SHADOW AND LIGHT

   This blog is different from my others. The only food it offers is poetry, to nourish the saddened soul.

miracles of light through shadow   Today, as contention rages over the Zimmerman verdict, I'm thinking of the family and friends of Trayvon Martin, and my heart grieves for them.  No matter what you think is right or wrong in the case, no matter what your political stance, you must, as a human, feel for their pain,  because yours would be the same if Trayvon was your son, your brother, your friend, your student. We are human because we can imagine beyond ourselves, with compassion for the sorrow of others.
    No political division should ever make us forget that, nor should a clamoring for power ever ever ever overrun the fundamental human impulse toward kindness.  If it does, we're dead in the water.
     And yes, that basic principle can be applied politically, corporately. Not only can it be, it should be.  It's the bottom line.
     That notion's been taking a beating lately, I'll admit.  I may be an optimist, but I'm not a blind fool. I watched our congress ignore the wishes of 90% of the country for weapons background checks as they scraped and bowed to the power of the NRA. They won out over a group of parents who appealed for one small change in the law, to protect our children.  Our children, not their own, who were already dead. Whether you stand with or against the NRA, surely you must feel their anguish in your own skin.
     That was just one example of ways in which human compassion has been sucked away in the undertow of political and corporate power mongering. The 99% can attest to the others, which they get to live every day.
      But I'm a writer and a teacher. I believe we'll do better when we know better, and I believe we can learn how to do that - us, and our government and corporate leaders.  After all, we've had quite a few good examples on how to make big decisions, what to base them on.
    For those who lay claim to being Christian, it's a no brainer.  Whenever any large decision comes their way, they can ask, 'what would Jesus do?'  In asking, they need only remember what he told them:  Love one another as I have loved you.  Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.  Jews can refer to Micah, who said, "All the Lord requires has been told to you.  Only this:  Act justly, love tenderly, and walk humbly with your god."The other major world religions all have words to the same effect. Moral atheists tend to be even more scrupulous in that way. Even my character, Jaguar Addams, offers some advice in this realm.  Choose love over fear, every time.
    If it's so simple, you might ask, why is it so difficult?  Maybe because we're afraid of the shadow we have to confront in ourselves when we admit the grief of others.  We'd rather think it can't happen to us, to stave off our own fears.  And maybe we're told too often that imagination is a bad thing, and so we forget how to imagine beyond ourselves, into the emotions of others.  And maybe sometimes we just disagree on the best way to proceed.
     Well, we're a big country, with many opinions, and we're bound to argue.  In fact, we should argue. But just for today, for a little while,  no matter what you believe politically, I'm asking you to practice your humanity.  For a moment, stop thinking about who's right and who's wrong in the Zimmerman case.  Instead, bow your head and allow yourself to feel what Trayvon's family is feeling.  For a moment stop arguing for or against gun control, and let the grief of the families whose children were killed infuse your heart.  Feel with them, and let that feeling inform your life, the decisions you make, the beliefs you hold dear. I don't know where it will lead your opinions, and frankly I don't care, because I know that true compassion for others won't steer you wrong.
    Right now, this land I love is divided on many issues, and I don't see any quick solutions. Instead, I think we face the harder task of a deliberate persistent effort of many people talking loud and learning to walk toward love, in all ways possible. For that, I can only offer the food of poetry, which can provide some strength for the journey. Here's an excerpt from Joy Harjo's poetry, medicine for the wounded soul, and food for the hungry one.

Excerpt:  Reconciliation: A Prayer
    (In The Woman Who Fell From the Sky)


. . . . .Oh sun, moon, stars, our other relatives peering at us from the inside
of god's house, walk with us as we climb into the next century
naked but for the stories we have of each other. Keep us from giving
up in this land of nightmares which is also the land of miracles.

We sing our song which we've been promised has no beginning or end.

All acts of kindness are lights in the war for justice.

Joy's book of poetic medicine We gather up these strands broken from the web of life. They shiver
with our love, as we call them the names of our relatives and carry
them to our home made of the four directions and sing:

Of the south, where we feasted and were given new clothes.

Of the west, where we gave up the best of us to the stars as food for the battle.

Of the north, where we cried because we were forsaken by our dreams.

Of the east, because returned to us is the spirit of all that we love.


    you can find this volume, and all of Joy Harjo's poetry on amazon .