Independence Day 2020
Because America is a dream, for the whole world, that has not yet been realized, a place and an ideal where everyone lives in brotherhood, freedom, and love. Where the most fortunate in society take good care of the less fortunate, not with a hand out but by reaching out a hand to pull the other up so we can truly stand on the same mountain top, equals. ~Paraphrased from the ideas of Dr. Rev. Martin Luther King and Bono
My fellow human beings, It has been a long time since I have written. The Great Pause has had many challenging, beautiful and peaceful moments for me and for my family. I pray for you every day in my dock prayers; for the health of all our parts, for our breath, and for our spirits to be serene and happy while we await this healing. May you be safe
May you be healthy
And may you live with ease and happiness.
I deeply wish that the virus, which was probably sent to unite us, had not divided us politically. It makes my heart feel uneasy and this feeling is accentuated by reading Isabel Allende”s beautiful book, The House of The Spirits, in which the lives of three generations of Chileans sweep toward a coup d’etat and into 17 years of a brutal dictatorship. I have known this story all my life because my Grandmother grew up in Chile. She felt very blessed to watch the regime from America and raise my father, and his siblings here in the land of the free. She always told us that good people must stay involved in politics or all can be lost. She taught us that our right to vote is an incredible privilege, honor, and duty that can be lost if not cherished and should be extended, OF COURSE, to every citizen of a country, not just the ones who believe what you believe. Chile was supposedly, a strong democracy, where nobody believed a dictatorship was possible. When Isabel’s uncle, Salvador Allende, was elected, the U.S. was uncomfortable with a “socialist” on the continent and so we sent money and guns to the conservatives. The conservative party of Chile and the United States, were absolutely mistaken that violence was just necessary to overthrow the left political party, that the military would give political control back to the conservatives, and all would go on as it had before. This is not what happened. The military, under the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet, ruled the country for 17 years in a completely inhumane way, silencing all opposition with torture and death. My Abuelita passed on 21 years ago. I wish I could sit with her now, squish her soft hands, and listen to her stories. It is possible that she and her family, who were well off, were at first supportive of ousting Allende, but I know that she and many good people deeply regretted that small mindedness.
We, in America, are so polarized now. So many of us see the opposite party as immoral or even evil. We are getting our news from such biased and polar opposite sources. We must learn to listen deeply to exactly what our leaders are saying and tweeting and decide for ourselves …Do you want to listen and follow someone who speaks fear and division or someone who speaks unity and forward progress? I understand anyone who voted for Mr. Trump in the last election. I understand wanting change and fresh ideas. Though I question the wisdom of electing anyone who incites a crowd to chant, “Lock her up!” And here is where I’ve made my own mistakes for which I am sorry, for when I heard that, I thought, well what he wants done to another should be done to him. Instead of thinking: TREAT OTHER PEOPLE THE WAY YOU WOULD LIKE TO BE TREATED; not the way they treat you! So Mr Trump; Thank you, you have taught me that I have the same ego in myself for which I need to be ever vigilant and which dedicates me more strongly to the practice of deep listening without judgement. Thank you, President Trump, for your service. I can see that it has aged you and I am sure you have done your best. I hope your ego was cracked, the light of humanity can shine in, and that you become an enlightened being.
May you be well
As we approach this election, Let us remember that everyone is entitled to their opinion. Let us not judge them. Let us have faith in the process of elections and democracy. It is not a perfect system but is the best we have and will work much better if every citizen casts their vote. VOTE VOTE VOTE. Check in now with your town to register and see if you can submit the paper work for an absentee ballot. Listen to opposing views with love and understanding: for if we listen with repulsion and judgement, we become the unconsciousness we seek to evolve from. Look into that person’s eyes and see them in all their goodness and miraculous depth of humanity. If the police officers had been able to listen to George Floyd’s requests for water, to look into his eyes and the eyes of Breonna Taylor; their lives might have been saved. If the soldiers in Chile had been able to look and listen to the people opposed to them, there would not have been such a reign of terror. Let us watch the political pendulum swing with serenity; the human spirit is evolving. Look at the #Blacklivesmatter marches. All is well people~ We are not being pulled out of our beds in the middle of the night by the secret police. And all will continue to go well if we trust the system, allow people their opinions. We don’t have to agree with them, we don’t have to change them, we just have to vote and take care of each other. As Barack Obama said many times when he left office, “The peaceful transition of power.” The elections are not perfect. Let us each and everyone of us do the right thing in each moment, everybody’s vote matters. Let the process work. Do not, as individuals, do anything that will gerrymander boundaries and effect outcomes. Trust in the process. We are all going to be OK, no matter how the election turns out if we can look into our political opponents’ eyes and see our common humanity. That is all we need.
May we be well
May we be safe
And may we live with ease and happiness
And help others at every turn.
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