Category: a hope and a future (Page 4 of 20)

The Birthday of the World

The Birthday of the World

(as told by Rachel Naomi Remen to Krista Tippett in Becoming Wise)

In the beginning there was only the holy darkness, the Ein Sof, the source of life. In the course of history, at a moment in time, this world, the world of a thousand thousand things, emerged from the heart of the holy darkness as a great ray of light. And then, perhaps because this is a Jewish story, there was an accident, and the vessels containing the light of the world, the wholeness of the world, broke. The wholeness of the world, the light of the world, was scattered into a thousand thousand fragments of light. And they fell into all events and all people, where they remain deeply hidden until this very day.

Now… the whole human race is a response to this accident. We are here because we are born with the capacity to find the hidden light in all events and all people, to lift it up and make it visible once again and thereby to restore the innate wholeness of the world. It’s a very important story for our times. This task is called tikkun olam in Hebrew. It’s the restoration of the world.

And this is, of course, a collective task. It involves all people who have ever been born, all people presently alive, all people yet to be born. We are all healers of the world. That story opens a sense of possibility. It’s not about healing the world by making a huge difference. It’s about healing the world that touches you, that’s around you.

 

Moving Forward with Intention

After some reflection, here’s how I intend to move forward in the midst of turmoil. I’d love to hear the intentions of others for these next few critical years.

  1. Hope. I hope for nothing less than success for our President-Elect. This success will be defined by the ability to bring the country together, to create an environment of a healing for democracy to do its best work. Perhaps some of his policy will bring healing to those who voted for him, and they will come to a place where they can begin to engage the hurt of those sitting on the other side, as well. If we don’t hope for good things from our President, that’s “going low.” Our values mean nothing if we cannot practice them when it’s hard or we’re not getting our way.  Progressives want progress, and we’ll never see it if we step aside and hope to watch things burn.
  2. Love. I will love my LBGT+, non-white, non-male friends more fiercely (read: loudly) than ever. I’m going to find some courage to say “not okay” when I hear terrible things said about them. I will celebrate their marriages. Rather than asking those on the fringes of society to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt their worthiness or the effects of pain within their heritage and personal story, I’m going to start with acceptance of their personal truth. I’m going to say “tell me more” when I hear frustrations and I will make space for their pain to sit with me. I will ask how to be a better ally and try my hardest to do the work.
  3. Peace. Bi-partisanship doesn’t only belong in Washington. We keep crying for our elected officials to work together, but we won’t move our own Asses and Elephants. If we don’t, we need to acknowledge that our representatives are truly representing us. When there is good Republican policy, let’s call it good. When there is good Democratic policy, let’s call it good. Let’s stop believing one party holds a corner of the market when it comes to Rightness or Goodness. This is what it means to make peace; we’re helping and loving those not like us. Stepping outside the tribal bounds to create relations with the other.

 

The Crack in the Middle

I went to bed before Ohio had even 1% precincts reporting and awoke to some minor chaos. My best commentary comes from Krista Tippett’s new book, Becoming Wise, in a section highlighting her interview with Francis Kissling:

“You have got to approach differences with this notion that there is good in the other. That’s it. And that if we can’t figure out how to do that, and if there isn’t the crack in the middle where there’s some people on both sides who absolutely refuse to see the other as evil, this is going to continue.”

This is our work. If your preferred candidate is going home or to the White House, change will only arise if we keep that crack in the middle, the people – of both sides – who refuse to see the other as evil.

Those who voted for Trump might be tempted to gloat and use victory of evidence of right-ness. Those who voted for Hillary or any other party might be tempted to question the moral character of their neighbor or our collective  nation. Both of these reactions create space in the mind to believe that the people we live with and among are not in some way good, which will get us nowhere. In another four years, we will find ourselves at the exact same place of divisiveness and anger.

Those who voted for the next president are not evil. Those who did not vote for the next president are not evil. In times of question, concern, frustration or celebration, the hardest place to be – and in my opinion, the most vital to humankind – is the crack in the middle.

 

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