i love to watch british detective shows. i remember growing up with several american detective series on television, shows like mike hammer, peter gunn, seventy-seven sunset strip, dragnet, and columbo. as a pre-teen, i read every hardy boys book i could lay my hands on. when i was older in my teens, and later as an adult, i devoured sherlock holmes stories. there don't seem to be any great american detective shows on tv any more, except the law and order offshoots. there are a couple of pretty good police series, but the british seem to have a corner on the market for quality detective shows. i could sit and watch midsommer murders, the oxford-based police collection that follows inspector morse and his successor inspector lewis, grantchester, vera, and shetland for hours. it's not so much the ingenuity of the plots, though those are always good, as the interesting leading characters that have me hooked. they are real human beings with quirks and faults, often living messy lives that are sometimes uncomfortably close to home.
i'm particularly fond of sidney, the detective-priest in grantchester. i feel for him as he tries to interpret his role as a clergyman in a time of changing social mores in the period following the second world war. his assistant, leonard, is a gay man who is under pressure from his superiors to marry and avoid the stigma of being homosexual in an era where being gay is considered not only immoral but illegal. sidney is in love with a friend of his sister who has been forced into an unhappy marriage by her father. after leaving her husband with their small child, she moves to grantchester, and sidney struggles with his love for her and hers for him when divorce is not permitted by the church of england. they both know that he would have to give up his vocation in order for them to be together, and, at the point in the series where i now am in my viewing, their love relationship is an on-again-off-again affair. sidney's partner in crime-solving, police inspector geordie, is having an affair with a woman who works in his police station, while his wife stays home raising their family. trying to maintain their friendship while prodding geordie to end his dalliance with his co-worker, sidney is having difficulty figuring out how to counsel his friend without coming across as a judgmental member of the clergy.
by now, i've become so involved with the lives of these characters that the mystery-solving aspect of the show has become secondary for me. while i can't condone geordie's behavior, i feel for him as he tries to sort out his feelings. he finds that he loves both women and can't bring himself to break off the affair with the younger woman or to admit to his wife that he is being unfaithful. my heart aches for sidney and the woman he loves, knowing that to give their feelings for one another full expression would end his career in a vocation that he enjoys and is good at. i watch with sympathy as sidney's assistant tries to deal with his homosexuality in a small rural parish where his every action is under scrutiny, as sidney counsels him with a sensitivity that is lacking in most of the others in their society.
life can be so messy, and i am grateful that there are some television shows and writers on whose stories these shows are based that remind us that there are real people out in the world struggling with difficulties that are hard for many of us to understand. it's easy to condemn the geordies of this world for having affairs outside their marriages that end up hurting all those around them, but these geordies are human beings with complicated emotions that it's hard to fathom from the outside looking in. it's easy to say that leonard should be true to himself and live life as a gay man but there are so many leonards who feel trapped in roles that don't allow them to express their homosexuality openly because doing so would cause great hurt to their families and careers. it's easy to say that sidney should abandon his position as a member of the anglican clergy to be with the woman he loves, but there are many sidneys who love their vocations as much as they love another person and who cannot figure out which is the more important love for themselves or how to reconcile the two.
may we accept the messiness of life and love the human beings who cause that messiness. may we not be so quick to judge and condemn. may we learn to deal with the suffering that is a part of life as we stumble down the path. may a deep sense of lovingkindness, compassion, and respect for the difficulties that others experience fill us, and may we extend the same to ourselves. shalom.
Tuesday, October 29, 2019
Tuesday, October 22, 2019
A Thorougfare of Freedom
we've returned from our travels. as usual, we have been reminded that wherever we go people are very much the same. they may speak with different accents, may live in homes that are of a different type of construction, and may have mannerisms and expressions that are unfamiliar to us, but they have they same struggles to make sense of life, want the same things for themselves and their loved ones, have the same needs, and are in the most essential ways just like us. we saw only one genuinely angry person, a man who was filled with rage about what he seemed to believe was the desire of too many motorists on the four-lane highway to impede his progress, and he ranted about the stupidity of the drivers who surrounded him to everyone who would listen at the service station where we had stopped for gas. as soon as we could fill our tank, we left, hoping that we would not encounter this driver on the highway.
what i want to write about today, though, is not our experiences with people we encountered on our travels or the beauty of nature that we witnessed. instead, i write about a short trip i took with several family members to a nearby amusement park. one of those relatives was our great-nephew, a sweet young man of about 13 who attends a "christian" school. he sat between my wife and me in the middle row of seats in the van in which we rode, and we engaged him in conversation about school and his plans for the day at the park. he is a witty kid, with an off-kilter sense of humor, and a delight to be around. we were disturbed, though, when he began to talk disparagingly about public schools and those who attended them. we knew that he was repeating what he had been told at home and at his christian school. he told us how awful the public schools in the small community in which he lives were, though he had never set foot in one of them. he told us how dumb the students that attended those schools were, because students who transferred into his school from them were ignorant of many of the things that he was being taught. one such student, he went on, couldn't even tell time using an analog clock because public schools didn't bother to teach that skill.
as my wife and i talked later, we lamented the narrowness of his education and upbringing. he will most likely go through life believing that those outside his circle of evangelical christians are inferior to him and his kind. he will look on these "outsiders" with pity and condescension. he and his siblings will have only limited contact with people of other cultures and will experience little to none of the diversity that is our country at large. it will be easy for him to accept the philosophy of the make-america-great-again crowd and hope for a return to a u.s.a. that never existed where everyone was the same skin color and was a born-again christian. this gentle child won't hate those who are different from him, he'll simply pretend that they are not there, since he'll seldom see them in his closed world.
his mother has the same sweet disposition, loves her family and provides a secure environment for them in their home, while her husband goes out and earns a good living for them all. she listens primarily to "christian" music and watches "christian" movies and television. she delights in "christian" comediennes. even her ringtone is "christian." her oldest son attends a "christian" university, where, after twelve years in a "christian" school, he will be surround by students and teachers who are just like him. as he and his siblings marry and raise families of their own, they will probably perpetuate the myth of a "christian" america founded by devout founders that never existed except in the minds of people who think like them. maybe some glimpse of the outside world will break in and awaken one or more of them to what life is like outside their "christian" bubble, as it has with other children raised in this environment. one hopes that will be the case.
i want to dislike these evangelicals but they are kind, generous people. their hearts are not filled with hatred. they are not angry like the man we tried to keep away from on our trip. they don't want children who cross our borders to be kept in cages. they tolerate trump and trumpism because they believe it is better than the "socialist" alternative, but they don't wholeheartedly embrace it. they are just people like me, but they've closed their minds to the wider culture that surrounds them, isolating themselves from it by worshiping with, doing business with, attending school and cultural events with, and as much as possible only associating with people who look and think like them. in their view, they are the "real" america; the rest of us are an aberration. if we are white like them but not evangelical christians, we have been led astray by left-wing politicians and the media. if we are non-whites, we are not part of true american culture, unless we've separated ourselves from our ethnic identities and become like them except for the color of our skin.
their lifestlye and philosophy frighten me. polls tell us that their numbers are diminishing but for now their politics is ascendant. i fear that it is from their ranks that radical right-wing terrorists will emerge, as this us-against-them way of viewing society becomes more threatened. i worry that it will be too easy to go from tolerating the broader culture while maintaining their isolationism to attacking those they now disdain and pity, fearing that the rest of us are a threat to their way of life. they are part of the "they're coming to take our guns" movement, the "they're going to send christians to concentration camps" movement, the "it's ok to say merry christmas again" movement. theirs is a way of viewing themselves as victims who are being forced to live with same-sex marriage, women's rights, and a diverse society that the see as violating their religious freedom to discriminate against and control these "others" that are not true u.s. citizens like them.
may we never give in to this way of thinking. may we learn to love those who think in this way without endorsing their ideas. may we promote the multiculturalism and diversity that is america, the america that the declaration of independence envisions. may all of us, whether we live in this country or elsewhere, see the basic sameness of us all and have compassion for one another as we struggle together along the path. shalom.
what i want to write about today, though, is not our experiences with people we encountered on our travels or the beauty of nature that we witnessed. instead, i write about a short trip i took with several family members to a nearby amusement park. one of those relatives was our great-nephew, a sweet young man of about 13 who attends a "christian" school. he sat between my wife and me in the middle row of seats in the van in which we rode, and we engaged him in conversation about school and his plans for the day at the park. he is a witty kid, with an off-kilter sense of humor, and a delight to be around. we were disturbed, though, when he began to talk disparagingly about public schools and those who attended them. we knew that he was repeating what he had been told at home and at his christian school. he told us how awful the public schools in the small community in which he lives were, though he had never set foot in one of them. he told us how dumb the students that attended those schools were, because students who transferred into his school from them were ignorant of many of the things that he was being taught. one such student, he went on, couldn't even tell time using an analog clock because public schools didn't bother to teach that skill.
as my wife and i talked later, we lamented the narrowness of his education and upbringing. he will most likely go through life believing that those outside his circle of evangelical christians are inferior to him and his kind. he will look on these "outsiders" with pity and condescension. he and his siblings will have only limited contact with people of other cultures and will experience little to none of the diversity that is our country at large. it will be easy for him to accept the philosophy of the make-america-great-again crowd and hope for a return to a u.s.a. that never existed where everyone was the same skin color and was a born-again christian. this gentle child won't hate those who are different from him, he'll simply pretend that they are not there, since he'll seldom see them in his closed world.
his mother has the same sweet disposition, loves her family and provides a secure environment for them in their home, while her husband goes out and earns a good living for them all. she listens primarily to "christian" music and watches "christian" movies and television. she delights in "christian" comediennes. even her ringtone is "christian." her oldest son attends a "christian" university, where, after twelve years in a "christian" school, he will be surround by students and teachers who are just like him. as he and his siblings marry and raise families of their own, they will probably perpetuate the myth of a "christian" america founded by devout founders that never existed except in the minds of people who think like them. maybe some glimpse of the outside world will break in and awaken one or more of them to what life is like outside their "christian" bubble, as it has with other children raised in this environment. one hopes that will be the case.
i want to dislike these evangelicals but they are kind, generous people. their hearts are not filled with hatred. they are not angry like the man we tried to keep away from on our trip. they don't want children who cross our borders to be kept in cages. they tolerate trump and trumpism because they believe it is better than the "socialist" alternative, but they don't wholeheartedly embrace it. they are just people like me, but they've closed their minds to the wider culture that surrounds them, isolating themselves from it by worshiping with, doing business with, attending school and cultural events with, and as much as possible only associating with people who look and think like them. in their view, they are the "real" america; the rest of us are an aberration. if we are white like them but not evangelical christians, we have been led astray by left-wing politicians and the media. if we are non-whites, we are not part of true american culture, unless we've separated ourselves from our ethnic identities and become like them except for the color of our skin.
their lifestlye and philosophy frighten me. polls tell us that their numbers are diminishing but for now their politics is ascendant. i fear that it is from their ranks that radical right-wing terrorists will emerge, as this us-against-them way of viewing society becomes more threatened. i worry that it will be too easy to go from tolerating the broader culture while maintaining their isolationism to attacking those they now disdain and pity, fearing that the rest of us are a threat to their way of life. they are part of the "they're coming to take our guns" movement, the "they're going to send christians to concentration camps" movement, the "it's ok to say merry christmas again" movement. theirs is a way of viewing themselves as victims who are being forced to live with same-sex marriage, women's rights, and a diverse society that the see as violating their religious freedom to discriminate against and control these "others" that are not true u.s. citizens like them.
may we never give in to this way of thinking. may we learn to love those who think in this way without endorsing their ideas. may we promote the multiculturalism and diversity that is america, the america that the declaration of independence envisions. may all of us, whether we live in this country or elsewhere, see the basic sameness of us all and have compassion for one another as we struggle together along the path. shalom.
Tuesday, October 8, 2019
Stopping By Woods
my wife and i are traveling in new england for the next couple of weeks, so my posts will not return until the middle of october. may all be well, may all be happy, may all be at peace. shalom.
Monday, September 30, 2019
Don't Go Changing
it is a natural human inclination, i suppose, for each of us to want others to conform to our expectations of them. we want to remake others into what we desire them to be. if someone close to us keeps things to themselves, we may wish that person would be more open and willing to share with us. acquaintances may be abrupt and surly, and we want to change them so that they are more pleasant. a friend is easily angered or offended, unable to disagree without being disagreeable, so we fume about his propensity to take umbrage at every little thing.
as we go through life wishing that others were what we want them to be, we make ourselves miserable. it is too easy to find fault in others while overlooking those in ourselves. as jesus said in matthew 7, "why do you see the speck in your neighbor’s eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye?" all of us has our own quirks and foibles. none of us is perfect in the eyes of another. we all stumble and make mistakes. why is it that we have so much difficulty loving another despite those traits that irritate or trouble us? those things that we perceive as character flaws are a part of who that other person is, and we would be so much happier if we could accept what we perceive to be the bad along with the good.
i have a friend who constantly complains about her spouse. everything she says about him is right. he is thoughtless much of the time. he does spend too much time on facebook. he is content to sit while she does most of the work to keep the household running. he does become angry too easily. but he has many admirable qualities as well. he can be generous. he has a great sense of humor. he is a wonderful musician. he is a loyal friend and husband. rather than work together to find common ground, both my friend and her husband pick at and find fault with one another, and the end result is that they are often miserable. i watch their misery and feel compassion for them. truth be told, i want to remake them into the people i want them to be so they would be happier with one another. i can't and shouldn't be able to do that. my task is to love them despite the faults that are so readily apparent and to accept them just as they are, with the hope that they can accept and love me just as i am.
may we see others as complete human beings, not as the sum of their faults. may we love in spite of, and sometimes because of, the unloveliness. may our compassion extend to everyone, including ourselves. may we see that we are all the same, with plenty of good and bad qualities to go around. shalom.
as we go through life wishing that others were what we want them to be, we make ourselves miserable. it is too easy to find fault in others while overlooking those in ourselves. as jesus said in matthew 7, "why do you see the speck in your neighbor’s eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye?" all of us has our own quirks and foibles. none of us is perfect in the eyes of another. we all stumble and make mistakes. why is it that we have so much difficulty loving another despite those traits that irritate or trouble us? those things that we perceive as character flaws are a part of who that other person is, and we would be so much happier if we could accept what we perceive to be the bad along with the good.
i have a friend who constantly complains about her spouse. everything she says about him is right. he is thoughtless much of the time. he does spend too much time on facebook. he is content to sit while she does most of the work to keep the household running. he does become angry too easily. but he has many admirable qualities as well. he can be generous. he has a great sense of humor. he is a wonderful musician. he is a loyal friend and husband. rather than work together to find common ground, both my friend and her husband pick at and find fault with one another, and the end result is that they are often miserable. i watch their misery and feel compassion for them. truth be told, i want to remake them into the people i want them to be so they would be happier with one another. i can't and shouldn't be able to do that. my task is to love them despite the faults that are so readily apparent and to accept them just as they are, with the hope that they can accept and love me just as i am.
may we see others as complete human beings, not as the sum of their faults. may we love in spite of, and sometimes because of, the unloveliness. may our compassion extend to everyone, including ourselves. may we see that we are all the same, with plenty of good and bad qualities to go around. shalom.
Tuesday, September 24, 2019
Gladly I Follow
in the christian religion, and i suppose in most if not all other religions, we use some language that is archaic and has little meaning in the modern world. indeed, some of it has negative connotations that were not part of the original sense of the words. some of this arises from our lack of terms for referring to God, this nameless deity. the ancients considered the name of God to be so holy that it was unutterable. we continue this practice today, so we must capitalize the word that refers to this supreme being in order to distinguish that God from other gods that we regard as fictitious.
we use the word "lord" to talk to or about the "real" God or to talk about jesus. what does "lord" mean? there is that use of the word in the reference to a nobleman, an honorific that is meaningless in much of the world. in our religious usage, we are talking about one who is our master, one who rules over us, but in our practice of the ideals arising from belief in equality of all persons, it is unnatural to refer to God or jesus as our lord. when we do so, we are reverting to an old structure based on feudal understandings of the various ranks and worth of human beings, a caste system that is foreign to democratic ideology.
we speak of the "kingdom of God." again we are going back to that hierarchy that places one person as the supreme head of state with absolute power over all others. such terminology would have had great meaning in a world ruled over by a caesar or a king of an ancient empire but for our minds a "kingdom" is anathema. if the "kingdom of God is at hand," then we have surrendered our right to think, to reason, to make our own decisions. we are regarding jesus as our "lord," our "master," with God as the ruler who takes over our lives, leaving us powerless.
this language and the beliefs flowing from it are, i think, a stumbling block to practicing the christian religion in a modern, democratic world. rather than a feudal worldview, we need religious language that sees jesus as our leader rather than our lord and that empowers us to think for ourselves. we need language that imparts a sense of a God who is the embodiment of love, rather than a dictatorial and sometimes capricious ruler who is the pattern for earthly tyrants. we christians are disciples of jesus, not his slaves. we learn from jesus, we don't pledge him our fealty. perhaps we should simply give God the name Love and realize that each time we commit an act of lovingkindness we are worshiping that source of love.
may we not become stuck in a mindset that is out of place in today's world. may we realize that language is important and that, when words cease to serve our needs, we should search for better words to use. may our worship be true worship rather than something based on a pattern that we have come to view as not just antiquated but immoral. if we are christians, may our aim be to follow jesus and to be expressions of a divine Love. shalom.
we use the word "lord" to talk to or about the "real" God or to talk about jesus. what does "lord" mean? there is that use of the word in the reference to a nobleman, an honorific that is meaningless in much of the world. in our religious usage, we are talking about one who is our master, one who rules over us, but in our practice of the ideals arising from belief in equality of all persons, it is unnatural to refer to God or jesus as our lord. when we do so, we are reverting to an old structure based on feudal understandings of the various ranks and worth of human beings, a caste system that is foreign to democratic ideology.
we speak of the "kingdom of God." again we are going back to that hierarchy that places one person as the supreme head of state with absolute power over all others. such terminology would have had great meaning in a world ruled over by a caesar or a king of an ancient empire but for our minds a "kingdom" is anathema. if the "kingdom of God is at hand," then we have surrendered our right to think, to reason, to make our own decisions. we are regarding jesus as our "lord," our "master," with God as the ruler who takes over our lives, leaving us powerless.
this language and the beliefs flowing from it are, i think, a stumbling block to practicing the christian religion in a modern, democratic world. rather than a feudal worldview, we need religious language that sees jesus as our leader rather than our lord and that empowers us to think for ourselves. we need language that imparts a sense of a God who is the embodiment of love, rather than a dictatorial and sometimes capricious ruler who is the pattern for earthly tyrants. we christians are disciples of jesus, not his slaves. we learn from jesus, we don't pledge him our fealty. perhaps we should simply give God the name Love and realize that each time we commit an act of lovingkindness we are worshiping that source of love.
may we not become stuck in a mindset that is out of place in today's world. may we realize that language is important and that, when words cease to serve our needs, we should search for better words to use. may our worship be true worship rather than something based on a pattern that we have come to view as not just antiquated but immoral. if we are christians, may our aim be to follow jesus and to be expressions of a divine Love. shalom.
Tuesday, September 17, 2019
Till All Our Strivings Cease
my wife and i have been watching the first season of the british detective show, unforgotten, in which the police are trying to discover the person who murdered a black teenager in the 1970s. the young man's body has been discovered buried in the basement of an old building some forty years later. in the process of the investigation, we are introduced to a number of people who are linked to the building and the neighborhood surrounding it. as the series continues we learn how their actions four decades earlier have affected their lives and the lives of their families. we meet an anglican priest who had a brief affair with a teenage girl shortly after his marriage to his current wife, a woman who was involved with a racist organization that made the lives of many non-white londoners miserable and who has spent the rest of her life trying to atone for her actions as a young woman while covering up her past life, an elderly wheelchair-bound man whose wife suffers from dementia but believes that her husband was responsible for some terrible crime years ago, the mother of the murdered young man who has grieved for him since he left home to escape an abusive father and who suddenly stopped communicating with her for reasons unknown to her, a woman who was the girlfriend of the murdered man, and a prominent businessman being considered for an important political appointment who has tried to cover up a career as a member of an organized crime family in his early adult life.
many of these characters try to deny their past lives, excusing the ways they've harmed others as past history that is now irrelevant. others feel great remorse and beg the forgiveness of those who love them who are seeing their lives destroyed by the ongoing investigation. the mother of the murdered boy feels a sense of closure as she learns of his death, visits the site of his burial, and follows the investigation that will ultimately lead to her son's killer and the reasons for his murder. as i've watched, i've thought about how i, like everyone else i suppose, have done things in my past that i'd just as soon forget and that i hope others don't find out about. these youthful indiscretions may have had profound effects on others that i know nothing about, just as the actions of the characters in this show have done. i can't help but wonder if any of my earlier regrettable actions may come back to bite me at some point. i hope that nothing i've done has caused anyone else great suffering or put someone on a destructive path.
i think about how our attitudes toward the role authority figures play in the lives of those over whom they have authority, especially over children. when i was growing up, it wasn't unusual for male high school teachers to date and sometimes marry their female students. somehow to us teenagers it seemed romantic that one of our classmates would fall in love with and marry a teacher that we looked up to. today such a relationship is not just inappropriate but illegal. as we've become more sensitive to the rights of women, we've seen how wrong the patriarchal attitudes of men towards women are, but not so many years ago actions that we would now call sexual harassment were viewed as matters of course in the natural relationship between men and women. standards of conduct have changed for the better but it seems wrong to use today's standards to condemn past actions and to belittle others for what was, at the time, acceptable behavior. that is not to say that crimes should be swept under the carpet and ignored. sexual abuse ought to be prosecuted regardless of how many years have passed between the time of its occurrence and its discovery by the legal authorities.
what i'm trying to say is that i wish i had realized years ago how my actions may have affected others, not that i was ever guilty of abuse or anything illegal. i certainly did things that caused hurt to others and failed to understand that as someone who was looked up to by young people i should have been more mindful of how my actions might influence them. my thoughtless use of tobacco as a young teacher, for instance, may have led some of my young charges to take up the habit and become addicted. my taking advantage of my authority to snap at a student for some violation of the rules or for making a mistake caused hurt and may have inspired cruelty in impressionable minds. my use of coarse language and innuendo when among young male students may have caused them to think that such behavior is acceptable for young men, as indeed it was many years ago, though it certainly wasn't right--something that i knew and should have acted on.
cruelty and thoughtlessness are never justifiable. what we do has an impact on those around us and may start a series of ripples that can touch lives that we never dreamed would be affected. i can't change past actions, nor can i live my life dwelling on them. i can remember and try to live with greater lovingkindness and mindfulness. i can, as the formerly racist woman in the detective series did, try to make amends by the way in which i conduct myself in the present. we can all try to forgive ourselves and reach out to those who we know may have been hurt by what we did in the past.
may we not dwell on past mistakes but learn from them. may we take responsibility for the harm we've done. may we live in each present moment with the knowledge that it will never come again, filling our hearts with love and showing that love towards all those whose lives we touch. may we be ready to forgive ourselves and those who injure us. may we be grateful for the opportunities life gives us and for the lessons it teaches us. shalom.
many of these characters try to deny their past lives, excusing the ways they've harmed others as past history that is now irrelevant. others feel great remorse and beg the forgiveness of those who love them who are seeing their lives destroyed by the ongoing investigation. the mother of the murdered boy feels a sense of closure as she learns of his death, visits the site of his burial, and follows the investigation that will ultimately lead to her son's killer and the reasons for his murder. as i've watched, i've thought about how i, like everyone else i suppose, have done things in my past that i'd just as soon forget and that i hope others don't find out about. these youthful indiscretions may have had profound effects on others that i know nothing about, just as the actions of the characters in this show have done. i can't help but wonder if any of my earlier regrettable actions may come back to bite me at some point. i hope that nothing i've done has caused anyone else great suffering or put someone on a destructive path.
i think about how our attitudes toward the role authority figures play in the lives of those over whom they have authority, especially over children. when i was growing up, it wasn't unusual for male high school teachers to date and sometimes marry their female students. somehow to us teenagers it seemed romantic that one of our classmates would fall in love with and marry a teacher that we looked up to. today such a relationship is not just inappropriate but illegal. as we've become more sensitive to the rights of women, we've seen how wrong the patriarchal attitudes of men towards women are, but not so many years ago actions that we would now call sexual harassment were viewed as matters of course in the natural relationship between men and women. standards of conduct have changed for the better but it seems wrong to use today's standards to condemn past actions and to belittle others for what was, at the time, acceptable behavior. that is not to say that crimes should be swept under the carpet and ignored. sexual abuse ought to be prosecuted regardless of how many years have passed between the time of its occurrence and its discovery by the legal authorities.
what i'm trying to say is that i wish i had realized years ago how my actions may have affected others, not that i was ever guilty of abuse or anything illegal. i certainly did things that caused hurt to others and failed to understand that as someone who was looked up to by young people i should have been more mindful of how my actions might influence them. my thoughtless use of tobacco as a young teacher, for instance, may have led some of my young charges to take up the habit and become addicted. my taking advantage of my authority to snap at a student for some violation of the rules or for making a mistake caused hurt and may have inspired cruelty in impressionable minds. my use of coarse language and innuendo when among young male students may have caused them to think that such behavior is acceptable for young men, as indeed it was many years ago, though it certainly wasn't right--something that i knew and should have acted on.
cruelty and thoughtlessness are never justifiable. what we do has an impact on those around us and may start a series of ripples that can touch lives that we never dreamed would be affected. i can't change past actions, nor can i live my life dwelling on them. i can remember and try to live with greater lovingkindness and mindfulness. i can, as the formerly racist woman in the detective series did, try to make amends by the way in which i conduct myself in the present. we can all try to forgive ourselves and reach out to those who we know may have been hurt by what we did in the past.
may we not dwell on past mistakes but learn from them. may we take responsibility for the harm we've done. may we live in each present moment with the knowledge that it will never come again, filling our hearts with love and showing that love towards all those whose lives we touch. may we be ready to forgive ourselves and those who injure us. may we be grateful for the opportunities life gives us and for the lessons it teaches us. shalom.
Tuesday, September 10, 2019
Come to Me, O Weary Traveler
i wonder what people in other countries think of the usa. when i read or watch the news, i am ashamed of my country. i think about the hope that i had as i watched the power of the ussr unravel, first in eastern europe and then within its own borders. as communist dictatorships were overthrown and democratic governments were established, it seemed as if the power that was unleashed by the american revolution had come to full flower. then there was the "arab spring" when it appeared that there was hope that all of the middle east would join the progressive wave that had earlier engulfed europe.
as i look back on that earlier promise, it seems impossible that now so much has changed. hungary has turned into a neo-fascist state. xenophobia flourishes in italy. ultra-nationalism is rife in the united kingdom. trumpism rules in the usa. i want to be able to tell the world that all of us in this country are not like trump and his supporters. my small voice is one of many here that decries everything trump stands for.
we watch in horror as the most desperate who are fleeing violence and poverty are thrown into virtual prisons where conditions approach those of concentration camps, where medical help is denied and children are ripped from the arms of their parents, where inedible and unhealthy food is provided, where private companies who operate these facilities make profit off the misery of others at the expense of the taxpayers. how can we tolerate these deplorable conditions that those who have suffered so much are forced to live in? we hear the hatred being spewed out at political rallies and the cheerleader-in-chief is our own president, a man who rules despite having lost the popular vote because of a peculiar quirk in our constitution which allows smaller states to have power that belies their population. we recoil at the repeated horrors of mass shootings all over our country while the president and his party refuse to take steps to curb this violence, pointing to our constitution's words that give our citizens "the right to keep and bear arms."
at least in the united kingdom, there are those in the ruling party who refuse to be a part of the prime minister's rush to leave the european union and who denounce the prejudices that propelled the brexit movement into prominence. here in this country, the members of the president's party who have dared defy him are few and far between and, for the most part, those few have been forced to retire from their positions. even the weather reporting in this country has been politicized because those responsible for it dare not contradict the false and outlandish tweets of the president. we stray further and further from our democratic ideals and the president's party abets the dictatorial power grab of trump. we who oppose the current course of the country must hope that the next election will bring an end to this madness and that republican control of the senate and presidency will see its last days.
may we work so that all may live in a world where kindness and love towards one another is the rule, rather than cruelty and hatred. may we build bridges between us, not walls. may we resist the siren call of racial and religious divisions and see that we are all human beings first. may we learn to disagree amicably while condemning in the strongest terms the hatreds which separate us into warring camps. may we provide help and comfort to those who suffer regardless of the color of their skins or the language they speak. shalom.
as i look back on that earlier promise, it seems impossible that now so much has changed. hungary has turned into a neo-fascist state. xenophobia flourishes in italy. ultra-nationalism is rife in the united kingdom. trumpism rules in the usa. i want to be able to tell the world that all of us in this country are not like trump and his supporters. my small voice is one of many here that decries everything trump stands for.
we watch in horror as the most desperate who are fleeing violence and poverty are thrown into virtual prisons where conditions approach those of concentration camps, where medical help is denied and children are ripped from the arms of their parents, where inedible and unhealthy food is provided, where private companies who operate these facilities make profit off the misery of others at the expense of the taxpayers. how can we tolerate these deplorable conditions that those who have suffered so much are forced to live in? we hear the hatred being spewed out at political rallies and the cheerleader-in-chief is our own president, a man who rules despite having lost the popular vote because of a peculiar quirk in our constitution which allows smaller states to have power that belies their population. we recoil at the repeated horrors of mass shootings all over our country while the president and his party refuse to take steps to curb this violence, pointing to our constitution's words that give our citizens "the right to keep and bear arms."
at least in the united kingdom, there are those in the ruling party who refuse to be a part of the prime minister's rush to leave the european union and who denounce the prejudices that propelled the brexit movement into prominence. here in this country, the members of the president's party who have dared defy him are few and far between and, for the most part, those few have been forced to retire from their positions. even the weather reporting in this country has been politicized because those responsible for it dare not contradict the false and outlandish tweets of the president. we stray further and further from our democratic ideals and the president's party abets the dictatorial power grab of trump. we who oppose the current course of the country must hope that the next election will bring an end to this madness and that republican control of the senate and presidency will see its last days.
may we work so that all may live in a world where kindness and love towards one another is the rule, rather than cruelty and hatred. may we build bridges between us, not walls. may we resist the siren call of racial and religious divisions and see that we are all human beings first. may we learn to disagree amicably while condemning in the strongest terms the hatreds which separate us into warring camps. may we provide help and comfort to those who suffer regardless of the color of their skins or the language they speak. shalom.
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