Guns

 Kyle Rittenhouse, the Arbery trial, a kid killed in an accidental weapon discharge, drive by shootings of children, suicides, children with easy access to guns, school shootings, gang killings. How many tragedies are the consequence simply of the presence of a gun? 

Yet news reporting almost never asks about the source of the gun or just how it was acquired. Hands are thrown up, parents weep, the police chief gives a press conference. Nothing happens in legislatures, and gun manufacturers breathe another sigh of relief.

This is how it works in America, where even the Supreme Court is terrified of the Second Amendment.

Unknown

 People fear the unknown. But that’s where creativity thrives, whether in the arts or the sciences. The unknown is the edge of a new world and a relentless challenge to creativity.

Origin story

 

A mythological origin story emerges from its time and place, created from the symbols and metaphors at hand. The story gives sense and meaning to the world. Through time, assimilation, trade and war, origin stories collide with another and change to adapt to the worlds. Humans wrestle with the decision to hold to an old story or find a life in a new one.

In the contemporary world science has offered an explosion of facts and theories, more than can be reasonably absorbed or understood. How do we comprehend the millions of species, viruses, black holes, gut bacteria, DNA, brain research and the mysteries of the oceans? What story do we share to guide us through our experience in this world?

We haven’t found a replacement for Mother Earth or the Garden of Eden. Consequently, we allow ourselves to pollute the earth, poison the air and water, cut down the lungs of the earth and spread our garbage through the land, water and skies, living our lives selfishly and mindlessly.

Where’s the story we need?

Hello

 Hello. Right now I’m in my comfy suburban box. Pretty pictures on the wall and flocked wallpaper to make things warm and cozy. The boys play football for their school, but they don’t read dangerous books. In my secure gated community, the lawns are perfect green and the people are perfectly lovely. Isn’t life like this everywhere?

Justice

 In my former life as a working family man, I had little time to engage the working processes of justice. I learned what I learned from the news. Now, as a retired person, I have the time to watch long segments of the Rittenhouse and Arbery trials. An eye opener for me even though I felt I was an informed citizen.

A legislature passes a law relative to the context of the time. It’s on the books, though some legislators approved it and others didn’t. The law is words. Words are interpreted and reinterpreted. An offense results in a trial. What does the law say? How do the defense and prosecution interpret the law? How does the jury interpret these interpretations of the law?

This is how justice works. This is the hard work of justice. This is how justice depends on the conscientiousness and honesty of the participants. And all of us.

Body Hair

 

Orgasms

 

Road signs

 The truth is that the great thinkers, saints, heroes and creators of human history are really road signs. They tell us: yield, stop, slow down, children at play, exit, no outlet. Some follow the signs. Others are driving drunk on power or are distracted by the trivia on their cell phones.

We all know the human rules of the road. Paying attention to them prevents small tragedies.

Freedom

 Freedom is not something that automatically comes to us. Freedom is something we give to one another and defend for one another. We expect responsibility from one another in order to preserve the freedom all of us desire.

Freedom is not a flabby concept we can throw around as we please. Some among us risk their lives and their social standing to defend it. Some among us work tirelessly to maintain the structures that preserve it.

Freedom is not an individual prerogative. It is a cherished gift made and maintained by us all.

Justice

 The jury judged Kyle Rittenhouse innocent under the law. But in my mind, he is not innocent in a larger moral sense. Yes, he was a teenager, and teens often make bad decisions. The decisions to illegally carry a weapon, to often brandish that weapon in a charged situation, to often make only lame efforts to remove himself from danger or engage the police all helped create the situations in which others lost their lives.

There were many unarmed individuals, but he seemed to attract ones who were armed. That rifle of Kyle’s triggered those deaths, that trial and who knows what other consequences.

The other culprit is the law itself. We know laws are not always written out of a moral imperative that seeks fairness for all.

Then there is the judge who prays about the sentence he will give to a rich, white young man who has harassed and raped four young women. His decision, prison would be “inappropriate.” But of course, we know prison would likely be very appropriate for a young man of color.

We still have a long way to go on the road to justice.

Morality and law

 We follow the law to avoid the chaos of not doing so. But the law is not a moral agent. In fact, sometimes the law defies morality and needs to be defied to be righted. The law and moral codes are both made by human beings, but for different purposes. We see these purposes in conflict in the way legislators behave and legislate. We see these in conflict in the lives of those who protest the laws they believe morally wrong.

We see the same dance of law and morality in the search for justice in the Rittenhouse and Arbery trials. We’ll never know what really happened in these instances. That reality is trapped in the heads of those involved in the incidents. So two stories built from the skills of the lawyers and the management of the judge are offered to the jury for consideration and judgment.

What happened in moments is played out in days, months, even years; and in these two cases, depended on unnecessary guns. These are American stories.

Wealth

 Wealth was made on backs of slaves. Wealth was made on the exploitation of child labor. Wealth was made holding down the working poor. Now we understand that wealth was made at the expense of pollution and climate disaster.

The difference in the last is that all of us in the developed world have been accomplices in the consumption of excess. We create the dirty air that others breathe, and others create the dirty air that we breathe.

The lifestyle of wealthy countries has impacted life in poor countries, and the wealthy countries are slow to admit to this.

Who’s willing to say, “No thank you, I don’t really need more.” Or, “I can scale down my lifestyle so others can live better.” Or even, “It’s past time for me to confront my complacency.”

Sex

 Sex is only one question on the love exam.

4 haikus

 Children wear backpacks

Filled with the rocks we put there

Adults confront their shame

Love the little one

Nurture its special spirit

This, a gift you give

When the children play

Adults remember a time

When life could flower

Let what’s possible

Live in the dreams of a child

Always close at hand

 

If

 If I had unbounded optimism. If I had endless hope. If I thoroughly believed in the goodness of human beings. What would I do with the world I see in front of me? Are all the good deeds in the world not enough? Are we too distracted by spectacle to see what’s happening? Is the world now and forever a battlefield of dark and light? Are there not enough intrinsic rewards for love and compassion? Are we just victims of our delusions of who we are? Are we just a bunch of screw ups?

What can?

 What can poets do? The world has outpaced all the metaphors for it.

What can a thinking person do? The world is too big for any one brain.

What can a compassionate person do? Love rarely escapes its lustful, sappy memes.

What can a spiritual person do? Trapped in a hopelessly material and angry world.

What can a human being do? Dig deep, find humanity, give it back to the world with ferocity.

Now in America

 We are now in a time in America where fear is a greater motivator than compassion. Where parents don’t trust teachers, but don’t educate themselves. Where the stale and toxic presence of Donald Trump still has impact. Where profit and consumerism must be protected while the planet dies. Where “me” too often comes before “we.” 

There’s lots of good in the world, but is it enough to give us real hope?

The news gives us weeks on Gaby Petito and seconds on the frontline workers on covid. We get the trial drama of Kyle Rittenhouse but little on the groups trying to prevent violence in the cities. We get the freedom story of Brittney Spears but little about the integration of Afghan families into American life.

The world will never be our narrow perception of the world. We have to go out and meet it.

God

 God doesn’t have anything to do with evolution. God is all about us. Our problem is we don’t, as human beings, know what God really wants from us. Is God love? Does God want us to kill one another? Does God want us to perform for big rewards? Would God be happy if we were just decent people? Does God want us to just keep guessing?

If we knew what God wanted, we probably wouldn’t all pay attention anyway. We’d just continue to make the world a beautiful mess. In the end, human beings are as stubbornly evil as they are stubbornly good.

Kyle and Travis

 Kyle Rittenhouse and Travis Scott. Two young men, brains not fully developed, putting themselves in situations they are not capable of handling. Kyle, believing he is prepared to defend and give aid, illegal weapon in hand, putting himself and others in danger. Travis, wrapped in the adulation of an unruly and excessively large crowd, not mature enough to manage the circumstance his very show created.

In both cases, the lives of others are lost. Where were the adults? When will we really confront the America of senseless violence?

Art school

 Any young person planning to go to art school should ask the school this question: How will your school educate my hand, eye, body, mind and spirit?

What?

 What is power without compassion?

What is wealth without generosity?

What is friendship without empathy?

What is wisdom without tolerance?

What is love without patience?

What is intelligence without humility?

What is creativity without purpose?

What is honesty without trust?

What is judgment without mercy?

What is courage without modesty?

What is faith without doubt?

Climate warrior

 This is my new action plan as a climate change warrior:

1. Because of high atmospheric methane levels, will no longer fart.

2. I will forage my backyard for nutritious foods.

3. I will drink water only from a goat’s bladder.

4. In the dark of night, I will come plant a tree on your lawn.

5. I will weave my old underwear into placemats, potholders, coasters and doilies.

6. I will only drink beer that has no carbon footprint.

7. I will coast down all hills while driving.

8. I will shower just once a week.

9. I will burn all my junk mail for warmth.

Four simple solutions

 Four simple solutions to complex problems:

1. Replace every gun law with one that says: “In order to own a gun, you must show proof that you belong to a militia as meant by the Second Amendment when it was written.”

2. No parent can criticize the content of a school’s curriculum unless they have first passed the 9th grade proficiency test.

3. Everywhere the word “sex” appears, replace it with “love.” So sex trade becomes love trade and sex appeal becomes love appeal. Thus we get love harassment, love worker, etc.

4. To deal with racism, just take the tern “race” off the table. With ancestry/DNA, intermingling and intermarriage, race is an outmoded concept anyway. That will put it all down to morality and equality.

Son

 I didn’t get the son I wanted. I got a son 1000 times better. No parent can imagine the complexity of a being that grows out of DNA, all kinds of relationships and unpredictable life experiences. A parent can only nurture the mind, body and spirit of the child, giving careful attention to the emerging gifts that will make the child thrive in life.

Body and soul

 Many athletes work for years toward a goal they never reach because of injuries, financial difficulties, lack of support or other life issues. They put body and soul into their efforts and are changed body and soul.

Many entrepreneurs put time and money into businesses they believe in only to have them fail. They put in body and soul and are changed body and soul.

Many scientists work their whole lives on problems that seem elusive. They give body and soul and are changed body and soul.

Artists are no different. They pursue their visual voices with passion and persistence, often with little recognition. They invest body and soul and are changed body and soul.

Life doesn’t guarantee external reward for hard work, but hard work guarantees the rewards of character and personal growth. Body and soul.

Climate

 World leaders will and must make pacts and treaties, give speeches and support legislation to address climate change. But they will continue to drive their limos, jet internationally and live in climate controlled comfort in their multiple residences. They will not likely become examples of how all of us must live in this world of climate disruption.

Still, it is also their job to remind us that there are difficult and demanding times ahead, that we are all going to have to make the hard choices that the poor and disenfranchised all over the globe are already making. We have created a global web of mobility, consumption, excess and inequity that is not sustainable. The earth was not made for this many people behaving in this way. The little comforting efforts like recycling are not going to suffice. We all have to become canaries in the coal mine.

So now, with my little speech, how likely is it that I will continue to be just one more bad actor in this climate drama?

Doomed

 We’re doomed. Climate change won’t end the world. Evolution will ensure that. But it could end the human world. For all the talk, we are still driving our cars, climate controlling our homes, running our various gadgets and generally living a good life in America. The fact that we are 5% of the world’s population using 20% of the world resources or that we ship our garbage to other countries doesn’t seem to bother us. The fact that we discourage people across the world from consuming like us doesn’t seem to bother us.

We have floods of immigrants and refugees fleeing their own countries because of war, persecution and famine. We are 7.5 billion people, soon to be 9 billion, all wanting to live, raise families, just survive. Religion has failed to feed our spiritual lives. Across the globe, dictatorships represent themselves and not their people. People starve while weapons of war get more and more expensive and sophisticated.

Maybe other times in history have been like this, but no other times have seen such global connectedness, such fearful power and so many people. We have not been able to overcome war or hate or unprincipled power. We will never be without the good, the courageous, the compassionate or the loving. But we can never underestimate our own human darkness, both the big and the small.

Family

 We try to approach social problems with strategies and legislation that address the problems as they come to a head. But the major problems we face in America, I believe, begin in the family. This is no new idea or great insight, but it seems more than ever true as families have to deal with divorce, absent parents, grandparents raising their grandchildren, poverty, all kinds of blended families, abuse, mental illness and addiction. America is not particularly kind to its children.

Some problems emerge from within the family. Some problems result from external forces on the family. How to attempt to fix this problem is a difficult problem. But clearly a country that experiences so much violence, so much addiction, such an obscene inequity in wealth and material goods and faltering legislation to help families, is a country failing.