Traveling Mercies

I am not sure what my writing time will be this morning, but I did want to record this thought that came to me very strongly in the car yesterday.  Actually, it's been ringing in my head off and on in the months since the 2016 election--and to be honest, off and on my whole life.

I was thinking in terms of life changes, vocational changes, as I listened to various news shows on NPR.  What skills/talents/occupations will be needed to rebuild the country, not just to tear it down as so many are doing these days. I was thinking in terms of a poem, but also life changes--what should we be studying/learning right now so that we're ready when the country needs us.

Part of me thought, "You've already covered this material in a poem"--I thought of the ending of "Exercising Freedom" (you can read the whole poem here):

"You hear the voices of the ancestors,
colored with both reason and panic.
Go faster, they urge.
You are needed up ahead."

I haven't come to any radical illuminations/conclusions about any of these issues, but how interesting to frame the question of life's purpose differently:  in a few years, when the country is ready to stop ripping itself apart, what types of people will be needed?

The poem that I'm writing will go a different direction--the poem won't assume that the country will present itself as a torn fabric ready to be repurposed.  Will we wish we had learned to shoot our father's guns?  Will we wish we had learned more about canning and putting food away?  Will we wish he had bought a house in a neutral country or learned to ride a motorbike so that we can deliver relief supplies to hurricane ravaged shorelines?

How interesting to scroll through Facebook this morning to learn that others are thinking similar thoughts:

Carrie Newcomer:  "Speed of Soul Thought - We are not the resistance.We are not the resistance. We are the new world, the better kinder world, a world that is coming and already here. We are the world that cares for one another, cares for the earth, welcomes the stranger, extends and lives out radical and revolutionary love, the new world that doesn’t just tolerate diversity but values and celebrates diversity. We are the new world that is being born in travail and troubled times. We are not the resistance...it is those who in fear or anger or misunderstanding would try to hold us in 1950‘s or 1930’s ideas of power and privilege. No we are not the resistance. We are the new world that is coming and already here."

Parker J. Palmer:  "We've presented this show five times, and we’re constantly struck by how hungry people are to explore, in words and music, all that its title implies. We live in hard times, but we can still live in hope—hope for what's possible when people reach deep within AND come together in community to follow our “better angels” toward caring for one another.

Despite the American myth of “rugged individualism,” no individual, no enterprise, no nation ever made it alone. We need to draw on our own resources, of course. But we also need collaborations of many sorts—which means staying rooted in the trust that collaboration requires.

Let’s fend off the “divide and conquer” politicians who sow seeds of distrust to disempower “We the People,” so big money and bigotry can run the show. Let’s turn to one another across all lines of difference, and work together toward the “more perfect union” the U.S. Constitution was written to help us achieve. What we need IS here—it's within us and between us!

I’m sharing these pictures not only to let you know that we had a grand time in Richmond, VA. I’m sharing them because that audience reminded me that many, many Americans share the values and hopes that can and must be reclaimed as this country’s North Star."