Can We the People Make It True Again?
You notice, of course, that our Lady Liberty is not standing on her usual pedestal in her usual setting … but then, neither are we. Blasphemy? I don’t think so. Much of the time these days, many of us feel like we’re in deep and dirty water way over our head. I imagine that She does too. Maybe this new “American Tree”, with its enormous roots, both seen and unseen, its multiple trunks, and interwoven branches is a better placement for her today. Notice how the light is focused on the tablet she still holds firm. We can’t see the words, but they’re still there … “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free … Send me your homeless, your tempest-tossed … I lift my lamp beside the golden door …” Can we make it true again? I want to believe we can. I want to believe that a majority of us will resonate with this poem by the late Hope Johnson.
One Love
We are one,
A diverse group
Of proudly kindred spirits
Here not by coincidence—
But because we choose to journey—together.We are active and proactive
We care deeply
We live our love, as best we can.We ARE one
Eating, Laughing,
Playing, Singing, Storytelling,
Sharing and Rejoicing.
Working,
Getting to know each other,
Taking risks
Opening up.
Questioning, Seeking, Searching…
Trying to understand…
Struggling…
Making Mistakes
Paying Attention…
Asking Questions
Listening…
Living our Answers
Learning to love our neighbors
Learning to love ourselves.Apologizing and forgiving with humility
Being forgiven, through Grace.Creating the Beloved Community—Together
We are ONE.
We live our love as best we can … eating, laughing, playing, singing our way through Hispanic Heritage Month. I invite you to take a minute to read Julio Varela’s piece about why he’s not ambivalent about it this year. And then take another minute to celebrate with a bit of “Chocolate”.
Apologizing and forgiving with humility / Being forgiven, through Grace. Two things come to mind here. First, the words that Erika Kirk spoke at her husband’s Memorial Service … “That man, that young man … I forgive him – I forgive him because it was what Christ did and is what Charlie would do, The answer to hate is not hate. The answer we know from the gospel is love and always love. Love for our enemies and love for those who persecute us”.
No one ever said it would be easy. In fact, Dostoyevsky went so far as to say “Love in action is a harsh and dreadful thing compared to love in dreams.” I couldn’t agree more. While we may not all agree on where the love prescription comes from … whether it be the Gospel or the Beatles … maybe we can all agree that it’s worthy of consideration.
Second, I’m reminded that November will be here soon … Native American Heritage Month, and the reminder that the day after Thanksgiving, formerly known as “Black Friday” (traditionally the biggest shopping day of the year) was designated by President Obama in 2009 as “Native American Heritage Day”. I encourage you to take a hard look at the question posed in this article from Native Hope, published on November 29th, 2024. “Are we, Native Americans, the Forgotten America? Our voices unheard. When a national civil holiday occurs that hardly anyone knows about…I begin to wonder. Today, our Native Americans are fighting to reclaim their sacred Black Hills. Googling those words will provide you with a host of resources if you’re interested in learning more about that.
Asking Questions / Listening … / Living our Answers / Learning to love our neighbors. Learning to love ourselves. Now comes the hard part. Which is it for you? The listening? The discomforting answers to those disconcerting questions … or maybe it’s just those rowdy neighbors. Robert Redford said it well enough. “Speak out for what you believe and what you feel. Or don’t. You have to live with yourself … Not taking a risk is a risk”. For me a poem always shows up when I need it. I’m really happy to share this one.
We
by Carl DennisI’m gratified by the use of the word “we”
In the sentence my neighbor utters quietly
As she stands in her driveway, in her yellow raincoat:
“We really needed this rain,”
A “we” that includes not only a gray-haired White man
And a Black woman whose hair is still dark but also
Some of the green life we’ve gathered about us:
The pin oaks and silver maples, the holly
And lilac and dogwood, whose ancestors
Did what they could to make a home here
Millions of years before our ancestors
Walked down the gangway of a steamer from Bremen
Or were led in chains from a sailing ship
That had left Sierra Leone two months before.
We need this rain to remind us we don’t dwell
In a desert we have to cross to reach a promised land.
Here we are in the land of promises
Kept and not kept that we’ve promised ourselves
To be concerned with. Look how these trees
Are concerning themselves with the rain
That the grass is already welcoming
With many shades of a deeper green.
So … here we are in the land of promises kept and not kept that we’ve promised ourselves to be concerned with. And the world keeps turning. Children in Gaza are still traumatized and starving, powerful men are still trafficking little girls, glaciers are still melting, people with guns are still killing people, and some Americans are still having to choose between medical care or groceries. Shame on Us.
I am old, but I am not stupid and I am not naïve. All around me, people I love are dying, being diagnosed with cancer, or too depressed to get out of bed. I feel so lucky and so grateful to still be here but … there are times when if I don’t block it all out for a little while, I might just do some serious damage. So … here it is. You knew it was coming.
Until next time,
Sulima
Oh Yes … just one more thing: “This show is not important. What is important is that we get to live in a country that allows us to have a show like this.” Welcome Back, Jimmy Kimmel!
Buying me a an occasional coffee helps me keep these stories coming … and gives me one less reason to cross my fingers when my Social Security payment is due!
