Haunting

This is another in the COVID-19 journal. Yes, it is haunting. Very little traffic on the street. Almost none. And the time is 8:45 am. Rush hour is over; but then rush hours have stopped mostly.


Rocky is in the shower. He turned on American Indian wood flute music to guide him through his morning routine. I am in the home office writing this blog. The flute music haunts the air. Calm. Serene. It awakens memories of the southwest.


Buttes and mesas loom in the distance and foreground. They are sandy red, with streaks of some blonde and darker tones. Blue sky frames their shapes. Desert sands of many hues ground the picture. Dry vegetation spots the landscape, but not much.


Grit. Stones. And warmth. Light breeze blowing 82 degree air. Light buffeting. Hair riffled. Sunlight warms the skin, caressing it. Overall, the image is gentle and embracing. This is New Mexico. Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Taos or Gallup. These are the images beckoned.


It is a lonely landscape only because few others are present. Scenery is a vivid history of eons gone by. We are left wondering of the people who walked here long ago. What were their numbers? How and when did they gather? When large gatherings, what was the number? One can guess that routine numbers were small, family and related tribal cousins.


Their daily routine would have been preparing food, growing it, finding it, enough to feed the small family. Peering into the distance from a slow measured pace of living. Acknowledging the sun and rock. Not lonely but one with nature? One with spirits? With animals, birds, plants. Each struggling to live on the planet, in this dusty solo place.


What were they thinking? What stories did they weave to make sense of existence? What history of before did they conjure. What timeline of people were possible? The founding Gods gifted this place to mankind. Mankind scraped out existence from what was available. Life presented pleasures, work, illness and death. Aging. Death at all ages within the family. Some young; some old. The beginning and the end of a person’s lifespan. What did they make of it? How did this all make sense to them?


The flute plays its lonely tune. Not quite melody. Not even tempo. A presence. A line of sound that pulls the mind into the nature filled place of rock, blue sky and sand.


The tune is the mindset and the story. At least of this hour, of this day, of this year.


And so in shelter we remain. Pondering our own life story. Our own history. Of time begun and time ended. Each age of man has done this.


In that we are not alone. Our flute plays on…..


April 1, 2020

COVID-19 Journal

We are still well. No signs of the virus. We remain engaged with life – reading, napping, communicating with others, using our brains, writing blogs, and exploring movies and concerts online. All of this keeps us alert and involved with others.


Yes, we keep up with the news, but that is hard to do objectively these days. Too many people shouting their beliefs in direct opposition to mine, or yours. I tune them out. If they make cogent, logical statements, then we can communicate. Otherwise, not.


The press plays many roles. One is reporting events that have happened. Later, when investigations are complete, the reasons for the events ought to be provided. If causation is in dispute, layout all of those points of view. Do not provide your hunch to the mix unless you are truly providing research and source material that has authority in the issue at hand. Otherwise, maintain professional silence.


The press should not be a player in the making of the news UNLESS someone is found creating the news for their own benefit at the expense of others. That is when the press needs to be investigative and critical in its questioning of the principals in the matter. In fact, that is the role of maintaining an honest government serving the long term needs of the people. A free and open press is an important check and balance to government at all levels.


Modern press machinery includes specialized branches of news reporting – sports, financials, medicine, arts and entertainment, education, technology, sciences, politics and government, and much, much more. Taken separately, these news ‘departments’ often make news of their own. One headline Monday of this week: This is America’s Week of Economic Reality. Really?


Look, we have a natural disaster occurring around the globe. It is affecting the United States currently. We saw it coming, experienced the early effects, and now we are engaged fully with the brunt of the epidemic. It is real. It is uncomfortable. It is lethal.


While that is going on we make natural adjustments to how we live to survive the pandemic. Some of those things affect functioning of government, banking institutions, the economy, sports, and arts and entertainment. And education. That does not include the shutdown of our brains and bodies.


The pandemic has its effect on our bodies and our social institutions. That’s a reality. Whatever happens we will survive, or most of us will. The rest of the fallout we will deal with as it happens. Like we always do.

Keen minds and hearts will navigate the choppy waters throughout whatever happens. Like getting over a hurricane or tornado, we clean up, clear away, reorganize, and rebuild. Same with the economy. The equipment is still here. The people are still here. Intelligence and experience remains aplenty to reassemble working models of the economy. All will be back to a new normal soon enough.


What that normal will be depends on how we use this pivot point to invent new and better routines for our nation and people. We are all a part of that. We all play a role in that.


All that remains is our stepping up when the time calls us.


March 31, 2020

Virus Journal Continues

The journey wanders on. Inch by inch, minute by minute. It is a process of time seeding forward in my mind, seeking clarity of purpose, of discovery, of meaning.


Journaling helps me do that. perhaps it is of use to others who read it. Maybe not. For those, they might choose to write their own journey.


It is raining this Sunday morning. Gloomy fully describes our surrounds. Has for days. Writing helps the brain function. Reading does as well. The rest of the time is filled with naps, minor chores, and binge watching TV.


Yesterday we watched a good documentary on the life and talents of Luciano Pavarotti. The music was magnificent. And we turned up our surround sound system to take full advantage of Pavarotti’s incredible voice.


Then we watched ‘Green Book’, nominated in many categories for Academy Awards. Excellent film. True story. Heartbreaking at times, exquisitely articulate at times. The music, too, was superb. This is a quality film, script, acting and message. Our society still harbors its racism as it did in the 60’s. Uncomfortable fact but one we must face squarely if we are to progress as a worthy human race.


We spent nearly 3 hours in the evening watching ‘The Horse Whisperer’ with Robert Redford. Long film; complicated story; a story of developing personalities both human and animal. The bonds between the two are amazing. The story takes place in Montana. Breathtaking scenery that is the perfect backdrop to a story of simplifying life to its basic and why it is so important. Stripping away the complications we add to life only blocks our appreciation of what truly matters.


Thanks to Comcast’s Xfinity services. During this quarantine, they have made a large swath of their premium channels available for free. Finding worthy viewing material is not easy. Most video entertainment focuses on the lowest common denominator. British TV and films seem to be the exact opposite. Wonder why? Well, that would start a good discussion, wouldn’t it?


Foreign films have worthy material, too, but then either the dubbing is poor and distracting, or printed subtitles rob the acting scenes of their fine points; very distracting.


I know America makes good movies and TV fare. I watch a lot of it. The problem: too much of the whole of this industry produces junk for a population seeking entertainment rather than edification.


I’m reading authors these days I needed to catch up on. A Kindle helps greatly. The library is loaded with 1000 titles to explore. Yum!


From my home office window, I’m not certain, but I think I’m beginning to see distant trees budding. Might this be fanciful thinking? Or might this truly be spring knocking on our door? Time will tell. We have plenty of that to watch the world change outside our window.


March 30, 2020

Covid-19 Journal

In spite of everything going on in the world and at hospitals everywhere, life goes on.


I am a futurist and optimist. That’s my basic orientation to life. If you see me as negative and critical, you’ve missed the real point of who and what I am.


As reported the other day, I learned that the elder couple I have been helping entered a new and dire situation. The husband/father/brother was placed in hospice at the hospital. He died shortly thereafter. He had had a second operation but three or more systems in his body shut down rapidly. The end came quickly. Because of the surrounding pandemic, no visitors were allowed in to see him. He was weak and able to speak by phone only with assistance from the nurse. His daughter spoke with him, but he died while I waited to speak with him.


Meanwhile, his wife is safe and sound in a nursing home. Her dementia worsens and insulates her from her husband’s drama just a few miles away in hospital. She can not live alone. She needs experienced healthcare staff to navigate daily life.


I informed their landlord of the situation. I discussed these matters with the only offspring who can take responsibility for her parents’ affairs. She is understandably bereft and in grieving. And she is alone as well; not just because of Covid-19, but the men in her life have abandoned her with the kids, she alone owns and runs two businesses, and attempts to handle family affairs with one brother and three sisters who will not get involved. So sad. A family tragedy long in the making. Forever an open wound.


Work on church projects continue. We struggle to produce good results from efforts hampered by remote connections rather than face to face. We learn how to do this; always learning. Not a natural manner in which to live. We are rapidly planning new ways to deal with Holy Week, Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Sunday. Electronic broadcasting of course, but maybe an outdoor service with attendees sitting in their closed cars observing a symbolic service in the parking lot. We’ll see how that works!


Church service today is electronic over our Facebook page. What went wrong last week was fixed and the service today should go quite well. Thanks to all who make that happen. Such technical prowess we have among us!


A friend and neighbor shared the following snippet from John F. Kennedy’s speech he was going to give the day he was assassinated; it’s words are haunting and especially meaningful for us today:

 “Neither the fanatics nor the faint-hearted are needed. And our duty as a Party is not to our Party alone, but to the nation, and, indeed, to all mankind. Our duty is not merely the preservation of political power, but the preservation of peace and freedom.

So let us not be petty when our cause is so great. Let us not quarrel amongst ourselves when our Nation’s future is at stake.

Let us stand together with renewed confidence in our cause — united in our heritage of the past and our hopes for the future — and determined that this land we love shall lead all mankind into new frontiers of peace and abundance.”

The nature of the past, present and future is a reminder that we are the first to chart unknown regions of our nation or global village. In this season of hope and expectation, let us rejoice in the potential we can make happen in our lifetime.

March 29, 2020

Vulnerable and Creative

Yesterday I wrote of being vulnerable. Today I take another step forward. How does being vulnerable lead to creativity?


Simple. When I am vulnerable, I feel the world around me; I feel the needs around me, not my needs, but others’. In that state of awareness, I can see, hear, smell and feel much more. Those senses are input to my thinking and knowing the moment. In such times I am able to work with all the components of a problem or need. Responding to that gestalt allows me to think broadly on possible solutions.


The intersection of reality and the brain is stimulus for creative thinking.


If a team is in synch with each other they will feed off each other and expand the intersection with creativity. But first they must trust one another in their vulnerability. Can they? Do they? If not, they will accomplish little together.


Creativity is a process. Knowing an issue or a problem; fully understanding it. Realizing the need for change. Envisioning what would be a better outcome. ‘Seeing’ those possibilities, those desired outcomes. Next comes imagining how to get from the present to the desired end result. Working backwards from that point is tactical. The former is strategic.


This type of thinking and acting comes only in a safe place. For one or many persons, safety must embrace all of our vulnerabilities if we are free to create.


These are not easy things to live with or be a part of. Trust is not easy. Mutual trust is very difficult to have and retain with others. Without trust, work teams may accomplish tactical tasks but not strategic transformations. The latter is what we all need going forward.


So how do we gain trust? That’s a great question! Here are some dependencies to do that:

1.      In a team setting (family, friends, work, association, church, etc.) state openly whether you feel safe or not.

2.      Encourage others to match your statement with their own sense of safety.

3.      Discuss with the team your vulnerabilities and need for acceptance. Exercise courage to do this; let its presence speak of your honesty.

4.      It they are seeking safety they will respond with their own vulnerabilities.

5.      This will build a bond of honesty. If not, then the team is wounded and unable to fully complete its task.

This is what it takes to live in The Brave New World. If that is your desire, prepare for hard work and risk taking. But relish the results! I think you will be amazed.


March 28, 2020

Vulnerabilities

I know I’m safe when I can be myself. I feel safe when the people around me accept me for who and what I am. No judgments. Just acceptance.


In that space/place, I can be vulnerable. I can give witness to my flaws and shortcomings. I can be the real me with all my hurts, weaknesses, and fears. These are the things with me always; I must learn to live with them and surpass them. It is the struggle I face; I suspect it is the same with most people.


Vulnerabilities are a special gift. The ache hones my senses to remain honest. My senses are open to the pain of others. Our humanness is better understood in those moments. It is something we can share without retribution.


The opposite is true also. If I am not safe with my vulnerabilities in some settings, then I am distant from others. They sense it; I feel it. Our communication is not totally honest. We are guarded. Something is off. We are not able to be ourselves with each other.


Feeling safe should be present in alone time with myself; also with my significant other; and close family members. Best friends are included here as well.


Hopefully my workspace is where I feel safe, but then career competition makes that difficult. The best working relationships are those where the players are synched with their personalities and vulnerabilities, their mutual trust. Great things are accomplished by such teams of people.


Church is a place of hope – hope for love, acceptance and safety of self.


Is your church that kind of place? Do you feel safe there? Are the people accepting of you or merely tolerant? Can you tell the difference? Are you welcomed? Do you feel affirmed? Does the worship message and espoused creed embrace you? Fulfill you? Enable your full being to step forward into the potential of life? Is there an active effort for the church to make each person welcome in their midst?

If you feel safe there, that's great. However, if church attendance is dwindling, the message may be your church is failing to truly welcome the walking wounded. That would be all of us. None of us are perfect or free of wounds.

The answer is: love one another. Love others as you would want them to love you. Do this and watch your church grow and prosper.

The same principle ought to be operable throughout our society. None are perfect. All are worthy.

Think about our mutual vulnerabilities in the many hours at home we now have during this pandemic.


Amen!


March 27, 2020

Time to Think; Create

Before the Coronavirus our church was dealing with challenges that most congregations do. Stagnating membership numbers, worship attendance decline, tightening budgets. These topics have been under discussion for some time. Urgency was added to these discussions as longer term solutions were needed. That conclusion came slowly. The time to act, however, was understood as now.


Immediate actions were taken but so too, were new pathways of thinking about the long-term future of our congregation. We know we have something special. We are family. We enjoy being together. We share faith and fun and life seamlessly.


Truth be told, the problems our church faces are the very same ones that called me to seminary in 1968. That’s 52 years ago. Over the past half century, a lot was accomplished, but a lot was failed, too. For one, our nation has a deep thread of racism that remains in our subconsciousness and consciousness. I can say that, because 1968 was a year of assassinations, political upheaval, cultural change and stark racism. At the time I felt only a deep, personal conviction of social values supported and energized by churches could get at the cause of these problems. So, I entered the seminary to do something about it.


That didn’t work out so well. I returned to a career but one of helping people. Human Resource management was one theme. Higher education and student development and leadership was another theme. Nonprofit organizations was still another theme that wedded my interests in producing outcomes that were of benefit to others on a self-sustaining basis. All of these assignments fed my passions. I was satisfied.


But much to my horror, 52 years later, I find a society still rooted in racism and white supremacy. I find a selfish and greedy society focused on building wealth any way it can regardless of its cost to others. So, people pursue power for the sole purpose of finding money for themselves and their family. We have not returned to assassinations, yet, but I fear that is coming. Meanwhile, character assassinations rage.


Nothing will change unless we fundamentally change our thinking. That can only happen if we honestly open our minds and emotions to the possibilities of being with and working with other people. It will help if we make those others different than ourselves. We must see the world in all of its diversity and humanity. That vision helps place everything in a healthy perspective.


Life is about all of us. Not just me, I, or you. Not a narrow family of relatives and friends. Or neighbors. All of us. All nations. All ethnicities. All religions and social mores. Much we do not know or understand. We can only make a dent in that by exploring the whole world. Not just our own narrow existence.


The church is a way forward in that exploration. An honest exploration of inclusion and diversity. Not to do that is walking away from the challenge. It is uncomfortable but vital to do.


We have the time today in our sheltering mode to think on these things and create new possibilities. Think of the outcomes desired sometime in the future. Then work backward to find a way to them eventually.


We are creative. We are educated. We know how to think and learn. Let’s practice doing all of that together in one process and see what results. Pick a problem you are most curious about and think on ways to resolve it.


I’m engaged in doing this daily. How about you?


March 26, 2020