Jesus

The title of this post is not a exclamation - I'm actually talking about Jesus.  I wanna share three great fortunes I have had on this subject.  The first is that I have always been moved by penitence.  Seeing people accept that there is a greater force in the Universe that themselves has always moved me deeply.  The second great fortune I had on this topic was The Church of the Redeemer Youth Group in 1991 and 1992.  There I was taught by the ever-patient Bob Brooks and Marc Andrus in my first Bible study.  Gosh maybe I should have said 4 great fortunes - I also majored in Religion at Vassar College (with no small thanks to Marc Epstein who is my friend on Facebook and might actually read this!).  My next item was going to be the past three years of working with Nathan Rein and studying various texts with the members of our Friends Reading Group at Schuylkill Monthly Meeting.

All this is to say, I have spend a lot of my life studying the Bible and trying to access what, if any, TRUTH might lie there.  This Christmas, thanks to a lot of wonderful people, I have a heartfelt understanding of the legacy of Jesus.

For me, Jesus was an outsider, a revolutionary, and a man destined for death in a gruesome and public way at the hands of the government.  Steve Biko's birthday was this week.  He is an exemplar of a modern man who also was an outsider in his country, a revolutionary, and died in a gruesome way at the hands of his government (none of whom were ever punished, though he was beaten to death in police custody.)

When I listen to a song like this, I am moved to tears.  For me this is a song deifying someone who dared to challenge the status quo, and who was willing to die for what he believed in.  He was a radical spiritualist who spent a lot of time alone in prayer or meditation.  He befriended the least liked people in society.  That gives me hope.

I watched Michelle Obama this evening being interviewed by Oprah Winfrey at the White House.  First of all, seeing two African American women talking about the legacy of the first African American President was so moving.  As Michelle talked about hope, I felt a renewal of it.  If a black man can lead this racist country, one crazy white man cannot bring us down.

And, if a baby born to unwed parents in a barn can inspire people centuries later, then resistance to what we know is wrong is never futile.

I have to say that again in case you are skimming this:

RESISTANCE TO WHAT WE KNOW IS WRONG IS NEVER FUTILE.

So, take a listen to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, and when they reach their crescendo, imagine all the people you fear and hate falling on their knees acknowledging a greater Truth.  Know that penitence to the Divine is a shared human experience. Sometimes it just takes awhile. And please, know that we will be ok.  Maybe not as individuals - so many have suffered so much - but as a human race.  History favors justice.

Authenticity is the spice of life

There is a joke quote in my family - "Consistency is the spice of life." They are quoting me.  As an anxious Virgo, I said that once in all seriousness.  And I really believe it!  Consistency is rare and adds something to life that is otherwise changeable and unpredictable.  But I have a new twist on that oft-mocked quote: Authenticity is the spice of life.

This new twist comes out of something that has been happening to me in the last year or two (full-disclosure, I am 41 1/2 so it may be a 40's thing). I am weary of all before and afters, I don't want to see any more make-overs, and I don't want tips like this one I just read in a woman's magazine about how to organize your mudroom: "Children should each have a labelled basket for each sport easily accessible." I wish I could generate in writing the tone of my reaction to that.  It goes something like this: Oh SHOULD they?! Because A. my children SHOULD be doing multiple sports, B. my children SHOULD have their lives managed for them C. I SHOULD have a mud-room big enough for this nonsense D. I SHOULD feel inadequate with a bunch of hangers and a few messy baskets....you get my point.  The truth is, I DO have a mud-room with a cubby for each kid and it makes it easier for me to put that crap away.  But the idea that anyone would take that stupid advice and feel bad about their parenting or their home makes me cringe.

So I say forget parenting advice, forget home improvement before and afters, forget 'change your life in 30 days' and remember this: being you is your first and only job. Helping your kids learn about being them is your next job (assuming you have kids - if you don't then YOU know what your second job is! I can't tell you that because I'm not here to give you or anyone advice!)  Relax into it.  Or don't.  In fact, if stressing out about it all makes you feel more authentic, them by all means, indulge.  Just do your own damn thing.

And, if you want to see someone doing their own damn thing for all the world to see, watch this Bernie Sanders video and cry your eyes out like I did when I watched it.

https://youtu.be/RU3NKvvxcSs

Anyone who can be that authentic for his whole damn life gets my vote.