November 11, 2016
Ok. I have given myself a couple of days to feel my emotions. (Numbness, anger, grief, dread, devastation) It is time to move forward. So let me share this. I have taken action this morning by contributing to two political movements and setting these contributions to be made monthly. These are Bernie's "Our Revolution" and "Brand New Congress". Today, I pinned a safety pin onto my shirt and my sweater to signify that I support all people, immigrants from everywhere. I read an article saying that a lot of Brits began to wear safety pins for that purpose after the "Brexit" vote. I plan to wear a safety pin every day until I am sure all Americans can live and move freely in this country and hopefully, globally as well. I sincerely hope I see this in my life time.
So can we find a silver lining in this shocking election of DT for President? And if so, where is it?
I offer some that I am beginning to consider.
1) As I expressed in my last post, I have been emboldened to come out and express more fluently and with far less concern about who I might offend or hurt in the process. And thus I find myself actually writing and finding comfort and even enjoyment in doing this. I have Donald Trump to thank.
2) I am examining my activities with a finer eye for purpose. What is worthy of my time and what is not? I will drop clubs and time consuming activities that drain my energy and keep only those that empower the things I value. Thank you, DT.
3) This nation's two dominant political parties have been up-ended. Thank you DT. And well they needed to be, because both were in the pockets of big donors and lobbyists. As a result our nation has become mostly an economic oligarchy (a small group of people having control of a country). While we progressed socially, we lost ground economically. And by the way, I suspect the 1% oligarchy was sort of using the social gains as a way to appease us economically. As in, maybe the people won't notice if we give them a few concessions. But now we
have noticed and now we
must be vigilant to protect our social gains until we can gather strength to heal ourselves economically. Now there must arise either a new party or a transformed Democratic Party that will assist us to make up that ground and create a new middle class somewhat resembling the almost exclusively white middle class 50 to 60 years ago, this time including everyone. I liked growing up in middle class white America until I began to realize how others were being treated under the arrangement. We must respect and champion all peoples, not only socially, but also economically.
4) Progressive and inclusive voices are emboldened and energized. It is hard to say thank you to DT, but perhaps we should. Would these voices have risen against bad decisions Hillary may have made? The answer is yes, but not as strongly. Progressive voices did express themselves against Obama's bad decisions but the voices were fewer and weaker, and people like me did not join for two reasons.
Number one I was comfortable, and number two, I really love Obama, his graciousness and charm.
But now, under Trump, all that has fallen away and I can write and speak and just be a "nasty woman" when I feel it is necessary. Thanks to DT for that term and Elizabeth Warren for transforming the derision into an empowering idea.
So now, I speak as "nasty woman". I will say something about the contented bed-fellows of white fundamental religion, politics, and the oligarchy that has taken our nation hostage. Salvation, I was told while growing up, was for those who followed a certain magical doctrine. We sang the lovely song about how Jesus loves all the children of every color, while we condoned the world we enjoyed that had very little space for including millions of people whose skin color was not white. And the root of the motivation that kept it that way was undoubtedly economical. The haves really come to be vested in keeping a status quo, even at the expense of millions people. And this status quo slowly becomes entrenched in politics, education, and religion. It all seemed normal. As these norms began to shift in the late sixties and early seventies, a backlash began to form which started to fester as many of the so-called hippies grew older and slowly became vested in the system they had righteously attacked earlier. Some of these then became part of the oligarchy and began to manipulate things to keep the social order that had rewarded them economically. Now the strategies of change were turned in upon themselves. So was it the members of the oligarchy who deliberately promoted religion in politics? Did they use the inherent insecurity of naive religious followers who were taught they were "sinners" in need of salvation by a nonsensical and brutal death which supposedly bought salvation? Guilt can be a powerful and pseudo-righteous tool used for manipulation. Did political machinery of the oligarchy "buy" political capital from these religious people by focusing all their rhetoric on legislating morals, while at the same time stripping these people of hard-earned resources? Did they even finanacially support and empower indoctrinated young Christians to rise up in political power, materially rewarding and using them for an apparent moral agenda that was really more to buy the votes of the misguided fundamental right? I believe this is the case.
There are two ideas about Christ. One is the Christ of the fundamental church, the idea that was taught to me from an early age. This Christ was the one and only historical Jesus of Nazareth. The other idea is that Jesus embodied the "Eternal Christ" that lives in all things and in an especially conscious way via human freewill. A picture comes to mind of Jesus turning over the tables of the "money-changers" in the temple. That is presented as a historical event involving the historical person of Jesus responding to the "Christedness" living in his divine consciousness. Is it now time for the Universal "Christedness" living in us to turn over the tables of economic servitude foisted on the people by the interests of an elite oligarchy? Ground work has been laid in the "Occupy Wall Street" and "Black Lives Matter" movement as well as with Bernie's "Our Revolution" and "Brand New Congress". And let me not leave out the bravery of our American Indian siblings at Standing Rock. I feel compelled to do whatever I can to support this cause at this critical time. So much is at stake: Global warming, our National Parks, marriage and equality rights, health care, affordable higher education, to name a few.
If you doubt the gravity of our political situation now, I would ask that you take time to read about the experiences of Wangari Maathai, a Kenyan environmental activist whose mission was to plant trees all over her country and who was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize in 2004. The book is
Unbowed: A Memoir by Wangari Maathai. We have some time to prepare and strengthen ourselves before DT takes his place in the Oval Office. I find myself compelled to read, write, reflect, meditate, embrace peace, and consciously think joyful thoughts. Perhaps this is a blessed gathering time for us to fortify ourselves. We can also pray and hope that Mr. Trump might do the same.
One last thing: I give you James Twyman's thought about the US presidential election. I hope he does not mind me sharing part of the e-mail he sent out to his list. "Why am I so happy about the US presidential election? Don't get me wrong. . .this is not the outcome I was hoping for. But that's not the point, is it? My happiness does not depend on anything happening
out there but rather, within my own heart. That's where the miracle unfolds, and if we're willing to accept everything, no matter how far it is from what we wanted to happen, then happiness becomes a constant state.
I AM Happy NO MATTER WHAT."
I, too, choose happiness consciously and actively. Let us love and be active in that Holy Spirit!
