Inspiration, Yet Again

Listened to a young man named Eboo Patel at a nearby college last night, the crowd almost palpably yearning to hear some common sense and guidance as they consider how to push back against the rising tide of hatred against Muslims in this country. Here is a link to Eboo's Interfaith Youth Core http://www.ifyc.org/about_core/staff

Memorable quotes...."if your enemy is Muslim extremism, and you always talk about Muslims, you are focusing on the wrong word." "I think the reason people in this country love the poet Rumi so much is ... he's like Whitman!" "In America, we do not hate people because of their religion...we just don't." "It's not going to be easy, but the forces of inclusion will overcome the forces of hate." "The foundation of Islam is mercy, so if you are looking at five verses in the Koran about mercy and five verses in the Koran about killing infidels, the more important verses are the ones about mercy."

I'm struck by how little I know about Islam, about how interesting its history is, and about how intertwined its history actually is with the development of the United States of America. Fascinating.

LifeThese Days

So, last weekend, I go see the Twins play at Safeco Field in Seattle (they lost).....my husband and I score some pretty nice seats, six rows up between home plate and first base.....I text my friend in St. Paul to tell her I'm at the game.....she texts me back this photo, which she took in her living room with her phone while watching the game on her TV....yeah that's me with the intense expression on my face....

I do wish my parents were alive to experience this strange new world.
Happy 84th birthday mom!

Stupid stuff

People burning the Koran on September 11. Pretty damn dumb.

People "accusing" Obama of being a Muslim. Like people used to "accuse" somebody of being gay. SO WHAT IF HE WERE?

People talking about another religion as though they understand it. When they so obviously know nothing and never never never think outside their own puny little boxes.

Stating the obvious, but thanks NCC:
http://www.ncccusa.org/news/100811ramadanrespect.html

The Way They Were

As the executor of my mom's estate (such as it was), and also frankly because I am a junkie for "the past," I am the repository of family papers, photos, condolence cards, newspaper articles, yearbooks, birth certificates. This week I've been alone and have taken on the project of going through all of it -- ALL OF IT -- and tossing what should/can go, and organizing what's left into useable units of history.

Such a project it is. It is like slogging through the mud of bad memories, sometimes....other times, it is just darned sad, as it was this afternoon, when I could not get through all the condolence cards sent to my mom after my dad died (1979). Wow, people said some incredible things about him.

A couple of times this week, I have looked up from my labor, and thought to myself: I need to take a break from this! It's too much! It's not normal to be thinking about the past all the time!
And yet it is apparently what I need to do, I feel this so strongly -- in order to move on.

Some of this stuff clearly needs to be tossed in the garbage. Some of it needs to be sent to other people in the family. Some of it needs to be transformed into scrapbooks and histories (ah! a new project!).

I have a strong feeling that this is the process I need to go through (and out the other side) in order to get where I'm going next. Don't know what/where that is, how it will feel, what it will look like.

But I'm going to be 60 in less than a year, and it's time to consider how I'm going to spend this next portion of my life.

Rules, An Update

A few days ago, I had two -- count 'em, TWO -- great interactions with representatives of bureaucracy -- both State of Washington employees, both personable, humorous, HELPFUL, and engaging, and both of whom made me feel positive and encouraged.

That's not bad for one day! I am hoping I expressed my gratitude to them adequately so that they could have positive take-aways as well.

So: there are kindred (as in -- kind) souls out there.

Hold that thought.

Rules

For awhile now I have been COMPLETELY ANGRY about bureaucracy, how it limits service, how it squashes creativity, and how its rules and processes get fossilized into "that's the way it is." (The other side of the coin is management that changes rules and processes on a weekly basis, creating the scary instability that so many people have to work in.)

Either way of "doing business" counts on people being sheep, just doing what they're told, accepting it, not even noticing that they have lost their nerve, their joy, their compassion for those they encounter during the day.

If I hear one more time how "the government" is the root of all evil, I will scream. Exactly how do people think business does, when it comes to stupid bureaucratic processes that impede progress? Heck, small businesses, families, classrooms, churches -- it just seems like groups of people in general gravitate toward institutionalization and sameness, making up stupid rules as they go, for no reason whatsoever or for some reason nobody even remembers.

Then the institution must work hard to keep itself alive, fighting change, or pretending to change, or saying one thing and continuing to do the other (it's called lying).

I am a social worker. My job is to help people negotiate "the system," aka bureaucracies that administer government support programs. The particular group of people I serve is the elderly (and their families). While individuals who work in "the system" are -- not always, but generally reasonable and polite when I telephone them on my clients' behalf, the outcomes are typically negative for my clients. The paperwork is lengthy, repetitive, and intrusive. The benefits -- if eventually offered -- are often vastly underadequate to the need. The rules of the programs are difficult -- for me! -- to understand. Often -- often!! -- clients will get to the end of the process, hear what the benefit actually is and how it will affect them -- and they refuse! And I don't blame them!

There is a huge group of people with needs -- and a very large group of bureaucracies that hold the keys. This is not "service." This is not even "helpful." It's demeaning, confusing, and dehumanizing. Just what people need toward the end of life.

Are we all in this together? Or not? I think -- not. How unfortunate that we put our trust in huge corporate/governmental entities that fail us anyway (if we work in them or want to get something out of them), and how unfortunate that we imagine that one political party or another is going to change that. The parties themselves are bureaucracies.

RANT.

So I guess for me, my job is to act as little like a bureaucrat as possible. To imagine new things. To make compassionate connections. To be genuine and not promise things I do not even plan to provide. To educate people realistically about what to expect and how they can manage the stress of bumping up against the bureaucracy. To always always communicate to people that they are priceless and valuable, worth much more than those forms and rule books ever could be.

At Home

Little things help to create a feeling of "being home."

This week, Husband and I bought bookshelves for the living room (a room we rarely spend any time in at all) and organized books and memorabilia on these shelves that flank the fireplace.

Preparing for a dinner party last night, Husband spent much time during the day figuring out where our framed pictures and art should go on the living/dining area walls.

And then last night we had two couples over for dinner and conversation on the deck with the wonderful view of the water and mountains behind us.

At one point during the evening I walked through the living room and had that great feeling of being "at home," not just being in a nice place for a little while, not just visiting, not just existing. The room looks wonderful, and is perfectly personal.

I can imagine spending alot more time in that room now, reading, conversing, reflecting, laughing.