A psalm says, "Be still before the Lord, and wait patiently for him."*
Now, dear Lord, You must admit that an hour is a very long time to wait for guidance in most people’s day to day lives.
So
I thank You for Your proxies which are available to me, to all of us, at any
hour of the day: common sense, discipline, attention, conscience, and, most
important, love.
The more perspectives one understands, or even strives to understand, the bigger one's world.
The more people one loves, the bigger one's world and the greater one's joy.
What would it be like to live without fear? Or, having fears from time to time, as seems entirely human, what would it be like not to be overwhelmed or controlled by fear?
Were God, multiple gods, and divine laws imagined and created by humans to control ourselves and others - to protect our communities - by fear? To control individuals' and mobs' power, especially power exercised upon whim or sheer physical power, by inculcating a cultural fear of divine consequences of exercising that power?
For me, the experience of the existence and constantly available guidance of a holy and loving Spirit - whether or not other people experience that Spirit at all, or in the same way - reduces my fears and gives me hope and confidence.
Whatever a person's role in the public sphere is, be it elected, appointed, or entirely voluntary, when the confidence of a majority of one's constituents, the privilege of public service, one's public oath, if any - and one's claimed private oath - are not enough to preserve and, over time, strengthen one's courage in faithful, truthful service, an individual moral corruption is present.
When such corruption appears in multiple members of a body of public servants, governmental integrity and function begin to fail.
Identifying public leaders to whom the power of their roles and renown is more important than humility of service, respect for others (even if we disagree), and courage in truth telling is rarely easy - particularly when we contributed to their power, or acquiesced in its growth. And removing such leaders from their roles is, because only citizens can do it, inherently more difficult than professional investigation and prosecution of corruption for breaking the law.
Every moment of Life is new - for me and for every other person and creature!
This could be my very last moment - someday that moment will come - but I get to be here to experience it!
Do I have the presence of mind, and the will, to experience this moment as fully as I am able?
What will I do with this moment?
To whom, other than myself, does it matter what I do in, and with, this moment?
Who, or What, do I strive to live up to, moment to moment?
Am I cultivating gratitude for each moment of the gift of Life?
One of my favorite quips is, “We raise our children to be independent – and they go and do it!”
Recently it hit me that, of course, that quip applies to me. I am – and each of us is – a child not only of our human parents, but of God, however named; of the Holy Spirit; of Life with a capital L.
Each of us, having received the gift of life, may and must make our own creative and independent decisions as to what the gift of life means to us and what stewardship of that gift calls upon us to do.
What are we called upon to do today, and this week?
What will the legacy of our choices be for future generations?
Each and every human being is unique – unique physically, intellectually, emotionally, and of course in their own experience.
Especially in a society which claims to honor individual liberty, the public policy effect of this basic truth should be to recognize it and, while protecting people from harmful acts of others, to honor and protect people’s uniqueness – people’s right to be themselves even when they are very different from most people.
The public policy effect of individual uniqueness should never be to condemn it, or its harmless expression, particularly when individual differences make us uncomfortable. The emotional or intellectual comfort of individuals in a society, even of most people, is not a sound or just basis for condemning, let alone punishing, harmless expression of a person’s uniqueness. Indeed, some discomfort, some grumbling, on the way to acceptance of basic social values is inevitable in a society where no one gets to have things exactly as they would like all the time.
Any public policy based not on risk, or acts, of harm to others, or to society as a whole, but on rejection of individual uniqueness – on conformity to perceived norms including physical or mental health, political or religious views, race, appearance, gender identity, or who one associates with – is fundamentally contrary to individual liberty, to the Golden Rule, and in some respects to the United States Constitution.
Imagining being condemned for something about us which is perceived by someone else as “different,” but which doesn’t harm anyone, can help us understand that to deny another person’s right to be as they are, and to believe as they do, is unjust and ultimately as futile as their denial of our uniqueness would be.