A Salute to the Family Farm

 

If you read this blog regularly, it’s probably already occurred to you that I’m on a bit of a vacation.  Blogs will rather sporadic until September. 

 

But I would like to share the joy of something very simple that occurred today.  It’s been a rather cool summer here in the Seattle area (for those who are now saying, “Well, duh.” a reminder that some who read this blog don’t live in the Seattle area).  It’s taken quite a while, but today I was at last able to harvest a good crop of snow peas and snap peas in my backyard.

 

Peas are my favorite veggie.  This spring I found the sunniest spot in the backyard and created a seven foot long three foot wide planting box.  Along the north side of the box I planted snow peas.  Along the south side I planted the snap peas. 

 

I used organic seeds.  Monsanto had never been near them.  They were not genetically modified and came from plants that had never tasted an unnatural fertilizer.  And, of course, I used only organic fertilizers and no pesticides. 

 

(A quick side-bar.  There are people who eat organic because they believe organic foods are healthier.  They may be.  They may not be.  Though it may be logical to conclude that eating foods that have been genetically altered and that may well have soaked up pesticides may not be the healthiest thing to do, the truth of it is that except for a few specific examples, the science is still out.  I eat organic because organic is earth-friendly.  But that is a whole other blog in waiting.)

 

The joy was planting the seeds.  Dry, little seeds.  And then watching as the first sprouts  pushed up through the ground.  And then more.  And watching them grow.  And then stringing more and more line to provide ladders for the vines to grow and be supported upon.  And watching that, as the pea vines grew, thin little “fingers” shot out, perpendicular to the vine, ready to latch on to whatever support they could find.

 

It was only a few weeks ago that the first flowers at last appeared.  And then baby pods.  And now a lot of those little pods had become bigger pods and ready for harvest. 

 

I’m not a farmer.  I’ll never be one.  I’m a city-guy.  But the joy of watching the miracle of plant-life unfold, the joy of planting the seed, watching the results and then eating pea pods freshly picked, this was truly grounding and uplifting at one and the same moment. 

 

I am unimpressed with “Big Agriculture.”  But in many ways I envy the family farmer, the man or woman who no only owns the farm but is truly a part of the joy of growing. 

 

We are so enamored of “big.”  I am well aware that our culture has made it harder and harder for a family farm to be profitable.  Mega-farms are so much more efficient.  They can make food so much more cheaply.  But I want to hold up the family farmer, the farmer who gets his/her own hands into the soil.  This growing season helped me to re-establish my own roots.  I want to go to “Farmers’ Markets.”  I want to meet the people who grow the food.  I want to tell them how appreciated and wonderful their work is.  And if I have to pay a little more than I would at the local supermarket, so be it.  I want to help keep these people in business.  More than that, I want their business to prosper.  Of course, I’ll be looking for organic.  But happily more and more small farmers are growing that way.

 

Whether you are roasting in the mid-country or east coast, or praying for sun in the Seattle area, I wish you a good and happy summer. 

To Life!

 

My pea-patch is aswarm with vines.  Some of them are nearly six feet high.  And, after this rather cool, damp spring, there are at last some flowers.  There will be peas!  I will confess it here, just between us, fresh peas are my most favorite veggies.  One side of the pea patch has snow peas.  The other side, sugar snap peas.  Both are not only tasty, but are eaten pod and all.  No muss.  No fuss.  No waste.

 

All are (well, you know me) grown from organic seeds.  What does that mean?  It means neither Monsanto nor any of the other Frankenstein wanna be companies have “modified” the seeds.  Some day, we must talk about the ethical challenges involved in developing and patenting a seed.  But today, we’re simply speaking of leaving the earth alone and enjoying real, honest to goodness peas!

 

So the soil too has been organically handled.  No synthetic fertilizers.  And the only “pesticide” used has been an organic “snail bait” that can be used around children, pets and birds, and simply decomposes into the ground.

 

Can’t wait for the first batch of seeds.

 

But what really called to me today were my sunflowers.  Yes, yes, organic all the way as well.  For me, organic is much more about treating mother earth with respect than it is worrying about what I eat.

 

But those sunflowers.  They are about a foot high now.  I had “guarded” them up to now with inverted tomato cones covered with bird netting.  It kept both the birds and the squirrels away.  Sunflower greens are evidently quite tasty, and my first attempt at growing sunflowers fed the local animal population.  But covered by the netting-wrapped tomato cone “teepees,”  four of the six second-round sunflowers made it.  I uncovered them yesterday.

 

Yesterday afternoon I noticed something simple but wonderful.  The sunflowers had all bent to watch the sunset.

 

So this morning I was curious.  Sure enough.  The sunflowers straightened up over the night and were facing east.  As the sun has moved over the sky, the sunflowers have moved with it.  Wow. 

 

So I’ve gone out every couple of hours to see the changes.  It’s approaching noon.  The sun is almost over head, and the sunflowers are nearly straight. 

 

At this point you’re either with me and smiling or wondering what on earth I had to eat last night.  J

 

But life is beautiful.  It is beautiful to watch.  It is beautiful to be a part of. 

 

I remember planting seeds.  I remember the joy of see the little sproutlings pushing their heads above the soil.  Such a struggle! 

 

I’m not saying that sunflowers are more important than children.  They aren’t.  But I am reminded that all life is beautiful.  All life is sacred. 

 

We humans, like it or not, have an intense responsibility.  We have that responsibility because we can affect all other life. 

 

Sometimes it seems too hard even to accept responsibility for other humans, too hard to remember that we are indeed our brothers’ and sisters’ keepers.  But what we do affects ALL life.

 

God-given or not, it is a responsibility we really ought to take seriously.

 

In the meantime, I so love watching those sunflowers!!

Cheap, Whatever the Cost!

                                                                                   

I’ll admit that I already had the proverbial bee in my bonnet.  On Sunday The Herald had a “Comparing the Cost of Groceries” article.  It asked, “Where’s the cheapest place to buy groceries in Snohomish County?”  So why did THAT question set me off?  Here’s why.

 

There are, of course, many reasons that an item may be less expensive.  Sometimes, as example, something hasn’t sold and it’s reaching its “pull date,” so the price is cut to get it off the shelves.  Sometimes an item has been discontinued, and to open up the shelves for the new item, the price of the old one is cut. 

 

But these are not the most common ways of getting the price down.  The most common are: 1) controlling the market in such a way as you can brow-beat the producers of an item into selling it to you for so little they barely make a profit and/or 2) paying your employees less than your competitors and “passing the savings” on to the customer.

 

As a minister, and as a member of the human family, I get pretty worked up over our  current culture of demanding “Cheap - whatever the cost might be to anyone else.”  Our fixation remains on ourselves, and not how our decisions may impact others.

 

I found the comparison of grocery stores lacking because not included in the “comparison” were questions like: what do the stores pay their employees? and how much do the stores contribute to their employees’ health benefits? and has the store upgraded to be a better neighbor (for example, less polluting)?

 

Beyond the stores, there are the products themselves.  One example is chocolate.  Most people are still unaware that roughly half of the chocolate we consume comes from child/ slave labor.  The cheaper the chocolate, the more likely it has come from slave labor.  Every time we buy cheap chocolate we are helping to subsidize slave labor.  So, at what cost “cheap?” 

 

As one who believes strongly that we are our brothers’ and sisters’ keepers, I think that often the price of “cheap” is often just too high.

 

Which leads me to today.  I need a new and accurate thermometer.  I went to one store.  But ALL of their thermometers, expensive and cheap, were made in China.  I do my utmost to avoid items made in China, so I drove to my pharmacy.  But there too ALL of the thermometers were made in China.

 

You might ask yourself, why is it so much cheaper to manufacture something in China and then ship it all the way to the U.S.?  One answer, of course, is labor costs. 

 

In the U.S., we actually have a minimum wage.  We actually demand that workers get what is in the U.S. a livable salary.  And we also demand that factories don’t pollute.

 

I understand that there are those whose answer would be to let our factories pollute, and allow companies to pay their workers substandard, sweat-shop wages.  That is indeed, one way to get things cheap. 

 

But that’s my point.  I believe the price of that kind of cheap is much too high.  I won’t pay it.  It’s a matter of values.

Fair Trade Evangelical

 

This coming Sunday, June 26^th, we celebrate our first year at Living Interfaith.  I rehearsed with the choir last night.  They are going to be great.  And we’ll have a tad more music than usual.  I’m also, of course, starting to ponder what to say during the sermon time – though I have already picked what I think are two powerful responsive readings.  And there’s a beautiful Interfaith reading from the Sufi poet Hafiz that I will share during the shared reading time.

 

There is much to celebrate in this first year, and I may have more about that later in the week.  What was fun today was securing a very special dessert for our potluck after the service.  It’s a chocolate walnut pie.  It’s one of my all time favorite desserts.  It’s made by a wonderful restaurant in Everett called the Sisters.

 

The problem has been that I haven’t been able to eat this favorite ever since I learned about the sordid history of much of our chocolate.  If you are eating chocolate from one of the major chocolate makers, and for sure if the chocolate isn’t expensive, the odds are you are eating chocolate that is the fruit of slave labor, and frequently child slave labor.

 

I’ve been good-naturedly bugging the folks at The Sisters to use fair-traded chocolate.  I finally got the reply, “Well, if you’ll provide the fair-traded chocolate, we’ll make you the pie.”

 

Ok.  I’m up for a challenge.  And a challenge it was.  There’s lots of fair-traded chocolate bars out there now.  But very few bars of unsweetened, fair-traded baking chocolate.  Finally I found some at PCC.  Not cheap!  But I knew it wouldn’t be.

 

Today I took two bars up to The Sisters (along with a short article printed from the web about the slave connection to cheap chocolate).  The sister who bakes the pies (I’m terrible with names!) was busy ordering.  But when she was done we had our chat. 

 

We started out very pleasantly.  But as the conversation got going I told her I was an evangelist.  I could see her eyes widen and her body recoiled.  “Are you a minister?” she asked me.

 

Ah, the bad reputation evangelism has!  I told her yes, I am a minister; but NO I was not there to try to talk to her about THAT.  I told her I was an evangelist for fair traded chocolate.  She smiled, noticeably relaxed and we continued on with a conversation that lasted a good twenty minutes.

 

We even moved away from chocolate briefly and talked about the high cost of cheap.  She understood immediately and cited some examples that she knew about regarding shoes and clothes. 

 

In the end, I left her with enough chocolate to make four pies (just one for me), and the thought that she might just want to check out the chocolate for herself.  And that maybe people wouldn’t mind paying a little more for pies (GREAT pies) made from fair-traded chocolate.  No commitments.  But I know she’ll think about it.

 

Meanwhile, on Friday I get to pick up my fair-traded chocolate walnut pie for our service on Sunday.  And am yet again reminded of the slogan I didn’t make up.  “Every dollar we spend is a vote for the kind of world we want to live in.”  Today we voted for justice for those who harvest our chocolate.  A good day.

One Glorious Weekend

 

I’m one hugely fortunate human being.  I truly enjoy my work. 

 

Ministry, like life, can have its rough patches.  And certainly founding a new church certainly has its challenges!  But it is also wonderfully fulfilling.  That said, even with the overall joy of my life work, this has been an extraordinarily uplifting weekend.

 

Friday night I was privileged to be present at my friend Jill’s ordination.  Jill’s calling, at least at present, is as a chaplain.  She gives solace and a compassionate ear to those who are hurting, and their families.  Friday night she was officially ordained.  She will be a wonderful source of light in the world.  I am so happy for her, but also so happy for those who will come into contact with her.  I was able to process as a minister, an Interfaith minister.  And I’ll admit is was a bit of a kick to explain to my fellow ministers what an  Interfaith minister is about.  Like so many, they are very familiar and (this group particularly) very supportive of interfaith dialogue.  But an Interfaith minister was something not really as yet on their radar. 

 

On Saturday, I met with a core group of members of our Interfaith Church.  We were working on our Mission and Vision statements.  The end product was inspiring.  Look for our Mission and Vision statements to be posted on this website in about a week.  But equally inspiring was the way we went about it.  No egos.  No competition.  “Just” the desire to state as powerfully and accurately as possible who we are and what we hope for.  “We.”  It was all about “we.”  Everyone in the room wholly committed to “we.” 

 

We wordsmithed.  We made suggestions.  When the suggestions helped to clarify things we adopted them.  When they didn’t, we didn’t.  No votes.  No Roberts’ Rules.  We worked by consensus.  And the reason it will be a week before posting is there remains one word in the document where we haven’t yet reached consensus.  I’ve been hugely privileged to work with a lot of wonderful people as my life has unfolded.  But never such an unselfish and dedicated group. 

 

Saturday night I attended a “diversity diner” hosted by friends.  Got to chat with some delightful and thoughtful folk.  And best of all, I learned that a friend who was battling cancer had had new tests that showed the cancer in remission.  Yes!  And the weekend wasn’t over. 

 

Then came Sunday!  The service revisited the American Dream.  In my own preparation for the service, looking at Christianity, Buddhism, Islam and so many other sacred paths, I was reminded of how our diverse traditions warn us of how dangerous to ourselves and our community the desire to accumulate possessions is.  And yet again I am reminded that we have been hacking each other apart over dogma – how to pray and what to believe.  What our spiritual paths call on us to DO is startlingly similar.

 

And yet, as good as I think the sermon was, it was dwarfed by the discussion that followed it.  We sat around a table, shared our potluck and talked about what it is that we wanted to pass along to our children, what we value, and why.  What a wonderful, deeply spiritual, hugely engaged group of people.  And I’m their minister.  What an honor, what an amazing privilege to a part of Interfaith as it takes root and grows.

Of Humanity, Ladders and Volunteering

 

I’ve been watching with growing sadness as some friends, good, caring people, trying to make a difference in the world, seem to be increasingly overwhelmed by the magnitude of the need.  In part, I think the question can become how does a caring person stay sane in an increasingly insane world?  I don’t have answers here.  Just some musings.

 

Some, of course, find their answer in becoming numb to the problems of others.  Not a particularly caring answer, but still an answer – survival-mode.  This answer comes down to “I look after me.  And to hell with the world … that’s where it’s going anyway!” 

 

Others, whose need to do something positive in the world overrides the temptation to become numb, become myopic in their vision.  They pick one thing, one cause, and then zealously and jealously pursue it.  It might be supporting education, it might be battling hunger, it might be exposing racism, but whatever it is, it is to the fierce diminution of other causes.  Whatever the pecking order, “my cause” comes first. 

 

While understandable, this second approach is not often hugely helpful.  Imagine a ladder.  One ladder.  And six people trying to climb it at the same time, all shouting “Me first!  Me first!”  How many, do you suppose, make it up the ladder? 

 

Continuing with the metaphor of the ladder, it’s as if humanity is trying to make it over a  wall, and the wealthiest and most powerful among us have scooped up every ladder but one.  It seems to me that for some obscene reason we’ve now accepted that there’s only one ladder available and we’re fighting each other to climb it.  The spiritual teaching of every faith-path tells us that we need to share.   Instead of scrambling over each other, competing for the bottom rung on the lone ladder, we really ought to be moving towards a society with more ladder access.  But the metaphor has now been stretched to the breaking point.  More to the point, we’re getting away from what I want to be talking about.  Let’s talk more about ladder-access some other time.

 

For today, the question is: how does a caring person stay sane in an increasingly insane  world; and particularly: how do we keep the forest in view while still paying close attention to the tree that is the calling of our heart?  I was taught a hugely grand, hugely warming lesson about that today. 

 

My heart and soul are Interfaith.  It is the calling of my life.  I’ve written a book on it (to be published next spring), write blogs about it and helped to start the Living Interfaith Church to show how we can LIVE Interfaith, and learn from it and grow to understand each other better.  Interfaith is my tree.  Yet it’s but one tree in the forest.  Sometimes I can forget that.

 

Today, however, I spend several hours volunteering at the local food bank.  Yes, feeding the hungry has always also been important to me, and yes, we collect food for the food bank at every service.  But donating food is not the same as donating time.  Today I donated time.  We sorted through huge “totes” of food that the Postal Service (having collected food for its annual food drive) had distributed to the local food bank.  The food came in a jumble.  Our job was to make sense of it.  Fruit in one box, beans in another, canned meat in another, etc..

 

It was fun.  I met a bunch of terrific people who were also volunteering (as well as working with a terrific person who just happens to be a member of our congregation who was also donating time).  The glorious thing was that it had NOTHING to do with Interfaith.  Nothing.  Zip.  It was volunteering for a good cause, but also it was like a vacation. 

 

I am going to continue to volunteer time.  Non-Interfaith volunteer time.  I strongly recommend the concept.  It’s a way for me to keep in touch with the forest, while I so carefully nurture my favored tree: the cause of Interfaith.

 

And darn it!  We need more ladders!!

Pondering Memorial Day 2011

 

The Memorial Day weekend has always brought conflicting thoughts to my mind.

 

“Memorial Day – endless sales and barbeques: the official beginning of summer.”  Actually, aren’t there a whole lot of dead people and their families that we’re supposed to be remembering?

 

“Memorial Day – parades, guns, and fanfare.”  Actually, aren’t there a whole lot of dead people and their families that we’re supposed to be remembering?

 

“Memorial Day – anti-war marches, speeches and fanfare.”  Actually, aren’t there a whole lot of dead people and their families that we’re supposed to be remembering?”

 

In the past, whenever I’ve led a Memorial Day service I’ve used Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address as a responsive reading.  And if it has been a while since you’ve read it, I would strongly urge you to take a gander. 

 

It’s all there.  The slaughterhouse that is war.  The horrific losses that can come on the battlefield.  The tremendous sacrifice that our men and women at arms make, hoping deeply that they have been ordered into battle for a just and important cause. 

 

But Lincoln also points out that we the living have responsibilities too. 

 

So what are our obligations to the men and women who have given “the last full measure of devotion”? 

 

In part, I think, it goes back to a personal belief: both that our men and women at arms have a right to the hope that they have been ordered into battle for a just and important cause; and that we the people have an obligation to be guardians of that hope.

 

America has been involved in one war or another most of my life.  It began before I was born.  I never met my Uncle Bill.  He was killed in action in World War II.  A part of Memorial Day, for me, is to take the time to remember that Uncle Bill never had a chance at life.  He gave his last full measure of devotion fighting Hitler.  I want to take the time on Memorial Day to remember all those who never came back.

 

But for me, another part of Memorial Day is remembering those who DID come back, but whose lives have been hugely damaged by what they’ve seen and done.  Too often, it seems to me, we try to sweep this “messy” aspect of war under some distant rug and into hoped-for oblivion.  PBS did a “Frontline” on the issue that I strongly recommend.  We now have a name, PTSD, and much too often, we just let it go at that.

 

The men and women who have suffered so greatly because our president, in our name, ordered them into battle, deserve not only to be remembered, but encouraged and given aid.  Those who might be interested in local efforts (and there are many ways to help, this is but one) might consult Soldier's Heart Seattle.

 

Yet there remains another component for me as well.  The men and women who serve have every right to expect that they will not be asked to risk their lives, or risk taking another human’s life, unless it is truly in a just and important cause.

 

As in so many of today’s zero sum politics of screaming, I find myself alienated by both “sides” as I see them. 

 

There is one “side” that seems happy to flex U.S. muscle and risk untold human lives at every opportunity.  There’s really no other way to explain why our country has been constantly at war all of my life.  When I enter into discussions with such people, as to why I grew to oppose the war in Vietnam and why I opposed the Iraq war from the outset, I am usually painted as a “peace at any price Lefty.”

 

And there is the other “side”, that seems to believe that there is never any reason for war.  When I enter into discussions with such people, as to why I think intervening in Bosnia, Libya and especially Afghanistan after the Taliban, in the wake of 9-11, openly harbored Al Qaeda, I am usually painted as a “tool of the imperial U.S. government.”

 

There’s a blog waiting to be written about “The Death of Gray” (as in everything is either black or white – I strongly believe, as example, that the Palestinian/Israeli “situation” suffers greatly from the death of gray).  But that is for another time.

 

For today, I believe there are times when force is the only answer.  But I also believe that those times should be rare, that force should always, always be the LAST resort – and that when we of necessity must use force we should give our troops every advantage, get the job done, and get the heck out.

 

In sum, I hope we will all take the time this “Memorial Day Weekend,” to remember why we have Memorial Day. 

 

And may we remember that we owe these honored dead, and those who returned deeply wounded, the free and open country that they fought for.  A country of the people, by the people and for the people.  Not just the rich.  Not just the men.  Not just the Christian.  And certainly not just the mega-corporations.  May we remember that we are a nation of wonderfully diverse people.  And our diversity is our strength, not a weakness.  This Memorial Day, let us keep faith with those who have sacrificed their lives for our “more perfect union.”  Their work is done, may they rest in peace.  Our work but begins: “That these dead shall not have died in vain.”

Why I Don’t Officiate at Marriages

 

This is a very personal blog.  From the beginning I want to be clear that I am speaking for myself, not Living Interfaith.  At some time in the future, as we grow, we will be adding ministers.  And, since I’m not indestructible, at some point I’ll be replaced as minister.  But I have been asked now by three different couples to officiate at their marriages and I have most respectfully (I hope!) declined.  I think it would be helpful to be clear as to why.

 

It may seem counter-intuitive.  I still recall the amazing joy, the beams of light emanating from a friend at seminary when she was talking about performing her first marriage.  How could I possibly decline such a joy, and the chance to be a part of such a wonderful event as a marriage?  Simply put, it comes down to separation of church and state.  I’m with Jefferson and Madison on this one.  I believe the wall between church and state should be high … very high … hugely high.

 

We are all acquainted, from movies if nowhere else, with the phrase, “With the power vested in me by the state of …. I now pronounce you man and wife.”  These days, many will say, “I now pronounce you husband and wife.”  And one might also simply say, “I pronounce you married.”  Or one might say something else.  But the bottom line is that the state has “vested” clergy with the power to marry.  I can’t buy into that. 

 

As beautiful, as wonderful, as joyful as marriage is, I can’t buy into the state vesting clergy with that kind of power.  Proof of that power comes after the marriage ceremony where the clergy person signs a document, a legal document, acting as an agent of the state!  For me that blows a galaxy-sized hole into the idea of separating church from state.

 

I heartily believe in wedding celebrations.  Weddings are wonderful, spectacularly happy times.  I would joyfully participate in an Interfaith celebration and reminder of the sanctity of marriage, and the spiritual aspects of marriage.  But not as an agent of the state.  For me, that crosses a line (interestingly, both Italy and France enforce that line).

 

Marriage is a contract, a binding, legal contract – an enforceable contract with specific legal rights and obligations.  It baffles me that members of the clergy are involved with that.  And it’s interesting that clergy are “vested” with the power to marry, but only a judge can grant a divorce.

 

I heard an argument the other day that gay marriage is wrong because a “marriage” must be between a man and a woman.  And why?  To ensure, we are told, the continuation of the human race!  Well, if that is the criteria, doesn’t it mean that no infertile man or woman should be allowed to marry?  Doesn’t it mean that no senior should be allowed to marry?  Recently I’ve seen a few friends join a movement saying that they will no longer perform any marriage ceremony until the state allows them to include gays.  But for me that too begs the point. 

 

Marriage involves specific rights and privileges.  It seems to me a legal matter, not a religious one.  Whether a particular member of the clergy, or a particular religion chooses to sanctify a marriage is perfectly within their rights … even if we (as outsiders) may disagree with what a particular clergy member or religious group chooses to sanctify or not.  But I strongly believe that signing a piece of paper that makes a marriage legal should be a state matter and only a state matter.

 

One person’s opinion.

A Lesson at the Door

 

I answered the doorbell the other day, and a very polite, very young man was at my door.  He wanted to know if I would be interested in Comcast.  I said absolutely not.  He asked  why, so I told him.  Comcast spends millions in lobbying every year.  It is not only attempting to buy government, but from everything I can see is succeeding. 

 

(I since looked it up, since I didn’t have all the facts at hand.  If you don’t know about the “Sunlight Foundation” you can find it at https://checking.influenceexplorer.com/.  The foundation doesn’t take sides.  It just tries to tell you where the money is going.  As example, in the California Governor’s race, Comcast gave $40,000 to Democrat Jerry Brown’s campaign and $32,000 to his opponent Republican Meg Whitman’s.  The United States of America … the best government money can buy!  But I digress).

 

I told him I felt Comcast needed to stay out of government.  I also told him that Comcast was too big.  I think we need lots of LITTLE media outlets, not one or two behemoths.

 

The young man countered with, “But what if I told you Comcast could save you money?”

 

I replied, “There are some things more important than money.”

 

His eyes grew wide.  He thought about it for a moment and then moved on.

 

I may or may not have had any influence on this young man.  But there was the possibility of a “teachable moment.”  And maybe some day, maybe even soon, he’ll come back to the concept that there are some things more important than money.

 

The idea here is NOT to toot my own horn.  The idea is that there are moments, if not every day then surely every week, that if we will but grasp them we can actually communicate with a fellow human being.

 

I have two friends, dear friends, who at this moment appear to be diving off the deep end.  They look at all the problems of the world and all the things that need fixing and they have become not only angry, but overwhelmed. And being overwhelmed, the temptation to give up and just be permanently frustrated and angry can take hold.  It has hold of them, and it deeply saddens me.

 

There are many hugely difficult problems facing us.  I do not mean for a moment to suggest that we should ignore them.

 

But neither should we ignore the teachable moment when it comes knocking at the door.

 

Under the same principle, I wrote Trader Joe’s this week, telling them how much I love the store, and how disappointed I am that while they carry a few fair traded chocolate bars, none of the added chocolate in their products is fair traded.  I told them the truth, that I will not buy a product that contains chocolate if the chocolate isn’t fair traded.  I got a nice note back.  I’m hoping that I’m not the only one writing to Trader Joe’s.

 

All this to say that there is a balance to keep in our lives.  Torture must be ended forever as an instrument of U.S. policy.  There are huge environmental concerns.  There are so many other huge problems about which we ALL need to stay aware as well.

 

But in the meantime there are those teachable moments.  With our kids.  With friends.  With the person at the door.  With the stores where we shop. 

 

Every encounter counts. 

Regarding Our Masculine and Feminine “Sides”

 

I received a link last week, from a dear and valued friend.  It was a link to a YouTube video made by several very earnest men.  It was an apology to women.  I certainly agreed with much of the sentiment.  I have been a feminist since I was a child.  Still, I noticed that the video pushed some buttons, and I’ve been pondering why ever since.

 

It wasn’t the idea of an apology.  Women certainly deserve a public recognition of the sometimes horrific, frequently degrading way that they have been treated throughout the centuries.  So do African Americans.  So do Native Americans.  So do so many of the oppressed of the world.  Our march towards a true realization of and respect for our common humanity has been a long and torturous one.  Sometimes apologies can be too much hand-wringing and too little real change, but for me that’s not a “button pusher.”

 

I realized that it was the expressed need to be in touch with our “feminine side” that the video spoke of that got to me.  I truly don’t believe in our “feminine side” or our “masculine side.”  Indeed, I think the very way we use these words serves to perpetuate some rather unhelpful ways of thinking.

 

Of course women have been “taught” by our culture to be compassionate, attentive and cooperative.  That’s how oppressed people throughout history have been taught to act by those who would dominate them.  Women, Blacks, Jews, whomever. 

 

I find it neither accurate nor helpful to refer to my “masculine” side as my power side, and my “feminine” side as my compassionate side.  I don’t see being an oppressor as being masculine.  I think I can be a whole and complete male without ever being an oppressor.  I don’t think I am any less “masculine” by being compassionate.  More to the point, it seems to me we encourage the continuation of the stereotype to imply that men are just being “manly” when they beat someone up or blow someone up.  And that they need to be in touch with their "feminine side" to stop. 

 

This is not to say that many men haven’t acted as oppressors.  They have.  And it is right and proper to name it.  But I do think it sends the wrong message to proclaim that this is in any way being “manly.”  Real men don’t beat their wives.  Real men don’t blow up innocent people.  And I find myself surprised when others are surprised by a female suicide bomber.  The truth of it is that our humanity knows no gender.  Neither does our inhumanity.  Women can be taught to be just as good or bad a soldier, or non-combatant, as men.

 

No little boy should be told to “act like a man” when what is meant is that he should stifle his emotions.  No little girl should be told to “act like a woman” when what is meant is that she should be kind and sharing.

 

For me, women like Catherine the Great or Queen Elizabeth I, to name but two, were NOT in touch with their “masculine” side.  They were in touch with their power side, and frequently their oppressor side.

 

A whole human being is in touch with his/her compassionate side, his/her listening side, his/her we’re in this together and we’ll sink or swim together side.  Our common humanity, or inhumanity, knows no gender boundaries. 

Earth Day

 

Some interesting news items today.  One of them is that in these times of economic difficulty “green” products aren’t selling as well as they used to.  And indeed many stores  are cutting back on the number of “green” items they offer because the products just aren’t moving.

 

I realize that some of us truly can’t afford the higher price.  I have a friend who just this week got a job after two years of being unemployed.  Pennies for him, and for others in the same situation, are literally crucial.  Buying green at this moment, is not an option.  But for most of us, green products are affordable.  They may put a crimp in our budget.  But they are affordable.  They are, therefore a choice.  For some of us a hard choice.  Yet still, a choice.

 

Once again it comes down to whether our lives are about ourselves or the planet.  Earth Day is a great and wonderful day. Earth Day projects can be fulfilling and truly productive.  But if we can’t make every day Earth Day, I think we lose.

 

There are many ways to integrate “green living” into our lives.  A friend, Gina Diamond, has created www.helpmegogreen.org .  She gives workshops and consults.  It might be worth investigating.

 

Interested in growing more yourself and buying less from agri-business and doing it in an ecologically appropriate way?  Another friend, Marilene Richardson has created www.communitysustainable.org .  You might check out “permaculture”.

 

Not all or even most of us can make a living at a green job.  I know that, and it’s not the point.  The point is that each of us, and I definitely include myself, need to be intentional in what we do.  And then, as a community we also need to be intentional in what we do.

 

I can’t help but feel that many of us think only of what the community is doing, and in so narrowing our focus abnegate our personal responsibility to act with green intention in the world.  While many others of us think only of what we personally can do, and abnegate work within the larger community. 

 

I speak from experience.  Personal experience.  I know I get distracted.  Good grief, it’s hard not to!  Some days it seems almost impossible not to.  If I were conspiracy-theory minded, I might well say that someone is throwing stuff at me fast and furiously just to keep me distracted. 

 

But whatever.  I don’t think it is possible to heal the earth on our own.  And I also don’t think it’s possible to heal the earth if we only rely on our community.  It’s a twin effort.  It’s a sustained  twin effort.  And a hugely long-term commitment. 

 

This (current weather notwithstanding!) is spring.  This is Easter weekend.  This time of year is all about rebirth, renewal, resurrection.  And if not now … when?

 

May the blessings of springtime, however you may celebrate it, envelope you, involve you and sustain you … and our planet.

Remembering Passover

 

As a Jewish child, Passover was always my favorite holiday.  Now I’m in my sixties, and Passover remains my favorite holiday – though these days it is followed closely by Yom Kippur.

 

But Passover was also from the beginning a holiday of tension in my family.  For my father, Passover was somewhat akin to Thanksgiving – a time to fix and indulge in wonderful ritual foods.  And, truth be told after trying for years, I could never match my mother’s layered matzo-meal sponge cake, with whipped cream and fresh strawberries.  My mother died much too soon, and with her she took the secret of the sponge cake.  And the charoses (some spell it charoset) – a recipe she did share with me.  YUM!

 

But was that it?  Ok, fine.  There were the miracles: the frogs and the other plagues.  But it was never lost on me that the plagues ended in the first born of Egypt dying.  Maybe that was necessary, maybe not.  I wasn’t there.  But that much death could never, for me, be a cause to celebrate.  Overall, and for whatever reason, miracles have never impressed me. 

 

And, for whatever reason, excuses to overeat have never impressed me.  I rebelled against Thanksgiving long before I rebelled against Passover.  But as soon as I moved out of my parents' home (junior year of college, but that is another story) I resolved to hold my own Passover Seders.  My parents were always invited, but we did the Seder my way.

 

So what was “my” way?  First, to take the ritual seriously.  Passover has been celebrated, unbroken, for three thousand years.  Passover has been celebrated in times of great plenty and in times of terror.  It has always impressed me greatly that some of the imprisoned and dying of Auschwitz would starve themselves, saving up scraps of bread, so that they could “feast” on Passover.  No matter what, Passover must be celebrated.

 

What also impressed me from the beginning was that when freedom came, it came for all the children of Israel.  It came for the women as well as the men.  The children as well as the adults.  The poor as well as those better off.  Somehow freedom as a human right was seared into my brain.  A human right.  Not a male Jewish right.  Every Jewish woman in Egypt had been freed too.  So what was with this “men’s club” mentality that was still prevalent in Judaism when I was a child?  I rejected it.  And for a short while I felt I needed to reject Judaism because of it. 

 

And I don’t pretend I was the first to say it.  Yet it became so completely a part of me so very young that I have no idea where I first heard it.  But for me, the iron rule of Passover, the great teaching of Passover, the know this if nothing else of Passover is and must be: If one of us be slave, man or woman, rich or poor, any race, any religion, if ONE of us be slave, then NONE of us is free.

 

This is the great teaching of Passover.  This is the call to justice that Passover demands. There are two parts to this that became a part of me.  The first is obvious.  All slavery is evil.  No one should consider him or herself truly free if there is a slave anywhere.

 

The second seemed just as obvious at the time, but I have come to realize that for many it is not that obvious.  “If one of us be slave, then none of us is free” assumes that all humanity is “us.”  As a Jewish male, women are as much a part of “us” as men; Christians, Muslims, Hindus, Humanists, Baha’i and all the rest of humanity are as much a part of “us” as Jews.  This is one reason why, particularly at this time of year, the inhuman treatment of some Palestinians towards Israelis, and some Israelis towards Palestinians tears so completely at my heart.  There is no “them.”  There is only “us.”  Yet, though this is the great teaching of Passover, after three thousand years of instruction, we still haven't learned it. 

 

“Why is THIS night different from all other nights?” a child or youth asks as a part of the Seder service.  My answer would be that it is because we have set aside this night to remind ourselves that there is no “them”, there is only “us.”  If we enslave another, we enslave ourselves.

Choosing to Refrain from Madness

 

Perhaps it’s the side of the bed I got out of this morning, but it seems to me that today, Saturday, April 2^nd, the world is even more nuts than usual.  It’s coming at me from all sides.

 

I turned the radio on to check the news this morning.  Unemployment is down: significantly.  It’s below 9%.  A cause for celebration?  No.  It is said in a rush, as the news reader hurries on to an item of the economy that hasn’t improved.  And it occurred to me that since the meltdown there has been nothing but bad news, no matter what.  At first it was the “bailouts.”  Well, most of those have been paid back with interest.  Then it was fear of a government “takeover” of industries like automobiles.  But that industry is roaring back and no longer has government strings.  Then, as good news began to accumulate, the news pundits all pointed to high unemployment and said there could be no real recovery until unemployment started coming down.  But now that it’s coming down, oops, unemployment really isn’t that important.  Something else is.  If I had been more awake this morning, I could tell you what.

 

Bottom line.  Be afraid.  Be very afraid!

 

One of our political parties rode to victory last November on one huge issue: jobs.  But it would seem that from the moment they took office jobs have become a non-issue.  It’s the deficit.  Forget jobs.  Heck, fire people.  But we must cut back on government spending.  The deficits will destroy our children if not us.

 

Bottom line.  Be afraid.  Be very afraid!

 

I have some dear friends, good people, who are sure that our president is in point of fact a war-monger and a tool of Wall Street.  He’s taking the country ever further down the road of Fascism. 

 

I have other dear friends, also good people, who are sure that our president is in point of fact a socialist and a pacifist.  He’s making the country vulnerable to terrorism and leading us ever further down the road of Atheistic Communism.

 

Bottom line.  Be afraid.  Be very afraid!

 

Today, we are told that Islam is out to destroy “us.”  Islam is not so much a religion, we are told, as a violent movement out to take over the world.  I remember from my youth when the exact same thing was being said about Jews.  There are still those who believe in a Zionist conspiracy for world domination.  But most of the invective is aimed at Muslims.

 

Bottom line.  Be afraid.  Be very afraid!

 

And of course this is NOT a U.S. problem alone.  The Israelis and Palestinians are choked with fear, and from their fear comes the dehumanizing of the “other” and increasing reliance on violence.  “The Zionists are out to murder us.”  “The Palestinians are inhuman murderers.”

 

Bottom line.  Be afraid.  Be very afraid!

 

The entire planet seems awash with fear. 

 

It’s not my purpose to argue that the world is dandy.  Pollyanna I’m not.  There are real problems out there.  Some of them are huge.  Hunger, disease, oppression, war: these threaten our lives, the lives of our children and indeed the life of the planet.

 

But it is my purpose to say that living in a cocoon of fear solves nothing.  We need Franklin Roosevelt now, more than ever.  Fear IS the greatest thing we have to fear.  Or, as the Dune books put it, “Fear is the mind-killer.”

 

The sad truth is that fear is a potent form of madness.  And madness is a communicable disease. 

 

Those who would control us, from the right or from the left or from outer space, those who would control us know that the easiest way to manipulate a human being is to make that person afraid.

 

We have problems.   We have economic problems, political problems, climate problems, and so many others.  They are real.  They need solving. 

 

But this I promise you:

 

NONE of them will be solved by fear.

NONE of them will be solved by demonizing and dehumanizing the “other.”

 

This I also promise you: there is no “them.”  The concept of “them” is one of the big lies of human history.  Women/men, Palestinian/Israeli, European American/African American, Native American/Immigrant American, Chrisian/Muslim, THERE IS NO “THEM”.  There is only us. 

 

We have a choice.  It is a fundamental choice.  It is by no means the only choice but it is perhaps the most important choice we will ever make.  Will we allow ourselves to be ruled by fear?

 

We indeed have huge problems.  They are bigger than any one of us.  But they are not bigger than all of us.  All of us.  All of us.  If we keep “them” apart from “us”, whoever “them” is this week, we lose.  Thus the first fear to overcome, is the fear of “them.” 

Keeping Perspective/Staying Engaged

 

If you think at all these days, it's really hard not to be overwhelmed.  The continuing catastrophe in Japan – what can we do?  How much was a the result of nature (the earthquake and tsunami), and how much came from human error, before and after nature struck?  The continuing struggle in Libya – when is force justified, and how much force is justified?  What should our involvement be, and who should be in charge?  The continuing tragedy that is Israeli/Palestinian “relations” – what can we do; what should we do?  What  can anyone do when both sides are truly aggrieved and both sides are truly aggressors?  And within our own country, there remains hunger, homelessness, and a disappearing middle class – who can be held accountable and what should we do about it?  And these are just a few of the daily assaults upon our sensibilities.

 

It’s true that there are many who can’t see the forest for the trees.  They become so involved in one or two specific ideas or issues that they are unable see the “big picture.”  Their vision becomes myopic.

 

It is just as true that there are many who can’t see the trees for the forest.  They become so involved with a “big picture” that while they can “see forever” they can lose sight of the very real people and lives around them – their concerns, their needs.

 

I would like to put in a good word for some balance: keeping the forest in mind while also dealing with what trees we can.  For me, personally, it means picking a few trees that mean something to me and trying to care for them, while keeping the forest in view and not losing track that the forest as a whole must be tended.

 

Sounds great (maybe).  But what on earth am I talking about!?? 

 

For one thing it means acknowledging that I can’t be involved in every issue.  I don’t have the time, or the resources, or, frankly, the energy.  It most assuredly does not mean that the issues I don’t deal with are unimportant.  But it does mean, as example, that while I deeply and genuinely support those who are trying to help bring sanity to the moral and ethical tangle that is Palestinian/Israeli relations (and some are dear friends), I don’t get directly involved.  NOT because the work isn’t important.  But because I can’t be everywhere.

 

But, as many are fond of saying, the fact that I can’t do everything, should not get in the way of my doing something!  For me there are two “somethings.”  I don’t share them my here in order to convince you to give yourself to the same ones.  Rather, I share them as an example of staying engaged, on a daily basis, with concrete things that can be done.

 

Anyone who knows me knows that one of these is chocolate.  Harvesting chocolate (as with coffee) is labor intensive.  Much of the available chocolate gets to us cheaply because it is harvested by slave labor, or child labor, or oppressed labor or some combination.  The only way to be sure that your chocolate isn’t tainted, is to buy Fair Traded (or Fairly Traded) chocolate. 

 

If there’s something at the market that looks good and has chocolate, I will ask if it’s fair traded and explain why it’s important.  The other day some friends took me to a Hagen Daz store for some chocolate.  But it wasn’t fair traded.  I explained to the guy behind the counter why I was going to pass on it.  He wrote some notes and promised to talk to his boss.  At least once a week, and some weeks three or four times, I’m calling or e-mailing a company and checking to see if their chocolate is fair traded, and explaining why I won’t buy it if it isn’t.  I’m constantly reminding the good folks at Trader Joe’s that they need to be using fair traded chocolate – always good naturedly, and always explaining why. 

 

This is a small something.  But I can do it.  And I can keep doing it. 

 

I am also committed to supporting the local food bank.  I always ask folks to bring food bank contributions to our services.  I’ve been doing it for the five years I’ve been a minister.  Again, it’s small, but being small it’s doable.  Day in, day out, week in, week out.

 

All the while, I continue my work on Interfaith.  I see Interfaith as “forest” work.  It’s big picture stuff.  Interfaith involves a paradigm shift.  Interfaith involves mutual respect, and a reaching out to one another with compassion and a truly internalized understanding that we are all brothers and sisters.  This is a life’s work and probably more than that. 

 

But in the meantime I can continue to try to help chip away at hunger, and strive for an end to exploitation of other people just so I can get my food “cheap.”  Cheap comes at much too high a cost.  I am determined no longer to pay it.

 

If we have a clear sense of the forest, and in the meantime, we have a few trees we can nurture, day to day, I think we’ll find the chaos that is the human condition a bit more manageable.  Not a walk in the park, but more manageable. 

A Clear and Present Danger

 

Islamophobia.  This is not a political issue.  It’s a spiritual one.  And it is pointedly not a question of “political correctness.”  It’s a question of moral integrity.  Yet because a politician, Representative Peter King, of NY, is at the forefront of  the issue, we all gravitate to our political corners.  And that itself is a part of the problem. 

 

We are human beings, first and foremost.  All of our spiritual paths make this clear – crystal clear.  And yet we’ve somehow lost this fundamental touchstone.  And without it as a reference point, pretty much everything else will be lost as well.

 

Representative Peter King, in his hearings, wants to explore radical Islam and its dangers.  This is the same Peter King who remains unashamed of supporting the Irish Republican Army.  His answer: the IRA wasn’t a “domestic” terrorist group, they only blew up innocents on the other side of the Atlantic!  Clearly, as far as King is concerned, the only people we should worry about are Americans.  This is on its face absurd and morally bankrupt.

 

But let’s play King’s game.  Let’s talk about America, just the good old U.S.A..  That’s our topic.  Homegrown terrorism.

 

To my knowledge, Representative King has asked no questions about the radicalization of white Christian terrorists in the U.S..  The latest example is the arrest of Kevin William Harpham, who has been arrested and charged with the attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction at a MLK Day parade near Spokane, Washington.  He appears to be of the same mold, and radicalized by the same homegrown U.S. terrorist movement  as Timothy McVeigh.   And there’s Andrew Joseph Stack, who flew his plane into an IRS building.   This not to mention the on-going activities of the KKK.  These radicalized white Christian males became terrorists, American terrorists, killing or trying to kill people on American soil.  So where’s the investigation?  If Representative King cares about homegrown American terrorists, where is the investigation?

 

Why isn’t Christianity under scrutiny?  After all, this is the same religion that brought us the Spanish Inquisition.  And this is the same religion that literally divided up the “New World” into “spheres” for exploitation and conversion.  Christianity, thus, has a history of violence, torture and terrorism.  Clearly Christianity is a religion that encourages and indeed foments terrorists.  Don’t we need a congressional committee to probe what there is about this religion that makes its followers so susceptible to the siren call of terrorism?

 

I hope you are saying, and loudly, that it would be incredibly mindless and spiritually bankrupt to assert any such thing about Christianity.  You can’t tar an entire religion based on its fanatics.  It would be false, as well as stupid and a bigoted thing to do.

 

But this is precisely what Representative Peter King and those who would support him are doing to Islam.  It is a mindless, bigoted, and spiritually bankrupt attack.  And I hope and pray that Representative King will be called on it.  I salute and welcome the reaction by some in the Japanese-American community.  I would hope for more across the board condemnations of what Representative King is trying to do.

 

Beyond the bigoted slander he works against Muslim-Americans, what Representative King is doing undercuts the very fabric of our nation and our democracy.  It is a clear and present danger to every group who can somehow be fashioned by some bigot into a “them” as opposed to “us.”  I would hope that fairness to Muslims would motivate us enough.  But if it doesn’t, then perhaps realizing that Representative King’s actions are a direct assault on our country will do the trick. 

 

Every American, of every spiritual tradition and no spiritual tradition, has a stake in this. 

 

Them and us.  Them and us.  If we are going to survive, literally as well a spiritually, we need to learn and understand that there is no them.  There is only us. 

Amnesia Can Be Deadly

 

Of all the problems besetting America, and Lord knows we have our share of problems, I think very possibly the most dangerous is our lack of memory.

 

We experience it every day in our politics.  Politicians feel completely comfortable in being strongly “for” something one day and strongly “against” it the next, without the slightest shame (which is their problem) or any fear of consequences (which is ours). 

 

I really don’t know if it has always been this way, but certainly recently, perhaps because so much is happening and we are being inundated with so much information, that we rarely remember yesterday, let alone a week ago, let alone a whole entire month!

 

And what passes for news is of no help, because the people who pass for reporters these days have no memory.  Perhaps it’s not in their interest to remember anything from “the past.”  But whatever, reporters happily report what is being said today, with no regard to what was said the day before.  [The exception to this rule is, of course, Jon Stewart and his stalwart band of writers at the Daily Show.]

 

And nowhere is this mass amnesia more evident than in the current hysteria and fear-mongering centered upon Islam.  Folks, we’ve been all through this before.  I know because it’s happened in my lifetime.  Just change out the word “Muslim” or “Islam” and substitute “Jew” or “Zionist” and you have the fear and hatred sweeping much of the U.S. just fifty years ago.

 

All Jews are Communists, and out to take over the world.  This was seriously put forward as a “clear and present danger.”  Those Jews have infiltrated our government.  The Zionist/Communist conspiracy must be exposed before it’s too late!  Crank up the Congressional investigating committees!  Don’t let “them” build a synagogue anywhere near you, let alone your children!

 

When do we learn??  We don’t learn.  And that’s the problem.  It used to be Christians, warning us about “those Jews.”  Now it’s Christians and Jews warning us about “those Muslims.” 

 

The greatest thing we have to fear … are the fear-mongers.  They are death to a democracy.  Not to mention the “minor” fact that fear-mongers are morally and spiritually bankrupt.

 

Brian Williams.  You’re a friend of Jon Stewart’s.  Has any of his curiosity and intelligence rubbed off on you?  How about a special on religious fear-mongering in the United States?  You could start with , oh, how about witch-burnings?  And then walk us through the joys of defamation, discrimination and outright hate up to and including today’s witch-hunt for Muslims. 

 

But what about Scripture?  Yeah, what about Scripture?

 

I have heard Muslims quoting the Qur’an, cherry-picking quotes to show love or hatred, peace or war, compassion or intolerance.  You can find it all in the Qur’an, if you look for it.

 

I have heard Jews quoting Hebrew Scripture, cherry-picking quotes to show love or hatred, peace or war, compassion or intolerance.  You can find it all in Hebrew Scripture, if you look for it.

 

I have hear Christians quoting Christian Scripture, cherry-picking quotes to show love or hatred, peace or war, compassion or intolerance.  You can find it all in Christian Scripture, if you look for it.

 

All of our spiritual paths have within them both love and hate, war and peace, hierarchy and shared humanity.  The question cannot be which path contains truth.  They all do.  The question cannot be which path contains a plea for love and compassion.  They all do.  The question cannot be which path contains the seeds of violence and intolerance.  They all do.

 

The relevant question is not what spiritual path do you walk?  The relevant question is, how are you walking your path?

 

Muslims, Jews, Christians, Humanists, Buddhists, Hindus, Baha’i, whatever your path, what are you doing with it?  Are you walking your path with love and compassion?  Or are you walking your path filled with hate and intolerance, mixed with arrogant feelings of superiority and fear.  If it’s the latter, then if you want to find the purveyor of evil,  I would suggest you stop looking under the covers.  Instead, look in the mirror.

Narcissism Writ Large

 

The headlines on Friday really got to me.  Thousands are dying in the streets of Libya, and the headlines were: “Gas Prices Going Up”.  Is that really all we care about?

 

When I saw this on a major news website, I looked for the comments.  Surely many would be offended by this absurd narcissistic way of looking at the world.  Wrong.

 

The wing nuts were anxious to point out that this was Obama’s fault.  This didn’t surprise me.  For these people solar flares are Obama’s fault.  But what did surprise me was the protracted battle over whose fault it was that the U.S. was in a recession.  There was no interest at all in the people of Libya.  All that mattered was how their dying might affect our oil prices and who in U.S. politics could be blamed for it.

 

This narcissistic world view has been a national preoccupation most if not all of my life.  Thousands dead somewhere in the world?  How will that affect the U.S. economy?  Hundreds of thousands murdered by a maniac dictator?  How will that affect U.S. interests in the region?

 

Throughout my lifetime the United States, under both Democratic and Republican administrations, has supported dictators and even engineered revolutions to put dictators into power.  All because it would further “U.S. interests.”  Humanitarian interests?  That’s for wimps.  I disagree.

 

I would propose a new doctrine.  Call it, if you will, the Declaration of Independence from a Narcissistic Foreign Policy.  “The U.S. supports the aspirations of all of humanity to be free.  The U.S. does not support dictators or oppressive regimes.  The U.S. will not support the oppression of a people because it suits our short-term economic interests.”

 

I will admit, there are places where I part company with many of my friends on the left.  I believe the U.S. has the obligation to protect and defend itself.  And when, as an example, a Taliban government in Afghanistan nurtures and then protects terrorists who attack the U.S., then I think the U.S. government has not only the right but the obligation to retaliate and in strength.  Someone hits us, we hit back, and we hit back hard.

 

But I would rejoice greatly if the era of cowboy diplomacy could be declared dead. This doesn’t mean we don’t help our friends.  It doesn’t mean we stop humanitarian aid.  It does mean we stop pretending that we are the “elect” of the world, and that the U.S. knows best how other countries should act.

 

The era of coddling dictators because it’s in “our national interest” should be declared dead.  The world does NOT exist to provide the U.S. with cheap food, cheap clothes and cheap oil. 

 

Henry Kissinger notwithstanding, morality has a place in our lives.  Ethics has a place in our lives.  We are all brothers and sisters.  It’s time we acted that way.

Good Food

 

More and more there appears to be a “healthy food” accent to marketing.  Organic is gaining more prominence.  All this is, I believe, a good thing.  Mother Earth will certainly benefit from a bit more respect, and less pesticides in our food certainly can’t hurt!  But there’s an aspect to good food that may well get left behind if we let it.  The question I would like to ask today is, “What is good food?”  More specifically, who is it good for?

 

I would truly love to see a slogan develop.  “Good food must be good for those who harvest as well as those who eat.” 

 

The truth of it is that even some organic foods are harvested by people who are barely receiving a living wage, and under conditions we would consider unlivable.

 

In an earlier blog we asked ourselves the question, “Can I consider myself a success if my neighbor is hungry?”  Today we ask, “Is what we eat ‘good food’ if the people who made it possible for us to eat it weren’t paid a living wage?"

 

We have long been trained to disassociate ourselves from how we get our food.  We eat pork, not pig meat.  We eat beef, not cow meat.  And we certainly have disassociated ourselves from what happens at most slaughter houses.  If you’ve never seen “Food Inc” I would strongly suggest you do so, but not with young children.

 

Several months ago we talked about the high cost of cheap.  It’s all related.  In our “me, me, me” culture what counts is “What do WE get?”  We rarely think about let alone ask about what someone else has had to give so that we could get.

 

And I definitely include myself among the “we.”  I have been a bargain hunter much of my life.  No questions asked.  Show me the bargain.  It’s a hard habit to break.  But much too often, I now realize, my bargain came at someone else’s expense.  At this very moment some friends are fighting a new Wal-Mart in Monroe because much too often Wal-Mart’s bargains have come at too many other people’s expense.

 

Slave labor is unacceptable.  That’s why Fair Trade is so important.  Inhuman labor conditions are unacceptable.  That’s why labor unions are important. They are important even though higher wages means higher prices.  What we who are bargain hunters conveniently forget is that our bargains much too often (not always, but much too often) come at someone else’s expense. 

 

I complain as much as anybody (and perhaps more than most!) about the sad state of American politics and American politicians.  But for those complaints to carry any moral authority, I need to be sure my own house is in order.

 

We are all brothers and sisters.  We are in this together.  A bargain is no bargain, if someone must go hungry, or work in inhumane conditions so I can save a buck.   “Good food must be good for those who harvest as well as those who eat.”

Some Thoughts on Egypt and Interfaith

 

I look at the victory of “people power” in Egypt and I smile.  My heart warms.  It’s not over.  Nothing is sure except that the people of Egypt have a chance to be free.  I believe in that.  I believe in it with every fiber of my being.

 

But I think it’s worth pondering for a moment: how did this “people power” movement succeed?  Yes, massive numbers of people came out and spoke.  Nothing would have happened without them.  Nothing.  But there have been massive numbers of people demonstrating before.  Remember Tiananmen Square?  I do.  Vividly.  Yes, Egypt’s wonderful demand for freedom was truly a democratic effort.  But there have been democratic efforts before.  Remember Iran?  I do.  I believe the essential difference between those two valiant efforts and this one is this: the soldiers of the Egyptian army refused to assassinate their own people.  Nor were they willing to stand by and let others (the one day of real violence before the army stepped in) assassinate their own people.

 

We need to remember the horror of Tiananmen Square, where the Chinese army was perfectly happy to assassinate their own.  We need remember much too recent horror in Iran, when the Iranian army was perfectly happy to assassinate their own.

 

Not that the Egyptian army is without fault.  They have clearly been a part of a wide-spread and long-time effort at torture.  But bottom line is this: not only would they not assassinate their own people, but last night, when their own political leader forced them to choose between him and the people, they chose the people.  Democracy may or may not follow.  But the Egyptian army has made democracy possible.

 

This is bigger than Egypt.  Much bigger.  As an Interfaith minister I am well aware of sustained efforts, particularly under President Bush, to “Christianize” the American army.  Efforts at our military academies.  Efforts within the armed forces themselves. 

 

The question I pose is this?  What happens when an army loses its allegiance to the people and instead becomes loyal either to the dictator (as in China) or their idea of a one  “right” way to worship God (Iran)?  What would it mean to the United States?

 

For myself, I am an anti-war believer in the draft.  I don’t like us going to war.  But if we do go to war it should be all of us.  Our armed forces should be made up of people from all walks of life, all religions.  I am glad our army is integrated.  I am glad that “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” has at last been tossed in the trash bin.  But there should be no religious, gender, or ethnic tests either. 

 

As Egypt has shown us, when push comes to shove, a free country needs an army that is dedicated to the people of the country.  All the people. 

Confessions of a Bleeding Heart

 

For whatever reason, I was contemplating the other day an expression I remember from my youth, nearly (yikes!) half a century ago.  To be called a “bleeding heart” was to be called something negative.  That didn’t make a lot of sense to me as a teenager.  It makes even less sense now. 

 

I will confess openly and to the world, I am a bleeding heart.  And my only question here would be, why isn’t everybody?

 

Yet again we return to the foundation stone of virtually every spiritual path on earth.  It finds words in Jewish tradition in Cain’s eternal question, “Am I my brother’s keeper?”

 

Yes.  The answer of Buddhism is yes.  The answer of Islam is yes.  The answer of Humanism is yes.  The answer from the spiritual traditions of the First Peoples of the Pacific Northwest is yes.  The answer everywhere and throughout time is yes.

 

I am a bleeding heart.  I not only care if my neighbor is hungry, I want to help do something about it.  I not only care if my neighbor is homeless, I want to help do something about it.

 

I’ve never seen it worded quite this way, so I will offer this up as a credo of the bleeding heart.  “No one can be considered a success, if his or her neighbor is hungry.”

 

And the words of one whom I will admit is a hero of mine, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., come back to ring in our ears.  “True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar; it understands that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring.”

 

Being an unabashed bleeding heart, I agree completely that just throwing money at beggars is too simple and lets us off the hook much too easily.  We need to recognize that having homeless and hungry among us speaks to an edifice that needs restructuring.

 

And, since this is a blog about confessions, I must confess that my bleeding heart doesn’t stop at our own borders.  My heart bleeds for the Egyptians who are now in the streets demanding their freedom.  It also bleeds for the Iranians who were shot down in the streets by a brutal government that has felt no compunction murdering its own citizens.  My heart bleeds for the Palestinians struggling to be recognized as human beings and for their rights as human beings.  And my heart bleeds for the Israelis who have suffered terrorism and fear all their lives, from the very beginning of the State of Israel, when the nations surrounding it vowed to push the Israelis into the sea.

 

We are one.  That is what the card-carrying bleeding heart understands.  Palestinian and Israeli, Muslim, Jew, Christian, Baha’i, and Buddhist.  Citizens of the United States, and citizens of Egypt, China, Iran and every corner of our planet.  We are one.  We are all brothers and sisters. 

 

And I pray, every day, that we will at last begin to act like it.