The Creek Rises & Falls -Wrestling With Events Together

And What I've been Reading That's Been Helpful

Photo by Letizia Ferrante on Unsplash

I think many of us are wrestling this week after the concern and chaos caused by the presidential debate and the Supreme Court’s mortal blow to a pillar of Democracy — no one is above the law. I know for myself, it has been a time to stop, pause and be intentional about how I frame my thoughts,opinions and action , and select carefully the media I read or consume. So I want to be careful making public comment here and try not to add to the deafening noise of public opinion, But, I also don’t want to ignore what is heavy on many of hearts and minds. So I’m writing this post as a way to open a space for thoughtfully conversation about these events together.

We have two candidates that could not be more different on policy and in their personal integrity. We have an aging candidate who is a convicted felon and legally liable for sexually assaulting a woman in a public place, who claims and expands his power with the unfettered use of tsunamis of lies and utter contempt of anyone he deems “other”. We also have a candidate who is an aging president who has lost the sharpness of youth (as we all will). With whom I personally do not agree with every decision he has made, but I do believe he honors the dignity of the office, the dignity of women, the dignity of each human being’s intrinsic worth, and believes in the importance of preserving the most important pillars of our beleaguered democracy.

The stakes for democracy could not be higher. Many of us are experiencing great anger or anxiety or just feeling overwhelmed with the way we cannot seem to find a way forward. Democracy is messy and it feels particularly messy these days.

I suppose my response to trying to navigate the things that disturb me is to try to find some balance, find some action I can take personally that pulls my life and all that I love back into focus. Because whatever opinions I come to, whatever decisions I make, whatever actions I commit to—I want them to be grounded in the things that will most support my personal integrity, wider perspective, agency, courage and hope. By seeking the True North of my deepest most cherished values—the Power of Love, the presence of something luminous and sacred threading through the natural world, the dignity and worth of every human being, a commitment to truth and justice, my love of how people can change and that redemption is possible, and of course in the faithful availability of beauty.

I’ve been limiting my reading this week to things that ground my daily actions and perspective in love and not encourage me to slip into contempt or fear. I believe in the power of the gathered community, but I don’t want to make false equivalencies here. As I said, the differences in what one side is proposing and the other side is proposing is stark, and dangerous and the stakes are incredibly high. I’ve tried to become more practical in my political expectations…but at heart ya’all I’m still a folk singer, and I’ll temper my view with perspective, but hang most days in the belief that we still have the power to create a better world. I believe it, because I keep seeing it, everywhere I go.

So how shall we live in troubled times.

This is a question I ask myself daily.

So, yesterday I worked in my garden, pulled out the invasive grasses, cleared some brush, filled my bird feeders, recorded a harmony for a friend’s upcoming album.

I allowed myself to remember that although the times are dramatic, life keeps happening and our daily actions matter. Big things will always continue to unfold in the world—tornadoes and tsunamis, political unrest and terrible wars. There will be personal tragedies —a diagnosis, the loss of someone cherished, a dream that didn’t pan out. And yet there are birthdays and graduations and the first bright zinnias, the empty wren’s nest where the babies fledged last week. There are lighting bugs blinking and summer stars twinkling.

The creek rises and then it falls.

The woodthrush sings in the evening a song so beautiful it’s hard to imagine how that sound could come from one little brown bird.

My dog sighs and lays her head on my lap.

I think one of the more powerful things we can do as artists these days is to not blink the hard stuff,  but to continue to remind one another of our most beautiful shared values— and perhaps hold a space at the center of a powerful essay or song or poem were we can still recognize one another.  

I am holding that space here for you. We are holding that space together.

So tomorrow I will continue to try to create something beautiful in a world that feels so very beautiful and broken in this moment. Because the best answer to despair is to take some kind of human sized daily action. One of my favorite definitions about hope is by Parker J. Palmer.

Hope is holding a creative tension between what is and what could and should be, each day doing something to narrow the distance between the two. —Parker J. Palmer

I love that in this definition we don’t blink the hard stuff. What is hard as stone is hard as stone. And yet in Parker’s definition we are empowered by the knowledge that each day, we each do, our small part in what tips the balance toward something better.

Hope is not “out there” but within us and between us. Within us and between us there is agency and courage and determination and companionship for the journey forward.

Anyway…. Sending my thoughts to all who are wrestling a little bit today. Your concerns are valid and real. You are not alone, we are many and we are great with love. How we live and how we wrestle the most difficult problems we face matters. Let us ground ourselves in what helps us remember the best of who we are, the best of what we can be, and take some small action today to create beauty, express love, and foster hope and courage for the days ahead.

Here is a link to a video for a song called, “A Shovel is a Prayer”. It just felt like a good moment to sink into the goodness of life, and how any action done in love can feel like a prayer.

Holding space here for you…our beautiful gathering of spirits.

Below are some links for authors and things I’ve been authors, articles and poems i’ve been checking in with week that has been helpful. I hope you check these authors but also check out the comment and community question section below.

Carrie

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QUESTION

I’d love to hear from you too….what have you been listening to, reading, doing, or not doing that is supporting your sense of hope and agency?

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A Few Things I Read or Re-Read that Have Been Helpful This Week.

Diana Butler Bass - The Cottage. Her Sunday Musing Post are always powerful. Diana is a gifted author and theologian. Her posts are always intelligent, thoughtful, spiritually progressive and beautifully written - and the Sunday posts often follow the Christian Lexionary. This week she wrote about a gospel story that explores and encourages lifting up the dignity and worth of people - all people. She also talks about grounding during this time of political upheaval. Here is a link to that post. I hope you check out The Cottage and Diana’s writing.

Sunday Musings

Heather Cox Richardson - Letters from an American

I often read Heather’s posts because as a writer and historian she gives important perspective. As with any political commentary I may not always agree, but often I do, and I always gain some good insights. Her June 27th post about the debate was more even handed than much of what has been floating out there in the media.

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