Sunday Musings – January 17, 2021
This is the beginning of what promises to be another historic week in the United States. It is the most contested and emotional transfer of presidential power in the United States in our lifetime. Sadly, the fact that the outgoing president will not welcome the newly elected president to the White House is but a symptom of the healing that is needed in the days, months and years to come. State Capitals and the United States Capital are being heavily guarded for fear of violent attempts to interfere with the swearing in of newly elected officials. There continue to be accusations of rigged or stolen elections although no proof has been presented.
Some in our country seem surprised that there is a credible threat to the continuation of this experiment in democracy. Yet, it is a democracy which has systematically endorsed policies which promote the myths of justice for all. It is a democracy which has continued to promote the lie that all have access to boot straps by which to pull oneself up. It is a democracy which often publicly endorses only one religion. It is a democracy whose political leaders too often demand the environment adapt to humans rather than us humans adapting to it.
As we prepare to celebrate the ideals of Martin Luther King Jr on the 18th of January and to inaugurate a new President on the 20th of January my wish for of all of us who inhabit the United State is to recommit to those ideals. The founders of this nation - white landowning men - constructed an imperfect union; one with lofty ideals embedded in it: ideals such as “All men’ are created equal.” They did so with limited awareness of the extent to which we citizens would be challenged to enlarge our understanding that “all men” has to mean “all people”; the acceptance of the truth that no one is free if all are not free; that there is no justice unless it applies to all; that there are limits to our rape of the environment; that the God of our understanding might be more god-like than the founders could have imagined. My wish and prayers is we commit to:
· Being more inclusive.
· Economic policies where all earn enough to support oneself and one’s family.
· The resources of health care be embedded in our economic system.
· The god of our understanding allow for the miracles of science in our approach to health care, sexuality, class, and to all areas of our divine dance with the universe.
We in the United States are experiencing the blessing of the reality of both the limitations of ignoring the injustices built into our system and the possibilities of correcting them; of taking a major step towards growing into the nation that our forefathers - intentionally or unintentionally.
This week contains all the possibilities of what is best in us humans when we accept the invitation to claim the opportunity of our spiritual, emotional and intellectual growth. I choose to believe we can, as some have suggested, “hold each other in the cradle of loving kindness”.
Written January 17, 2021
Jimmy F Pickett
coachpickett.org
This is the beginning of what promises to be another historic week in the United States. It is the most contested and emotional transfer of presidential power in the United States in our lifetime. Sadly, the fact that the outgoing president will not welcome the newly elected president to the White House is but a symptom of the healing that is needed in the days, months and years to come. State Capitals and the United States Capital are being heavily guarded for fear of violent attempts to interfere with the swearing in of newly elected officials. There continue to be accusations of rigged or stolen elections although no proof has been presented.
Some in our country seem surprised that there is a credible threat to the continuation of this experiment in democracy. Yet, it is a democracy which has systematically endorsed policies which promote the myths of justice for all. It is a democracy which has continued to promote the lie that all have access to boot straps by which to pull oneself up. It is a democracy which often publicly endorses only one religion. It is a democracy whose political leaders too often demand the environment adapt to humans rather than us humans adapting to it.
As we prepare to celebrate the ideals of Martin Luther King Jr on the 18th of January and to inaugurate a new President on the 20th of January my wish for of all of us who inhabit the United State is to recommit to those ideals. The founders of this nation - white landowning men - constructed an imperfect union; one with lofty ideals embedded in it: ideals such as “All men’ are created equal.” They did so with limited awareness of the extent to which we citizens would be challenged to enlarge our understanding that “all men” has to mean “all people”; the acceptance of the truth that no one is free if all are not free; that there is no justice unless it applies to all; that there are limits to our rape of the environment; that the God of our understanding might be more god-like than the founders could have imagined. My wish and prayers is we commit to:
· Being more inclusive.
· Economic policies where all earn enough to support oneself and one’s family.
· The resources of health care be embedded in our economic system.
· The god of our understanding allow for the miracles of science in our approach to health care, sexuality, class, and to all areas of our divine dance with the universe.
We in the United States are experiencing the blessing of the reality of both the limitations of ignoring the injustices built into our system and the possibilities of correcting them; of taking a major step towards growing into the nation that our forefathers - intentionally or unintentionally.
This week contains all the possibilities of what is best in us humans when we accept the invitation to claim the opportunity of our spiritual, emotional and intellectual growth. I choose to believe we can, as some have suggested, “hold each other in the cradle of loving kindness”.
Written January 17, 2021
Jimmy F Pickett
coachpickett.org
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