Sunday, January 28, 2018

Parker J. Palmer: We Shall Overcome!

What a powerful, needed, and wise essay by Parker Palmer. It is worth sharing again and again. I also experience this heartfelt bow of gratitude for those deeply loving and strong souls who remind us how to be resilient in these dark and painful times. I believe we all need these reminders of how vital it is to continue to carry and shine the light of wisdom, truth, justice, inclusivity, resilience, compassion, courage, and love. May we all be inspired and inspire one another. We are all related, all in this together. Again and again I need to affirm that world is possible. Molly


It’s not easy to describe how it's felt to be an American since the Inauguration—especially since I don't want to resort to the crude, spiteful, arrogant speech our new President favors.

I’ll simply say that my spirit has been ground down by the daily policy assaults against people and the planet—and by the underlying assault on truth itself. “Alternative facts,” my Aunt Agnes!

As I’ve sought ways to deal with the daily grind, I’ve thought back to a ten-day retreat I took in the New Mexico desert near Ghost Ranch a few years ago. I was wrestling with some serious problems at the time, wondering how to stay with them for the long haul—the only way serious problems ever get resolved.

One day, hiking in the desert, I was struck by the fact that the rocks towering above me were at least 150 million years old. It was if I could hear them saying, “We’ve seen it all, and still we stand strong. Let us help you get your problems in perspective, where they'll be easier to hold.”

That experience came back to me when I saw the image below. It reminded me of how much I have to learn from people who "have been here before”—generation after generation—and are still carrying the torch for love, truth, and justice.

A deep bow to Native Americans, African Americans, Mexican Americans, Muslim Americans, and many, many others who have been assaulted by America again and again, and yet have not laid down the torch.

Memo to Self: Look, listen, and learn from fellow citizens who have a lot more reason to give up than you do, but are still singing, “We shall overcome!”
 
Written one year ago on January 27, 2027

[Artist: Ernesto Yerena http://www.hechoconganas.com/bio/. Later: Randy Blackford, who follows this page, sent the following info: "The illustrator is Ernesto Yerena but the photographer of this image is Ayşe Gürsöz—and it was based on this picture http://tinyurl.com/jx3yf2f of Helen Red Feather protesting at Standing Rock Indian Reservation. 'I’m a Lakota...I’m a warrior. I will fight for my grandkids till I leave this world.'" Thank you, Randy.]

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