BREATHE IN; BREATHE OUT

We breathe.  In and out.  Most of the time we do this unconsciously.  I, for one, don't often stop to think about what a miracle this is -- what a marvel of design or invention or accident.   

 

But today I have been thinking about this and the other miracles that keep us alive. Blood circulates through no effort on our part.  Our nervous systems pass messages throughout our bodies.  Again, no volition is involved.

 

We stand up and ambulate.  We open our eyes and see.  We hear.  We taste. We smell.  Most of us take these wonders for granted--at least, that is, until one of these systems goes awry. What if we were to appreciate these miracles before they fail us?

 

What else do we take for granted much of the time?  How about:

 

Water--most especially hot, running water

Shelter

Grocery stores with food on the shelves.  

Love, all kinds of love. 

 

Gentle readers, if our bodies are working, if we have water and shelter and food and people who love us, we are so very fortunate.  Can we spend some time appreciating this?  

 

I have been living with a lot of fear and anxiety about current events.  I think I need to stop for a moment and breathe.  

 

Can we all stop and breathe.  In and out. 

Let's.

And then let's do whatever we can to repair this broken world. 

 

 

                                    Photo by Saad Chaudhry on Unsplash

BLOWING UP THE ARC OF THE MORAL UNIVERSE

I love words.  I trade in words.  Lately, I find that words are failing me.  So, this will be short.

Beginning with the Civil Rights Movement and right on through second-wave feminism, passage of the Americans With Disabilities Act, and the Supreme Court’s ruling on gay marriage, I have witnessed, and  supported, many changes for the better in this country. 

 

Yes, there have been setbacks and disappointments.  Still, I have had reason to hope that these words from Martin Luther King, Jr. were true:  The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.

 

For a long time, I have had an image of people of goodwill hanging from the arc, lending their weight to its bending.  Sometimes it has felt as if the arc were straightening, bending away from justice, but always I have believed that the power of those working for justice would continue to bend the arc, inch-by-inch, toward justice and fairness.  

Now, it seems that people of ill will are deploying a bomb (paid for by the richest man in the world) to blow up the arc, sending flying those of us who have been hanging on.

Photo by Wiki Sinaloa on Unsplash

I want to be hopeful, but right now it is a struggle. Will it be possible to pick ourselves up from wherever we have been thrown and build a new arc?

To be honest, at this stage of my life, the weight I can lend to the building and the bending is not what it once was, but I am willing to give it my very best. 

 

If only someone can tell me where to start.