Please allow me to rant through storytelling. It is about guns - so hold on to your firearms of preference. This is a story that I have shared in portion on Facebook and used in part in the Welcome to Worship this last weekend of what seemed to be endless bloodshed in the land of the free and the home of the brave.
It was back on our last full day staying in a small village outside of Dubrovnik, Croatia. Karen and I decided that we wanted to take one last adventure before we headed out of town. We hired a driver from a company we used several times in Croatia. We were both amazed at the story of where he lived and how he lives away from this wife and child as he earned a wage to support them. He was a really good guy who was very willing to address himself to some of our basic and often tourist-like questions.
Our destination was to be Mostar, Bosnia-Herzgovina. He suggested to additional side trips to small scenic spots not too far off the beaten path we were taking. Mostar is a quaint small town. The arching walking bridge over the river that divides the town is one of the most picturesque scenes we encountered on that vacation. It was also a scenic wonder to me because as we approached the town, the minarets from a dozen mosques dotted the skyline and there was one lone church steeple. Quite a change from the cities and towns of Ohio.
Mostar was also known as being a place that was part of the battlefield of the Balkan war in the early 1990s. As we prepped for the day trip, we read about the fighting that went on there and how many bullet holes could still be seen dotting a number of buildings in the town. One source noted that many of those holes were turned into parts of graffiti art. This was once a divided town but now was a symbol of people with differences living together in peace.
Well, as we were driving to Mostar we asked our driver about his family and he asked us about the United States. He told us some of the tensions that still exist between Croatians, Bosnians, and Serbs. Quite enlightening. Then - we may have come to a light or an open expanse of road - he asked us if we were afraid. Karen and I were confused for a second and Karen said something like,
"You mean afraid to be in Bosnia?" He said, "No. To live in the United States with all the guns."
Wow. Here we were passing road signs of the towns that are infamously associated with bloodshed and genocide and he is asking if we are afraid to live in the United States. He was not merely referring to a story he may have heard. He really knew the statistics about guns and death by guns and military type weapons that anyone can own.
In a bit of shock, we tried to tell him that we were not afraid - but we agreed that there are so many guns out and about that if you only heard the about the number of guns in the hands and homes of Americans, it should sound frightening to anyone. Yet, there in that van we were once again hearing a story we had heard quite often on our latest trips to Europe in the last two years. The image of the U.S. is becoming more and more deflated. And worst of all, it comes as a great disappointment to people 'over there.' The old term Ugly American that was heard often in Europe during the months I was in England in the early 70's has intensified. Now, it is not merely about how we carry ourselves and know only one language and have a lack of understanding of other cultures. Now, it refers to a culture of violence and hatred and an inability to live within a diverse population - in peace. Our young driver sounded sad and discouraged about who we were becoming. It was as though we were a beacon - a light - that had gone dim.
Unfortunately, as we all know, as a nation we will not work on us. We are too busy trying to fix the blame for all that is wrong on someone out there. Even though we are not made secure by the number of guns we have or the availability of guns, our lust for more is growing as we whip up the fear among us. And, others in the world see that in us. They see a country allowing fear to cause the brave and the free to fire away at will.
By the way, we found a small artisan who was making metal plates in his little shop. We went into to watch him work and yes, we bought stuff. But here is what really hit us. He had turned empty casing of large caliber bullets and mortars into pieces of art. I thought: to hell with letting death rule us and make fools of us by worshipping the weapons that enflame a warring madness among us. Here was an artist who understood the reality of a population - a homeland - being devastated by violence. He may not be an artist who turns swords into plowshares, but he knows how to turn bullets into vessels of beauty and life. I say, unleash the artists and the people of grand imagination and let them lead us out of the grip of death we seem to love so dearly.
TRRR
Tuesday, August 6, 2019
Saturday, August 3, 2019
Dark Psychic Forces and other powers that whip us up - let us down
I am not familiar with the work of Marianne Williamson. She is presently one of the Democratic candidates for president who has been able to demonstrate that she has followers and she is able to generate donations - the present standard for a stage appearance.
I bring her up because she makes me think of what could be an interesting aspect of these debates - even when we come to the debates between the Republican and Democratic candidates. I would not call it a third party - that is a tainted term. I will call it another voice. It is the voice that many people turn to when they are trying to be grounded. It is the voice of people who ponder the well-being of the earth and all that is therein. They do not have to be people of faith - yet that is where we often will hear such voices. It is also the voice of tried and trues atheist and those who have deliberately pulled out of the domains of organized religion in order be attached to a vision of peace that is often tossed to the side.
As much as I have heard folks discount Williamson's presence on stage, in my opinion she did offer the most critical voice to the listening public and the other candidates. Embedded in one of the few times she was given the mic, she warned us of the dark psychic force of collective hatred. She was playing the important role of Toto pulling back the curtain on the Wizard of Oz and the young child saying what needed to be said in The Emperor's New Clothes. The games of politics often lead us in circles - never moving ahead - just spinning in the same space. It is a place that seeks to settle for what I would call the demonic. I think it is what Paul called the principalities and powers. It may also be what I have learned to call the mechanism of culture that no one dare counter - less you be crucified.
Imagine this. MSNBC or CNN or FOX gives a panel made up of people who are respected within their circles of faith or their work in society for being wise - insightful - prophetic - courageous - nonpartisan - and let them offer comments and suggestions and critiques and take the clothes off of that which is down right demonic but dressed up to shine on stage. No scapegoating will be allowed. No us-them will be tolerated. No party line or party talking points can be tossed around. The voices of the candidates must be met with the fire of truthfulness that benefits all of us. I would expect that candidates would be called out - dissected - and their comments put under the fire of a wisdom that most of us do not want to hear when we are so tied to this party or that - this race or that - this social status or that - this line of work or that - this neighborhood or that.... We would also have to make sure that the folks on this panel were not like the court prophet of the Hebrew scriptures - those who went along with and stood behind the powers of the day. We would want ones more like the Great Prophets or Jesus or - yes, put your prophet person here. Trust me, the false prophets would be completely exposed if they started spreading the manure of the voices of hate or political correctness or any other voice that continues to build the status quo of what we have learned to accept as how we must live.
This would not be a religious show. Just as debates do not need a live audience present, there would be no live audience here. But afterwards, let the pundits go after them - let the editorial writer have their say - let the teachers and preachers within congregations quote them and challenge them. I don''t want any of them to be people of faith whose jobs are now tightly wound up in the mechanism of political parties or the web of religious money and status or the seats at news tables under the moniker of analyst/consultant.
You may say, I'm a dreamer. Yes. I'd like to think I am being a bit foolish. I know that no one would be pleased with the selection of this panel. So, select a second one for the next debate. Or bring the panel together for a special event and let folks listen in to the back and forth, the places of complete disagreement and complete agreement, and places of compromise and clarification.
Have this panel take on questions from the public. What damage could it do. Instead, what a gift it would be to people who care about the well-being of our country and the well-being of all who make up the land of the free and the home of the brave.
TRRR
I bring her up because she makes me think of what could be an interesting aspect of these debates - even when we come to the debates between the Republican and Democratic candidates. I would not call it a third party - that is a tainted term. I will call it another voice. It is the voice that many people turn to when they are trying to be grounded. It is the voice of people who ponder the well-being of the earth and all that is therein. They do not have to be people of faith - yet that is where we often will hear such voices. It is also the voice of tried and trues atheist and those who have deliberately pulled out of the domains of organized religion in order be attached to a vision of peace that is often tossed to the side.
As much as I have heard folks discount Williamson's presence on stage, in my opinion she did offer the most critical voice to the listening public and the other candidates. Embedded in one of the few times she was given the mic, she warned us of the dark psychic force of collective hatred. She was playing the important role of Toto pulling back the curtain on the Wizard of Oz and the young child saying what needed to be said in The Emperor's New Clothes. The games of politics often lead us in circles - never moving ahead - just spinning in the same space. It is a place that seeks to settle for what I would call the demonic. I think it is what Paul called the principalities and powers. It may also be what I have learned to call the mechanism of culture that no one dare counter - less you be crucified.
Imagine this. MSNBC or CNN or FOX gives a panel made up of people who are respected within their circles of faith or their work in society for being wise - insightful - prophetic - courageous - nonpartisan - and let them offer comments and suggestions and critiques and take the clothes off of that which is down right demonic but dressed up to shine on stage. No scapegoating will be allowed. No us-them will be tolerated. No party line or party talking points can be tossed around. The voices of the candidates must be met with the fire of truthfulness that benefits all of us. I would expect that candidates would be called out - dissected - and their comments put under the fire of a wisdom that most of us do not want to hear when we are so tied to this party or that - this race or that - this social status or that - this line of work or that - this neighborhood or that.... We would also have to make sure that the folks on this panel were not like the court prophet of the Hebrew scriptures - those who went along with and stood behind the powers of the day. We would want ones more like the Great Prophets or Jesus or - yes, put your prophet person here. Trust me, the false prophets would be completely exposed if they started spreading the manure of the voices of hate or political correctness or any other voice that continues to build the status quo of what we have learned to accept as how we must live.
This would not be a religious show. Just as debates do not need a live audience present, there would be no live audience here. But afterwards, let the pundits go after them - let the editorial writer have their say - let the teachers and preachers within congregations quote them and challenge them. I don''t want any of them to be people of faith whose jobs are now tightly wound up in the mechanism of political parties or the web of religious money and status or the seats at news tables under the moniker of analyst/consultant.
You may say, I'm a dreamer. Yes. I'd like to think I am being a bit foolish. I know that no one would be pleased with the selection of this panel. So, select a second one for the next debate. Or bring the panel together for a special event and let folks listen in to the back and forth, the places of complete disagreement and complete agreement, and places of compromise and clarification.
Have this panel take on questions from the public. What damage could it do. Instead, what a gift it would be to people who care about the well-being of our country and the well-being of all who make up the land of the free and the home of the brave.
TRRR
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