Because of the Farm
What we do for each other, kindness even when we are angry or frustrated means we have grown enough to stop and reflect before hurting another. Impulse control sounds like we are speaking about small children but honestly, it’s about adults. The grown people we encounter every day and our own actions.
I am not sure our own environment has led Americans, as a People to develop self reflection. Collectively, as a toddler Nation we ‘control’ others/ourselves by seeking that which is outside us to adjust our behavior as citizens.
Trained in authoritarian punishing religion, yet contrasting ‘god so loved the world’ rhetoric that relies on an angry Creator but somehow also while sacrificed is the ultimate loving example. These two juxtapositions create conflict that spills over into most western culture. We clearly cannot be trusted to be taught to be kind, respectful, and empathetic as that will lead to weakness and being walked upon. Therefore, as civilization we look to enforcement as the means rather than the end results. The idea that an officer with a gun can be approachable and the citizen that pays their salary need be afraid has taken us further into a dark path wherein distrust and those drawn to authoritarian control over the population fill our public safety system.
The continued killing of black, and brown, and poor whites through neglect, contempt by those who have authority over others, and the lack of respect, accountability, and integrity within the ranks of those that carry guns and have power over the lives of United States citizens widens the divide.
The only way to break out of it be of those categories, become a wealthy athlete, entertainer, savvy drug dealer, or expert in ‘gaming the system’. This means you will step on others, leave behind your dignity and your ethos are simply about getting what’s good for you. We see this in public officials, in elected, and in the general overarching message the only value that matters is how much money you have which is how much power you have over your own life and that of others.
Seeking knowledge, work has become how you live rather than part of your own contribution to a healthy society. Those who are on the treadmill who either cannot choose their work because of issues of insurance or leaders that exhort the idea of giving all for your company no longer have a feel for what living actually means.
No quiet moments to take in the beauty of creation. No simple daily tasks of doing something good simply because it is part of creating a better existence and ripples outward. The US citizen is an automaton building capital whether by laboring or providing the means for amassing wealthy for corporate entities. The joy and sorry of a mom and pop business smaller income less flash and more beauty is not in our modern lexicon.
The more recognition, the more money, the more of everything with the only purpose to further one's own interests and anything outside of that is socialism or woke ideology.
I can’t quite tease out what I’m thinking about this moment but that we must keep talking and writing about what is better what can be more important than the ideals of all people ALL people having the right to an existence of peace. Getting back to the basics of any tenet of faith is not about creating or maintaining wealth but in keeping both Grace and stewardship over Creation and amongst one another.
Ideally, we would measure leadership not by money or financial success but by actual deeds done within their own communities.
Rather than how tough or hardened leadership should be perhaps we put those qualities to better use in our military not public safety officers! But public safety must first feel that leadership in government will also ensure that citizens are not so damaged that they then damage others and require strong police forces.
If leadership were to lead with courage and honesty rather than political expediency and personal wealth building we might see the reality of our own Nation build itself rather than tear itself apart.
The disease that is manifested in a person like Donald Trump is that he cannot see beauty unadorned. He does not see our huge National Treasures as not that of Fort Knox and gold, but of National Parks, of public schools that when funded properly lead to educated citizens who then can choose how they want to participate, of museum that unfold the truth of our beginnings so we can begin to make peace like the German people did with their own horror past. Instead, every single experience an American measures wealth is by how much ‘they’ own, how much they can avoid those they are afraid of or do not understand and how instead of beauty and looking beyond a political cycle or the the yearly GDP report - we see our children still innocent as young teens, our elderly respected and still feeling useful as human beings. Our young people who want to make families or any one of us individually making the best use of our time and talents to achieve a Nation that will leave beauty and reflection on how we can participate in helping others if we have so much more.
One thing I know for certain, if the table is too small blocking the door and hoarding what you have left will lead to eventual starvation. However, inviting in the stranger to become part of your community to help build larger tables, to bring forth their own history and understanding will feed a Nation.
Let’s build bigger tables - let’s move our tables out of doors and share with anyone who passes by!
