Sunday musings - June 6, 2021
“Are we being good ancestors?”
I have often challenged myself and others with the question, “What legacy do we want to leave today.” A recent episode of the podcast On Being featured a conversation with host Krista Tippett and the “explorer and a linguist of landscape”. Robert McFarlane asks the question “Are we being good ancestors?” It is essentially the same question. I have been more and more conscious of the fact that in our DNA we, in a sense, carry all our ancestors with us. We carry their history of traumas, joys, griefs, achievements, failures, dreams and hopes.
Although I have only one child who has decided not to have any children, I am acutely aware that the actions of my son and myself affect many other people; that the DNA of others is directly affected by our actions and the actions of others of our generations. The trauma for which we are responsible, including the historic trauma that we do not proactively seek to heal, is also a part of our legacy. We are all ancestors to each other. We are individually and collectively responsible for the health or illness of the planet we are leaving to those who follow us.
U. S. District Judge Robert Benitez of San Diego ruled on June 4, 2021 “that the state’s definition of illegal military style rifles unlawfully deprives law-abiding Californians of weapons commonly allowed in most other states and by the U. S. Supreme Court.” (nbcnews.com). He went on to compared assault type weapons to the Swiss army knife. He did not mention the enormous increase in gun related deaths in non-military situations in the United States during the past year. These are in addition to state sponsored executions, deaths planned and/or sanctioned by U.S. military individuals as well as by other intelligence or security agency personnel. Nor did he mention that in the 13 months from March of 2020 to April of 2021 there were 3 million requests for background checks for potential gun purchases in the United States.(nbcnews.com).
As we know gun violence is only one form of violence. There is also economic, cultural, spiritual, verbal and physical violence. There is the violence of omission and commission.
The legacy we leave as ancestors sadly includes the legacy of exclusion. We exclude in our history classes. We exclude through school funding policies. We exclude by making museums, concerts, travel and other opportunities to learn about each other available to only certain segments of the population. Obviously making museums free one day a week is not an inclusionary policy. Yesterday at the Philbrook museum in Tulsa, Oklahoma I was impressed to read a large sign admitting to a historical practice of only featuring artists from a certain segment of the population on the first floor. We exclude economically through policies and practices which limit participation in most “luxuries”. We limit by diagnosing as criminals the mentally ill who may have committed an illegal act through omission and commission.
We limit by celebrating while knowing that many are not able to come to the party. Celebrating is important, but not if it does not include outrage about who is not included.
In short, our legacy as ancestors is all we do and do not do to create a more just and loving relationship with each other and Mother Nature. We cannot honor each other as humans and destroy our home. Although I do not eat out often or shop often I have yet to find one restaurant in Tulsa who has stopped using plastic straws. I have only found one or two places which has replaced plastic bags with paper one or, better yet, who insist that customers bring their own cloth or other reusable bags.
I am not suggesting that any of us become self-righteous, critical do goaders. We do not create a more just society to leave to our children, their children and Mother Nature by treating anyone or anything as less than. We do not leave a more noble legacy by focusing on the spec in the eye of our brother or sister and ignoring the log in our own. We do not leave a better legacy by donning sack cloth and ashes and refusing to dance. We do invite the differently abled, the non-binary persons, the ones coming out of jail, the ones who used guns, the mentally ill, the homeless, the aged, and the young to the dance. We create a society in which we do not need storage units for stuff or people. This is the legacy we can leave those who follow. This is our legacy as ancestors.
Written June 6, 2021
Jimmy F Pickett
coachpickett.org
“Are we being good ancestors?”
I have often challenged myself and others with the question, “What legacy do we want to leave today.” A recent episode of the podcast On Being featured a conversation with host Krista Tippett and the “explorer and a linguist of landscape”. Robert McFarlane asks the question “Are we being good ancestors?” It is essentially the same question. I have been more and more conscious of the fact that in our DNA we, in a sense, carry all our ancestors with us. We carry their history of traumas, joys, griefs, achievements, failures, dreams and hopes.
Although I have only one child who has decided not to have any children, I am acutely aware that the actions of my son and myself affect many other people; that the DNA of others is directly affected by our actions and the actions of others of our generations. The trauma for which we are responsible, including the historic trauma that we do not proactively seek to heal, is also a part of our legacy. We are all ancestors to each other. We are individually and collectively responsible for the health or illness of the planet we are leaving to those who follow us.
U. S. District Judge Robert Benitez of San Diego ruled on June 4, 2021 “that the state’s definition of illegal military style rifles unlawfully deprives law-abiding Californians of weapons commonly allowed in most other states and by the U. S. Supreme Court.” (nbcnews.com). He went on to compared assault type weapons to the Swiss army knife. He did not mention the enormous increase in gun related deaths in non-military situations in the United States during the past year. These are in addition to state sponsored executions, deaths planned and/or sanctioned by U.S. military individuals as well as by other intelligence or security agency personnel. Nor did he mention that in the 13 months from March of 2020 to April of 2021 there were 3 million requests for background checks for potential gun purchases in the United States.(nbcnews.com).
As we know gun violence is only one form of violence. There is also economic, cultural, spiritual, verbal and physical violence. There is the violence of omission and commission.
The legacy we leave as ancestors sadly includes the legacy of exclusion. We exclude in our history classes. We exclude through school funding policies. We exclude by making museums, concerts, travel and other opportunities to learn about each other available to only certain segments of the population. Obviously making museums free one day a week is not an inclusionary policy. Yesterday at the Philbrook museum in Tulsa, Oklahoma I was impressed to read a large sign admitting to a historical practice of only featuring artists from a certain segment of the population on the first floor. We exclude economically through policies and practices which limit participation in most “luxuries”. We limit by diagnosing as criminals the mentally ill who may have committed an illegal act through omission and commission.
We limit by celebrating while knowing that many are not able to come to the party. Celebrating is important, but not if it does not include outrage about who is not included.
In short, our legacy as ancestors is all we do and do not do to create a more just and loving relationship with each other and Mother Nature. We cannot honor each other as humans and destroy our home. Although I do not eat out often or shop often I have yet to find one restaurant in Tulsa who has stopped using plastic straws. I have only found one or two places which has replaced plastic bags with paper one or, better yet, who insist that customers bring their own cloth or other reusable bags.
I am not suggesting that any of us become self-righteous, critical do goaders. We do not create a more just society to leave to our children, their children and Mother Nature by treating anyone or anything as less than. We do not leave a more noble legacy by focusing on the spec in the eye of our brother or sister and ignoring the log in our own. We do not leave a better legacy by donning sack cloth and ashes and refusing to dance. We do invite the differently abled, the non-binary persons, the ones coming out of jail, the ones who used guns, the mentally ill, the homeless, the aged, and the young to the dance. We create a society in which we do not need storage units for stuff or people. This is the legacy we can leave those who follow. This is our legacy as ancestors.
Written June 6, 2021
Jimmy F Pickett
coachpickett.org
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