When The Words of Mary Oliver Help…
I Have Decided by Mary Oliver from A Thousand Mornings
I have decided to find myself a home in the mountains, somewhere high up where one learns to live peacefully in the cold and the silence. It’s said that in such a place certain revelations may be discovered. That what the spirit reaches for may be eventually felt, if not exactly understood. Slowly, no doubt. I’m not talking about a vacation.
Of course at the same time I mean to stay exactly where I am. Are you following me?
NOW MY WORDS
Oh I want to follow her. And I want you reading this to follow me. I won’t plead and beg. I will attempt to use civility. And yes, you can argue back through a comment. Please do.
I ask that you remember that we come from love to live on this earth; and we are charged with making it a better place. We are creatures of God. Every one of us. We are a colorful rainbow and what woman who has carried a child in her body can turn away from this–mother/child belong together?
This morning on NPR they talked about Reasonable Disagreement.
This morning Virginia Heffernan asked a question: where did we go wrong? Her answer: We went wrong when we began to utilize false arguments, whose purpose was to deceive. In easier terms, shorter terms, we went wrong when those in power lied.
And I don’t apologize for saying this again. I will say it until it stops, until all these wrongs are made right. We are founded on basic beliefs that mothers and children belong together. It is so basic, that it’s hard to believe ANYONE would think it right to purposefully separate a child from its mother. BUT WE ARE THERE. People are saying it’s pragmatic. NO! NO! Our very cells should reject this action immediately. It should make us feel dirty and defiled.
Kneeling before the American flag instead of standing is a peaceful protest (it’s harder to kneel than to stand.) But Others decided it’s treason. (Definition of treason, in case you haven’t read it lately: the offense of attempting to overthrow the government of one’s country or of assisting its enemies in war; specifically: the act of levying war against the United States. How do you get there by kneeling?
Dodging taxes and military service seems like greed and cowardice. Oh it’s not at all, they now say, it’s done by smart people.
Guns designed for massacres lead to massacres. Well, they now say, regardless, we need more of them.
Bottom line: if our country is to remain free, we must follow the principles that created it. We must reject that children can be taken from their mothers; that people who protest because they have been downtrodden are committing treason and that breaking the law and not paying taxes means you’re smart.
We must must stop lying to ourselves. We must call out the liars. We must remember what it feels like to do what is right and not be told that it no longer matters. Oh it does, it does. Every cell in my body tells me that it does.
ARE YOU FOLLOWING ME?
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