Rooted Deeply in the Soil

 this morning as i write, i am fearful.  such a feeling is unusual for me, but events in this country don't bode well for its future.  while democrats control the executive and legislative branches of government, their hold on the senate is tenuous.  two senators, manchin of west virginia and sinema of arizona, insist that bills before the senate must be passed with bipartisan support.  that will never happen as long as senate republicans are united in their determination to see a democratic president and congress fail no matter what the cost to the nation.  their goal is political power, not the good of the people.

republican-controlled state governments are making it more difficult for democrats to gain power at the state level, even when the majority of voters support democratic candidates.  they do this by restricting access to the polls and by constructing congressional district maps in such a way that their candidates are elected to majorities in state legislatures and to the federal house of representatives.  by so doing, the republican party rules, even when a majority of voters in their states oppose them.  in addition to these authoritarian measures, republican-controlled legislatures have passed laws, giving them, rather than impartial officials, control of the counting of ballots.  had this been the case in the last election, the will of the voters would have been nullified and trump would have been declared the winner, even though president biden clearly had the most votes.  thus, the apparatus for thwarting the people's electoral choice has been put in place in time for the upcoming 2022 elections.

the inability of the democrats in congress to pass progressive measures has exacerbated the situation.  two senators have the power to stop the passage of reforms to the senate rules, thanks to the arcane rules of the senate.  mr. manchin's  and ms. sinema's insistence on preserving those rules that were originally adopted to force compromise and find common ground between the two parties now prevent the passage of any legislation that their own party puts forward, since few, if any, republicans are willing to seek compromise or find common ground.  the desire for bipartisanship on the part of the two senators effectively gives them veto power on all legislation, even when it could pass with complex parliamentary work-arounds that bypass the requirements for a sixty-vote majority.

congress could stop many of the state-level attempts at voter suppression, but the democrats cannot muster the votes needed for passage under the senate's current rules.  until and unless senators sinema and manchin are willing to amend the rules to allow the two voting rights measures to pass with a simple majority instead of a sixty-vote majority, the country will be controlled by a minority of its voters in the future, just as the senate is now controlled by two recalcitrant democratic senators.

may those who seek political power instead of the well-being of our people repent of their desire for control at any cost.  may the people of our country see the harm being done to our democratic processes when we allow the current political climate to continue.  may anti-democratic forces be defeated, both at the polls and in the minds of the vast majority of our people.  may we become a land of "liberty and justice for all," whether rich or poor, democrat or republican, immigrant or native-born.  shalom.

When in Affliction's Valley

 as i thought about what to write this week, several things crossed my mind:  the memorial service for a friend just a couple of years younger than me who passed away unexpectedly, my sense of gratitude for my wonderful wife and the comfortable life we live, the horrible events of january 6, 2021, which we have been recalling, the suffering of those who lost so much in the tornadoes that swept through our country recently.  the thing that has most concerned me is the continuing effects of covid on our lives.  we are in the beginning of a second year of fear caused by this destructive virus, and there is no end in sight.

so many have lost their lives to infection.  others who have recovered from the initial stage of covid continue to suffer from lingering health problems.  many are forced to be exposed to potential infection in order to keep their jobs, while some of those with whom them must work refuse to take precautions to protect those around them.  ignorance about the vaccines and misinformation run rampant in our society.  refusal to follow the advice of medical experts has been adopted by some as an emblem of individual liberty at the cost of many lives.  

a few days ago, one of our relatives was exposed to an infected person while visiting a friend and had to undergo testing and quarantine for the third time, after earlier exposures.  another friend has just emerged from quarantine after her boyfriend was infected, though she somehow escaped infection herself.  two of the sunday school classes at our church have suspended meeting again because the omicron variant is spreading so quickly in our area.  our pastor sent out an email a few days ago urging unvaccinated members of our congregation to reconsider their position and reminding us all to take the necessary precautions to avoid infection, especially when gathering for worship.

if we go to a movie, we buy our tickets just before the start of the movie and check to see how many tickets have already been sold.  if the number of people attending the movie is too great, we don't go because we can't distance ourselves from others.  when we go shopping, we stay away from others as much as possible.  every activity outside our home involves thinking about the danger of becoming infected.  we avoid large gatherings if we can't control the space between ourselves and others.  

this is not the way we want to live.  both my wife and i love being with other people.  we are not fearful people, and we don't like what covid has forced us to become.  yet we watch as those who ignore the recommended precautions and refuse vaccination catch the virus and some die.  i admit to a certain amount of anger toward those who will not take the vaccine, because they make life more dangerous for us all, not just themselves.  i have to remind myself that even the vaccine deniers are human and that i must not gloat when one of them suffers serious illness or dies, especially when they have tried to influence others not to take the vaccine.

may we do what we can to stay safe and keep others safe.  may we urge those who remain unvaccinated to reconsider their positions.  may we have compassion for those who are infected, even when they refuse to protect themselves and others.  may we do what we can to preserve our humanity in the face of the need for isolation, reaching out to others in whatever ways we can while still remaining safe ourselves.  may we do what we can to bring this scourge to an end.  shalom.

I'm Dreaming Tonight of a Place I Love

 a new year has begun.  perhaps i should be looking forward, but christmas is still fresh in my mind.  i am reminded of past christmases, especially those of my childhood.  christmas day back then was a day of traveling to my grandparents' home about an hour away.  their home would be packed with relatives--aunts, uncles, great-aunts and -uncles, cousins, and my great-grandmother.  it is about this remarkable woman that i want to write this week.

"grandma kate" lived with my maternal grandparents.  she was the mother of my grandmother and had helped to raise my mother and her brothers.  she was born sometime around the end of the civil war.  no one is certain because official records from those days were often missing.  she claimed to have been born in 1865, but she also claimed to remember events that occurred during the war between the states.  her own mother had married an itinerant musician, leaving their family home in rural southwest arkansas to live in his home in pine bluff, a town about fifty miles southeast of little rock.  when my great-great-grandmother discovered that her husband was having an affair with another woman, she left in the middle of the night while her husband was out carousing and took her daughter, my great-grandmother,  and all the household goods she could load in the buckboard with her.  she made her way back to her family's farm, and it was there that my grandma kate grew up.

she married my great-grandfather.  they farmed in the same community where both had been raised.  their family was large with three sons and four daughters reaching adulthood.  soon after my grandmother's youngest sister was born, my great-grandfather died.  grandma kate continue to operate the family farm and provide for her seven children.  when my aunt bess, the youngest child, married, grandma kate sold the farm and went to live with her and her husband.  aunt bess' husband passed away, and my aunt remarried.  grandma kate didn't get along with the new husband and went to live with my grandmother and grandfather.

the difficulties she faced in the aftermath of the civil war haunted her throughout her life.  one of the privations she and her family endured was the scarcity and expense of coffee, which for her symbolized the struggles she faced.  one of my most vivid memories of her was watching as she lifted one of the youngest of her great-grandchildren onto her lap at the christmas dinner table.  my grandmother's table seated twelve easily, and at christmas time extra chairs were added so that everyone could be seated around it.  my grandmother did not subscribe to the idea of a "children's table" away from the adults, believing that all the children should take part in the meal and accompanying conversation along with the adults.  at the end of the meal, grandma kate would prepare her after-dinner coffee with plenty of cream and sugar.  once she had lifted one of her great-grandchildren onto her lap, she would pour some of the sweet, hot coffee into her saucer, then take some into her spoon and blow on it to cool it.  she would then spoon the coffee into the chosen child's waiting mouth, as she reminded the gathered crowd that she was determined that no one in her family would ever have to do without coffee again.

we all, from the youngest to the oldest, were served coffee with our meal.  that cup of coffee became a symbol of the love that united our family across four generations.  it told each of us that we never had to endure want as long as another member of the family was able to provide for us.  there was always a pot of coffee available in my grandmother's house.  it was brewed first thing in the morning, and the pot was renewed whenever it was emptied.  i never saw my grandmother during a waking moment without a coffee mug nearby, and grandma kate's words reminded us all of the enduring love that the constant availability of coffee in that household represented.  not surprisingly, we all became great coffee lovers, a trait that my mother passed on to her children and that i have passed on to mine.  each time i drink a cup, i am reminded of grandma kate, of her refusal to give in to the difficulties that life presented her with, of her wonderful stories of growing up in rural arkansas, of the quirks of her many relatives and their descendants, and of her great love for every member of her family, and, with seven living children, that family was quite large.

it may seem odd that a simple beverage could encapsulate love across so many generations of our family.  coffee for us is more than a stimulating, warming drink.  it is the tie that binds us all together, a symbol of the legacy of a terrible war fought more than one hundred and fifty years ago and of the importance of family in giving us the strength to carry on in the face of adversity and the obligation we have to one another to help in times of need.

may we live with gratitude for those who have gone before us.  may we recognize their gifts to us and pass those on to those who come after us.  may we see that family is more than blood relationship, realizing that all sentient beings are part of our family.  shalom.

Deep Peace to You

this week i wanted to write about a christmas memory triggered by this year's celebration with my family.  circumstances prevent me from doing so, but i plan to write about this memory next week.  until then, may all of us find peace, compassion, lovingkindness, and good health in our lives and in the lives of those we love.  shalom.

The Hope and Fears of All the Years

though christmas is my favorite time of year, i feel apprehensive about our celebration this year.  i look forward to being with my wife and children at the home of our daughter and her husband, who live about seven hours away from us.  it has been nice not to have all the meal planning and preparation and all-out decorating that goes along with having our family christmas at our home.  we can relax and let our daughter and her husband take care of all that work.  we'll have a great time being together, opening our gifts, and having several days to talk about what's going on in our lives.  we'll have delicious food and will eat too much of it, most likely.

the concern comes for several reasons.  first, the spread of the new omicron covid variant threatens to exacerbate the cycle of isolation, infection, hospitalization, and death that we had hoped the vaccines would end.  so many people still refuse to become vaccinated and fail to take the necessary precautions to slow the rate of infection.  social activities that have resumed won't be curtailed, at least in our area of the country, and many will not wear masks.  the community choir of which i am a member will still present our annual performance of the christmas portion of messiah, which were interrupted last year because of the pandemic.  i am one of the two choir members who sings wearing a mask, and i am the only choir member who is socially distancing myself from the rest of the choir.  i fear that the audience will be so large that social distancing will be impossible for them, turning our two presentations of the music into super-spreader events.  i participate in these concerts with apprehension and question whether i should have participated at all.

this presentation of messiah has been stressful in other ways.  i serve as our choir's treasurer, which ordinarily would not be a difficult job.  my responsibilities are to account for the money that is donated by members of the community and to see that the professional musicians who make possible the choir's performances are paid.  this year, the president of the choir had to undergo major heart surgery just before our last rehearsal, and she did not survive the surgery.  we are heartbroken because of her death, which has cast a pall over this year's presentations.  the other officer/board member and i must take care of her duties as well as our own as we grieve her loss along with her family and others in the community.  more stress was created for me when the person who usually takes care of overseeing the preparation and printing of the programs was unable to do so, and those tasks became my responsibility at the last minute.

a few days ago, i found myself wishing that i had never agreed to serve as an officer of the choir or to sing in this year's performances.  i thought to myself that life would be much simpler if i remained a member of the choir whose only responsibilities were to show up for rehearsals and performances or if i had used the fear of infection as a reason to skip this year's presentation.  now that the first performance is done and i've heard the audience's appreciative comments, i realize that this is a holiday tradition that is important to many people.  i see that the duties i performed were necessary and that it was worthwhile for me to shoulder them so that others didn't have to.  in future years, it will be someone else's job to take care of the choir's finances and see that the programs are printed, but i should be grateful that i had the time and abilities to see that these jobs are done for now.

may we not allow the stress of seeing a job through to hide the end result from us.  may we accept our turn to shoulder responsibility, knowing that others will relieve us in the future.  may we know that today's tensions are not permanent, and accepting the feelings that go along with them as part of the fabric of life.  may we see the whole and not just the parts.  shalom.

Just to See Her Smile

this week i want to write about my gratitude for the wonderful wife with whom i have shared the past fifty-three years of marriage.  she and i met as freshmen in college, first attracted to each other by our mutual love of music.  we dated throughout our undergraduate years and married the summer after graduation.  we came from very different backgrounds but over the years we've learned to appreciate both the differences and similarities in our upbringing.  

during our early years of marriage, we disagreed about many things.  there were times when we went for days without speaking to one another.  as time passed, we realized that our love for one another was stronger than the need for each of us to be in control.  we found ways to compromise and learned to put our selfish desires aside in favor of understanding one another's needs.  we came to view ourselves as equal partners, neither believing that one had to control the other.  

my wife made many sacrifices so that i could pursue my career.  when we concluded together that i needed to pursue a master's degree, followed by a doctorate, she gave up her job and moved with me so that i could enter a doctoral program in another state.  we sold our home and lived in a typical married students' apartment while i completed by year of residency.  by the time i completed my course work, the job market had dried up, and we were forced to take whatever jobs we could find.  we worked together to make ends meet and provide for ourselves and our young daughter until i finally landed a good teaching job, forcing us to move yet again.  through it all, my wife supported my endeavors and worked with me as our standard of living gradually improved.

our son came along, and we enjoyed our nice middle-class lives in jobs we both found rewarding.  unexpectedly, the administration of my school district changed, and the new superintendent was less supportive of the fine arts program in which i worked than our previous leader had been.  suddenly, i found myself out of a job, and we were forced to move once more so i could continue my teaching career.  my wife never complained.  she gave up her job and took another job which she hated.  yet, she gritted her teeth and made our lives together work while she pursued a masters degree and found another job that was more satisfying.

as we continued our lives, our financial situation improved.  we were able to pay for both our children to complete their bachelor's degrees and to build up reserves to support us in our retirement years.  through it all, we drew closer to one another, realizing that we were not only spouses but best friends.  we suffered through the deaths of our parents, seeing in those losses the need for us to relish each moment that remained to us.  in our twilight years, we find that we enjoy being together now more than ever.  my wife encourages me to pursue activities that i enjoy, even when those activities don't interest her, just as i encourage her in her active social life.  our mutual interests--travel, dining out, spending time with other couples who are our friends, watching movies--are rewarding and draw us closer together with each passing day.  neither of us can imagine life without the other, even while we recognize that some day that may become a reality.

i am grateful that we've had a long and happy life together.  i am grateful for my wife's consistent encouragement of and support for me no matter the circumstances.  i am grateful for the two wonderful children we've raised.  i am grateful that we've learned to work together and that each of us loves the other as we love ourselves.

may we all find such happiness in our relationships.  may we recognize the benefits of loving long and deeply.  may we let go of the selfish need to control and think instead of the needs of others.  may we relish the days we have, knowing how precious each of them is.  shalom.

Love Incarnate

we have known and believe the love that God has for us.  God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them. . . the commandment we have from him is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also.  1 john 4: 16, 21

a few weeks ago, my wife and i met some relatives in northern kentucky to tour the ark encounter.  as we approached the ark, we were amazed by its enormity.  it is, according to the official brochure, the largest freestanding timber frame structure in the world.  during our tour of the various levels of displays, i began to wonder what important lessons could be learned from the story of noah and the ark.  one is that God can use flawed people like noah to accomplish great things.  another is that it is our responsibility to see that God's work of creation is preserved, rather than exploiting it for our own wealth and comfort.

as christmas approaches, i think about the messages contained in the christmas stories in matthew's and luke's gospels.  like the residents of bethlehem that mary and joseph encountered, do we turn a blind eye to the countless homeless around us?  should we be proclaiming God's message of peace and good will to a warring, intolerant world just as the heavenly host proclaimed that message to the poorest of the poor, the "shepherds abiding in the field keeping watch over their flock by night?"  we watch as millions are forced to flee their homes to live in strange lands and are reminded of the flight of joseph, mary, and the infant jesus to egypt to escape a tyrant in their own homeland.

each christmas we are called to remember that the birth of a child to a young woman accompanied by an impoverished carpenter in a manger in a small village in an obscure backwater of the vast roman empire was the turning point of history.  the message of christmas didn't occur in the roman seat of power.  the proclamation of peace and good will didn't come to the wealthy living in opulence.  God uses the humblest of vessels to contain the most profound truths, and christmas calls on us to examine the seemingly unimportant to discover what God may have in store for us, calling on us to remember that, as christina rosetti wrote in 1865, love came down at christmas,/love all lovely, love divine;/love was born at christmas;/star and angels gave the sign.  love shall be our token;/love be yours and love be mine;/love to God and others,/love for plea and gift and sign.  shalom.