and equality.
Before the City Council, we testified in behalf of enabling equity in locating housing for minorities all over the city. Once, it was necessary to be escorted out of the City Council’s chambers, because of those whose vehemence toward our stance bordered on volatile. The changes eventually came.
We stood with younger people, who wanted a place to assemble, peacefully, in Memorial Park and Elmwood Park. We met with the Police Chief, urging calm and compromise.
We organized to work in favor of integration in the public school system and busing. The School Board became our target.
We detected discrimination in the funding provided to agencies through United Way. We were able to bring that issue to the forefront and to accomplish fairer and more balanced
distribution of community funds.
We created interracial dialogs enabling whites and blacks to confront each other with their prejudices and fears. Hundreds of groups came to Omaha for exposure to urban life and racial issues. Many had never been in the same room, or even town, with a person of color.
In 1969, we were able to create major funding through church sources to address many of the inequities in minority communities. This program stretched beyond the city to address growing disparities in rural areas. Many of those programs continue to this day.
In the face of racial tensions in minority neighborhoods, sometimes leading to riots or near riots, there were few white faces to be found. Because trust had been established, our presence was granted safe passage.
Ours was an advocacy and arbiter role. In retrospect, we did not accomplish all we might, but we helped to open doors and windows that too often were not only locked, but nailed shut. For every major issue, we were able to pull together coalitions to help keep the issue focused and the outcome fair.
Omaha, still not without its own problems, has become a major cosmopolitan city. Douglas County, in its vote Tuesday, supported Barack Obama. In a way for a couple of ministers who found our calling in Omaha, Tuesday gave vindication and affirmation to much of what we sought to accomplish in those long ago years.
Indeed, “Congratulations, old friend!”
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Discover a Spiritual Vortex Wherever You Are
The last several days you have been patient in allowing this writer a much needed vacation. The chosen locale was Sedona, Arizona, one of the most marvelous of geographic and spectacular sights anywhere in the world.
What made it doubly enjoyable was we shared it with friends, who were our hosts. Last August, they were joined in marriage. I was honored to preside at the ceremony. Our gift was to join them in Sedona for a three day respite.
On one morning, while in search of an identified vortex, we observed an older couple walking along the road. We stopped, asked directions, but were quickly told by the man that he didn’t believe in such. We hadn’t asked for his beliefs, only a location. We hadn’t indicated any “belief” one way or the other. He proceeded with his walk and we proceeded to discover the several locations throughout the day. It was part of the pleasure of being there. Much like a scavenger hunt, we pinned down the locations, enjoyed the views from every one and came to agree with one couple who said she believed “a vortex may be found wherever you are.” We thought that was a sound observation.
Literally, a vortex is an eddy or maelstrom, a whirlpool. According to About.com, ”a vortex is created from spiraling motion of air or liquid around a center of rotation.” A good example is a dust devil ordinarily seen in the desert.
According to legend, vortexes are created, in Sedona, not by wind or water, but from spiraling spiritual energy. Thus, the separation of those who “believe” and those who do not. Vortex sites are spiritual locations where prayer, meditation and healing intersect with a person’s inner self.
We did not experience a particularly dramatic harmonic convergence, as it has been called. Like our friend we met on the trail, it was an experience in grandeur, a moment of peace and unforgettable beauty.
Like most spiritual experiences, it is left to the individual to interpret and translate its meaning, if any. Spiritual encounters of the best kind are in the moment and in the place when and where an individual is open to them. They do not need follow a prescribed formula, nor do they need to become a universal phenomenon.
Just be open to the tranquility available in such a moment wherever you are!
What made it doubly enjoyable was we shared it with friends, who were our hosts. Last August, they were joined in marriage. I was honored to preside at the ceremony. Our gift was to join them in Sedona for a three day respite.
On one morning, while in search of an identified vortex, we observed an older couple walking along the road. We stopped, asked directions, but were quickly told by the man that he didn’t believe in such. We hadn’t asked for his beliefs, only a location. We hadn’t indicated any “belief” one way or the other. He proceeded with his walk and we proceeded to discover the several locations throughout the day. It was part of the pleasure of being there. Much like a scavenger hunt, we pinned down the locations, enjoyed the views from every one and came to agree with one couple who said she believed “a vortex may be found wherever you are.” We thought that was a sound observation.
Literally, a vortex is an eddy or maelstrom, a whirlpool. According to About.com, ”a vortex is created from spiraling motion of air or liquid around a center of rotation.” A good example is a dust devil ordinarily seen in the desert.
According to legend, vortexes are created, in Sedona, not by wind or water, but from spiraling spiritual energy. Thus, the separation of those who “believe” and those who do not. Vortex sites are spiritual locations where prayer, meditation and healing intersect with a person’s inner self.
We did not experience a particularly dramatic harmonic convergence, as it has been called. Like our friend we met on the trail, it was an experience in grandeur, a moment of peace and unforgettable beauty.
Like most spiritual experiences, it is left to the individual to interpret and translate its meaning, if any. Spiritual encounters of the best kind are in the moment and in the place when and where an individual is open to them. They do not need follow a prescribed formula, nor do they need to become a universal phenomenon.
Just be open to the tranquility available in such a moment wherever you are!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
