The character needed to be a real character

It is important for all folks to stop asking Will it affect me?' or How will it affect me? as a way of gaging how or if we will stand with and alongside others as we take our place in the ever-present task of making the world/neighborhood/city/country a better place for all. Rather, it would do us well to consider how we will be a part of a life that works and stands and lives for all. That demands that we avail ourselves to those who are not us. It means we do not shy away from people with whom we have no similarity or connection - even those we fear and despise.

I have been reading some bits of history (rare for me) and listening to podcasts that focus around the character of some of the folks in our country who stood within the circles of the great ones. It is so interesting to hear that they could be buttholes like any of us. Some had their biases. Some lived within lives of privilege. Some were self-consumed and unable to empathize with those unlike them. But then, they were moved to see that which was other than the life they had and wanted - and they saw the worth of those others - the value of their lives as part of the whole of us. They had the ability to live with a vision in which the concept of One Nation - indivisible - was a vision into which they knew they had to move their lives. There could not be an us and a them if we were to be this people who some folks called blessed. It is important to note that differences may exist and they must exist if we are to continue to grow and be transformed - blessed.

Now, for me, being blessed is not magical term. It is not a greeting or a send off. It is a character. So for me, blessed is not a religious term. It is a term full of vision. It is the shape of what is possible when people of character actualized the fullness of a humanity that leans into the well-being of all - and those people of character also understand the importance of all. A blessed community or a blessed country or a blessed family is one in which walls and borders and well-drawn lines are dropped so as to allow the blessed to side with those folks who may be unknown - strangers - outsiders. A community of character is made up of a community of characters - odd balls - who will become available to others without making their every move and decision on the basis of how their actions will benefit them first. We are blessed - we are characters - when there are needs and we step in to fill them - without a payback. We are blessed  - we are characters - who see how others unlike us are still a part of a greater us. We are blessed - we are characters - who step into and expect to step through our fears no matter how those fears are made to sound and look as though they are a real threat. We are blessed - we are characters - who let go of the need to defeat the other but wonder about the ways we can be a reconciling power with them.

I wonder what it would be like to live in the middle of a community of characters. As All Saints Day approaches, I was thinking of Bishop Oscar Romero. Had he not become a real character and simply stood by and with the powers of the day, he would have never seen the majority of people in El Salvador who were poor - who would become his teachers - who would inspire his day-to-day actions and enrich him with a vision for life rather than coins put in the coffer of the cathedral. Characters cannot be erased - though some folks find it necessary to try and do just that. Characters - the blessed - persistently open doors and reach across lines and risk touching and standing alongside the likes of them and those - and then, quite miraculously, their character changes - it is transformed - they expand how they characterized themselves. They now become a part of a universal character - a blessed mess of folk - who no longer go to war with that which they fear but are able to give their lives for the well-being of those they fear so that a new creation will begin to be exposed right in the middle of all the stuff we may consider the shit-of-the-day.

How will we become the characters that disrupt the flow of the day? How will we bless the day by being people who walk within the vision of life that humbles itself and therefore opens us up to be those strange characters who welcome the world of other characters we have yet to experience? So, look for characters - look for the odd-balls who seem to be willing to give life to others without any reward - look for lost souls who may be the ones who surprise us by helping us build and shape and give life to us. Ah, blessed are you.
TRRR

Beware: we often make the monsters that try to devour us

So, I must admit, I write in my books - extensively. I know it is not right on so many levels - but I cannot help myself. Don't worry, if you lend me one of your books I will not write in the margins or underline stuff along the way. That would just be wrong. Since I have turned to Kindle for some of my reading, there is no fear of me marking things up - no margin notes - no comments - no political or biblical or theological points and counter-points. I go back into those books I mark up in order to find quotes that disturb and those that inspire. My book reading memory is one that places points of interest on the page. So if I remember that there was a really inspiring or troubling piece in a book, I usually am able to flip through the pages looking for - let's say - something on the bottom of a page on the right. It doesn't always work.

I also take notes as I read. This is especially the case if I know that I will be using the material as an important go to on certain subjects. Most often it is when I think a theological point or a biblical reference used in a unique way will help me deal with something in the social, cultural, or political world around me.

So, here's what happened today. I was listening to several people discuss the Cruz/O'Rourke senatorial race in Texas. One of the people on the panel referenced the Trumpian insults thrown at Cruz during the 2016 presidential election. They were awful - remember? Trump's personal attacks on appearances and rumors and caricatures were called out by Cruz as being disgusting and cheap and unfit for someone running for president. In that day, these two republican candidates looked as though there would never be any reason for them to entertain the other's company - let alone share the same stage - ever. But, then we are in a new election cycle and it appears as though Cruz is not a sure bet to remain as a senator from Texas. Even the thought of him winning by a slim margin has created a degree of fear and trembling from the Cruz campaign and that of the national Republican party. All that anxiety over a possible defeat is quite normal. Many politicians on both sides are going through some of that in these day prior to the midterm elections.

Yet, in the midst of this situation of fear and trembling, there has been an erasure of differences. It has been happening ever since the 2016 election of President Trump. The bitter, biting warfare between Trump and Cruz that raged as they both sought out the office of the President, has been put aside. No reconciliation. No repentance. No agreement on truthfulness. Their differences have been put aside as their mutual desire for political self gain can be reached - it is as simple as that. As one writer noticed, their desire has reached a crisis stage. Now, here is the quote that has ignited my rant today: distinctions are blurred - human identities melt together - and, monsters appear. When that happens (and it happens on all sides of our culture/politics/religions) the powers that cluster together and form their bonds do so in order to preside over a sacrifice - a lynching - a way to win the day and make sure it is done at any cost. Therefore, values fall to the side - decency descends into the abyss - hope is abandoned for the order of the day even when it is fueled by fear. Rather than look to our better angels, we settle for our common demons that are able to infect us so that we do not seek justice, honor truthfulness, and work for the well-being of all.

When monsters appear, the least among us are devoured. Those of wealth and influence and power need not fear - monsters align with such people - monsters are controlled by such people - monsters give birth to such people - monsters are the incarnation of such people who must devour others in order to keep themselves alive and well.

In an anxious time when the voices of threat and humiliation and degradation and untruth become the pattern of the day, there are always signs of hopefulness. There are people who step up and laugh at the monsters. There are those who point out that the monsters have no clothes. There are those who insist on truth-telling even when monsters call them lies. There are people who speak and act off-script so that monstrous acts are exposed. There are people whose vulnerability gives a witness to the life where monsters have no power. Remember, monsters do not exist - unless we let them. That is why a parent will accompany a child and open the closet door or check under the bed or go into the dark basement. Monsters need darkness to be able to get away with murder. Unfortunately, monsters often create the darkness that helps them thrive. Yet, I rant.
TRRR

The Lynch Mob always starts with Voices before Actions

If a group of people act out in non-violent ways, is that group a mob? I tend to associate a mob with stuff getting broken - damaged - destroyed. When I think of a mob, I think of a group that whips up chaos. This is not the chaos that often accompanies change or the creation of something new. The chaos that comes out of acts of creativity is temporary because it is moving into something new - a new creation of sorts. Just think of a new team that has just come together to play ball together. At first, no matter how good the players are, there will be some chaos until all the variously gifted players engage in a give-and-take that helps produce a unit that can and does work together. We will begin to see a sense of order or, better yet, relationships that honor the others in a respectable manner.

A mob whips up the kind of chaos that attempts to rule by force - force directed at  others - forced used for ones own well being - force that will try to destroy that which is different or that which simply appears different. The mob will turn to violence in order to have the world be as they would like it to be. The violence will be directed toward those and them - outsiders. Now it may appear that I am merely talking about physical violence that is perpetrated against the other. Not. The language of the mob seeks to destroy or harm or discount the life of the other - in some way. I immediately thought of the mob that yelled out 'crucify him' before anyone even picked up the spikes and the cross beam for the lynching of Jesus. Eventually, a mob uses words to create an atmosphere within a group that is able to move the mob to acts of violence that bring their words to life.

When I think of a mob taking shape, my anxiety level increases. It is so easy to sense that something is about to happen and it is not a celebration of life. Rather, the mob will not and cannot coexist with the life of others - those who are different from the direction they want to go. There is no ability to call for acts of reconciliation. Even dialogue, that may be the gift needed to create mutual respect, is taken off the table. We are left with curses - threats - insults - ridicule - foul language. Having said all this, there is still no physical violence that is associated with a mob. But just wait. There can be a deliberate act of violence - something small. There can be an act of mistaken identity. There can be a word - a label - a trigger that is pulled. Then, the mob morphs into that which we know as a classic picture of how a mob begins to rule the moment. We all know some of those characteristics - they are constructed from fear and envy and desire that is willing to turn the moment into warring madness.

As of late, I have been shaken to a greater degree by the language of our President. He looked at the many women and men who protested around the hearings of now Justice Kavanaugh. He has freely used the word mob to describe them. But not just that. He now uses mob to describe those people who may hold a contrary view to his side. He even demonizes the media as the ones who stoke the fire of this mob to which he refers  There are so many other ways to address or describe those who do not go along with our choices and opinions. To call them a mob is to pull back the hammer of a gun and make it easier for someone to pull the trigger and fire. He is setting the stage for violence to be nurtured and more accessible. It is a quite, brilliant move. The violence of those who are not included in his branding of a mob will be considered a violence that is righteous and good and a saving power. Saving America from those not like us becomes a tribal cry for a limited view of reality. In the past few weeks we have moved away from those people being people of a different race or culture or religion or gender to also include those  people who do not go along with his plans. There have been many historical examples of such verbal condemnations that have led to a variety of lynch mobs allowed to express their violence as they please.

Along the way, we must remember that there really are mobs that form and know no other way to be involved with the society than to take parts in acts of violence. When the President calls one group a mob and he is citing their peaceful protests as examples of mob behavior, it takes very little to tie the acts of violence of a group like Antifa to the many and massive expressions of peaceable protests. That is disturbing. I have heard people say that the protests against this Trump era are fueled and backed by acts of violence - even if it is not backed by facts. With great awe and respect, I look to the teens of Parkland and the women of the Women's March and the people who raised their voices around the Supreme Court nomination. I also know of groups forming who intend to speak out and act out within non-violent protest in the upcoming months. If those voices allow themselves to become full of nothing but hate and violence-filled rhetoric, we must be willing to call them out and press for acts of nonviolence, truthfulness, and reconciliation. But I rant.
TRRR