Road trip

According to some family and friends, 

there’s a whole list of reasons why I shouldn’t go:

It’s too far.
It’s too short a visit.
It’s too political a reason.
It’s ‘not safe’ for a woman my age to drive 15 hours - by herself - 

across the country, 

much of it at night 

(inset ‘gasp’ here).
It will be too stressful to have such a tight time frame.
I’ll be exhausted when I get back.
Its too close to the Mission trip – 

when I’ll be driving for 15 hours in exactly the opposite direction.

All these reasons have varying degrees of validity.

However, 

here’s what I know as MY truth.

For months, 

I’ve despaired about the direction of our country, 

the lack of moral leadership 

and the reality that the public face of faith (as portrayed by evangelical ’Christians’) 

has been one of exclusion, fear and silence in the face of evil.

So, when I heard about an event, 

sponsored by Sojourners,

featuring elders from various faith traditions, 

many whom I’ve read and admired for years

 (Jim Wallis, Walter Brueggeman, Bishop Curry etc), 

the desire to be a part of it grew quickly.

More than just wishing I could go, 

I felt compelled to go – 

even though their language is not spiritual language 

I would normally use.  

“Reclaiming Jesus” and a Candlelight Vigil to the White House.

As I read their “Confession of Faith in a Time of Crisis”, 

I kept proclaiming “YES”.

The statement rang deep and true.

I want to stand in solidarity and silence.
I want to bring the light and love of my congregation 

and face the darkness that exits in our Nation’s Capitol.

I already know pilgrimage isn’t easy; 

it isn’t convenient; there’s always a cost.

I will sacrifice sleep, energy, vacation days and precious time with family – 

but there are moments that demand you stand for what you believe; 

moments when you put your money, time and energy where your mouth is.

For me, this is one such moment.

I will be there.

"When you wake up in the morning, called by God to be a self again, 

if you want to know who you are, watch your feet. 

Because where your feet take you, that is who you are.”

Fredrick Buechner

Tough

You don't have to prove to anyone just how tough you are.

You are still here, and you are still alive despite all of life's

storms and tornados and hurricanes.

You have weathered them all like a grand old oak tree, and

you are still here.

You are still alive.

And if that isn't tough, I don't know what is.

Nikita Gill

If you haven't already discovered Nikita Gill, I certainly recommend her to you.

There's an honesty about how she writes of life, pain and relationships that feels authentic to me.

Even though I'm not in the throes anymore of the angst that can go along with some version of a committed relationship, the memories can still be conjured up

 - and her words ring true.

Expect to see more of her writing here!

Those tremors you feel?

Not earthquakes in Oakland, 

not the earth cleaving and spewing molten lava in Hawaii, 

not Teutonic plates shifting from fracking in Oklahoma… 

nope, this is from millions of us who were raised in dysfunctional families 

shaking our heads, practically in unison, 

in familiarity and disbelief, 

as we watch the unfolding spectacle 

of Meghan Markel’s family acting the fool 

just days before her wedding.

Headlines changing by the hour:
“Will her father walk her down the aisle?”
“Father bows out of wedding. Queen annoyed”
“Father now wants to walk her down the aisle again”.

Many of us are having sympathy pains and flashbacks 

to our own nuptial nightmares.

Our excitement and anticipation in watching the spectacle in England 

now covered in a sheen of cold sweat 

over exactly what kind of spectacle we might be seeing.

We’ve been there;

 with the drama right up until - and in some cases through – 

OUR big day.  

Every family’s pathology comes with no end of pot stirrers; 

folks who have no use for drama not of their own making. 

And, with wicked, hateful step siblings throwing shade 

to an ineffective, largely absent father 

with (metaphorically and physically) a weak heart, 

this very modern American family seems to have it all!

If it helps to know, Meghan,

you’re not alone.

Millions of us know the humiliation of having our family’s pathology 

 splayed out for everyone to see.

We know the embarrassment of pissing off the family 

into which you’re marrying.

Yeah, I get that they’re famous 

but they have plenty of their own pathology. 

They’ve got enough money and multiple houses in which to hide out, 

so their dirty laundry is, at this very moment, 

not flying like freak flags across the garden,

but it's happened before - and no doubt will again.

 

Now is simply your time; 

nothing more, nothing less.

I vividly remember making wry predictions with my fiancee

about which parent would get drunk the fastest

 and embarrass us the most – 

 and desperately hoping it would be one of HIS.

(BTW, it was his!)

If it helps to know, Meghan, we’re rooting for you.

My advice?

Use your dads heart ailment as an excuse and have him sit this one out; 

quietly, in the pews – or better yet, back at home in Mexico.
Don’t give Griselda and Igor or whatever your siblings are called another thought.

There’s a reason why some of us aren’t close to our families of origin.

You DO get to pick who you share a life with, who you love – 

and you CAN chose ‘less toxically’ than the crew you inherited at birth.

In just a few more days, 

“The Firm” will help protect you even more 

from having to deal with the primordial ooze 

from which you ascended.

Hold your tiara up high and keep smiling!

You’ve got this!

Just to be clear

I try to stay in my bubble.

I focus on beauty,

people and places I love.

 I read words that uplift my spirit and challenge me to grow.

I capture moments with my camera

and in my minds eye. 

I contemplate the world and my life's meaning

while sitting on my deck, 

listening to night sounds.

But the world intrudes;

it creeps in and sinks into my ears;

it worms its way down to my heart.

I’m just here to reaffirm that the current state of affairs in our country is not normal.

A long term enemy of this country interfered in our election process 

and continues to influence those occupying positions of power.

Immigration officers raid hospital rooms and schools, 

tearing children away from their parents, 

inflicting trauma that will reverberate for a lifetime.

Human rights for the LGBTQ community are eroding.

Environmental protections are vanishing; 

the earth is being looted, ecosystems destroyed and polluted, 

possibly beyond repair.

Puerto Rico is still in shambles – 

8 months after being slammed by a massive hurricane – 

and we turn a blind eye,

even as we face another storm season.

People in our country, 
the richest country in the world, 

are without potable, clean water in their own homes.

(ex Flint, MI and many communities in Appalachia)

Hate crimes are on the rise in all areas of the country.

Gun sales and murder rates continue to escalate 

with little response from elected officials; 

officials who have been bought and paid for by the gun lobby; 

officials who value campaign contributions over the lives of their constituents.

Medical care for thousands has been compromised by sabotaging the Affordable Care Act 

and bankruptcies due to medical expenses are once again on the rise after years of decline.

‘Christians’ distort basic tenants of the very Gospel they profess to live by –

refusing to show hospitality to strangers, 

refusing to feed the hungry, 

refusing to give shelter to the homeless, 

refusing to LOVE THY NEIGHBOR. 

‘Christians’ embrace a pathological liar, a serial breaker of marital vows, 

a corrupt businessman who lies, swindles and cheats as easily as he breathes.

Feigned outrage over some off color remarks from a female comedian

while wholeheartedly embracing that same quality in a leader “who tells it like it is” 

is the very definition of hypocrisy.

Sorry, friends, 

when you accept a man who spews hate and proudly displays his ignorance, 

you forfeit any moral high ground.

Facts are no longer ‘facts’; 

they are inconveniences to be twisted, distorted and debated.

Science is suspect.

The rule of law is for all us in flyover country, not those in the White House.

Taking an oath “to solemnly preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States” 

was merely another vow he had no intention of keeping.

A revolving door where “the best people” enter 

and soulless hacks with ruined careers are spit back out months later, 

having failed the loyalty test created in the bottomless ego pit of a narcissistic man-child

is this Administrations M.O.

Everything is contextual, malleable and ever changing

It’s all smoke and mirrors, “nothing to see here” and “look at the shiny new thing”.

It’s beyond comprehension.

It defies all logic.

Make no mistake, 

while this has become our new ‘norm’,

it is not normal –

nor should we ever accept it as such. 

 Just to be clear:
it may look bleak,
because it's not over yet,

but it's not over yet.