11_11_2020

Embracing Joy

                It has been a long haul getting to this point where I feel like I am able at times to relax within the country that I was born in.  Regardless of party affiliation, I have to imagine that most of us in this country are exhausted from the constant chaos that we have been forced to witness in the last four years.

                Leading up to the election, I have been facilitating several groups through my spiritual work in the Parish that I am part of.  We’ve been focusing primarily on the steps we each need to pursue to take care of ourselves during these challenging times.  If we hope to be of service to others, we must first take care of ourselves.

Specifically, I felt that either outcome of the election would present us with areas that required our support.  I tried not to think about having to endure four more years like the last four, but I also accepted that if that was the outcome, I along with many others would have to do the work to preserve the best aspects of the democracy we have been so fortunate to experience.

One thing I’ve definitely learned is that I can’t take democracy for granted.  We have to work at it, and I would agree that it isn’t easy to live with outcomes that I don’t particularly favor.  I know – at least intellectually – that compromise is part of finding a path through many different perspectives.  But that doesn’t always make it easy.

No matter how many life lessons we’ve already learned, there’s always more waiting to challenge us further.  I came across this wonderful quote recently:

“The biggest surprise on the soulful journey to authenticity (I think one could substitute many words here – like: finding wisdom; acting as an adult; spirituality, etc. –  whether as a philosophy or a spiritual path, is that the path is a spiral.  We go up, but we go in circles.  Each time around, the view gets a little wider.  Somehow the circle has length and width to it.  The psychologist Carl Jung believed that our spiritual experience of ‘the Self,’ which I call the Authentic Self, could only be truly realized by ‘circumambulating.’ “  From: Sarah Ban Breathnach.

Poetry and time spent in reflection or meditating helps me become more empathetic to some of the positions of others that I might not embrace.  The following quote by Tanya Markul has been helpful in guiding my response to the recent election outcome:  “The pain that made you the odd one out is the story that connects you to a healing world.”  The quote was an instant reminder to me on how I felt after the 2016 election.  Recalling that feeling I have been mindful and encouraging others to be as we share our happiness about the outcome of this election.

And yet, in my quiet moments and with others who I know share my feelings, I have to say I was struck by the JOY in which people took to the streets on last Saturday when the election was called.  As a friend of mind noted, the crowds were very diverse: young, older, couples, families, individuals!  And I was also struck by how peaceful and respectful the crowds were.

I am ready to and long to hear messages of hope; to have goals in place to help us become a more just and humane society.  As the President-Elect has reminded us, we have to start talking and listening to each other again.

I had my own “on the ground” experience before I even knew the election outcome.  I was grocery shopping on early Sunday morning, and I saw the older man works in the produce section and I realized I hadn’t seen him in a while.  I said “Hello” to him and asked how he was doing.  His answer took me aback as it differed from the usual answer we expect to that question. He said something along the lines that “he was at six and sevens as this was his first day back from bereavement leave.”  I expressed my sorrow and concern, and he went on to say that his wife had passed away suddenly.

I couldn’t shake the feeling of sadness and concern that I had for him as I tried to concentrate on the rest of my shopping.  After I had checked out, I walked by the fresh flower section in the store, and put my groceries down, and picked out a bouquet for him.  The woman at the customer service desk helped me find a vase and packaging for the flowers.  She helped me find a card to put with the package, and I wrote a message expressing my gratitude for his ongoing dedication to the work I’ve seen him do for many years.  I closed by mentioning that I would keep him in my thoughts and prayers.

As I as leaving the store and walking to my car, it came to me that I had no idea who he might have voted for – and happily – I realized it didn’t matter to me.  I was connecting with him as another human being. 

And this is the work that I think we all have to aim for in the days ahead as we work to heal the divisiveness in our country.

Here’s a quote from a daily Blog written by Dr. Heather Cox Richardson on the Sunday before the election that I find joyfully uplifting:

“And then, with our country free again, the future looks wildly exciting, full of different voices, races, religions, foods, gender identities, books, ideas, inventions, music, clothing, political identities, perspectives. In the past, when we have come through a period in which a small group of Americans has taken control of our society and ordinary Americans have taken it back, industry, art, science, and civil rights have blossomed. For my part, I don’t expect to like everything that happens in such a fertile world, but I do expect to learn, and grow, and feel privileged to watch the construction of a world that reflects our people at their best.”

Wishing my readers a rewarding path to joy regardless of how you voted!