Sunday Musings - January 9, 2022
The good of days
One of the rallying cries of many in the United States during the past few years has been “Make America Great Again.” I always want to ask, “Great for whom?”
I have been blessed with being able to have a more financially stable life than many are able to achieve. Despite our family being poor when I was growing up, I was able to attend college and graduate school. Today I own my home and car, have a monthly social security check and have some money saved for retirement/old age.
I am a white/Caucasian male, who is blessed to have access to medical care. Today I experience relatively mild discrimination as a gay man. I have been able to choose a profession which was not adversely affected by climate change or the loss of the protection of unions.
At the same time, I cannot recall a time when I was not acutely aware of racism, sexism, homophobia and a so-called justice system which punishes people for mental illness including addiction; a system which disproportionally punishes poor people and people of color. My earliest clear memory of racism is age 5. I am aware that money often purchases unequal access to attorneys who know how to work the system and money often gains access to better schools and other “pathways” to what is considered success.
As a child I was often bullied, but always knew I would be bullied less than my black and brown neighbors.
My ability to succeed in the United States Public School System was due to chance of race, gender and the absence of illnesses which adversely affects the brain.
As an adult I cannot recall a day when I have not witnessed or heard racist, sexist and homophobic comments.
As a student I knew I could not rely on the history taught in public schools I attended. Much was left out or the context was excluded
Christian institutions and people in the United States have frequently attempted to destroy the religious and spiritual heritage of non-Christian groups.
We in the United States, individually and as a nation, have made great contributions to, medicine, literature, music, manufacturing, dance and many other areas of life. Some of the strongest and bravest leaders of social justice have emerged from/within these United States.
Us humans have, since our emergence as so called, “more evolved members of the universe” , been noted for the contrast between our ability to lovingly stand tall for social justice and, simultaneous, invent increasingly sadistic ways to mistreat and kill each other.
We are a nation which passionately believes in freedom to celebrate who we are and what we believe and, at the very same time, believe that we can divide each other into wheat and chaff and then destroy the chaff. We are a nation which is quick to point out the speck in the eye of other cultures and nations while ignoring the beam in our own eve.
We are a nation which lavishly celebrates the birth of the Christ child while leading the world in criminalizing mental illness and others whose brains are unable to share the same reality.\
We are a nation which promotes democracy while facing those who are fearful/mistrustful of our behavior and motives with the sword of criticism, incarceration.
We are a nation which recreates history to fit who we want to be without having to face discomfort or giving up our unequal share of the necessities and luxuries.
We are not alone in these contradictions. We may, however, often lead the way in our ability to deny and justify these contradictions.
Perhaps as we begin this new year; as we move beyond the January 6, 2021 attack on the very structure of our democracy, we can commit to living out our ideals or at least take a step in that direction without needing to demonize those who might feel left out and mistrust our motives. Perhaps we can focus on turning our swords into plowshares; on on what we stand for and not what or who we stand against. Perhaps we can become great by doing what we need to do to allow our children to honestly look back on good days of 2022.
Written January 9, 2022
Jimmy F Pickett
coachpickett.org
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