Author: Pat Liberty

It’s no secret that the Black community has disproportionately less access to good medical care compared with whites. One aspect of this lack of quality care is in maternal child health. Here the double whammy of racism and sexism are painfully at work, yet it is a little known problem outside the Black community.

Unfortunately, it is nothing new. The United States began keeping infant mortality records in 1850. At that time infant mortality in the Black community was 340/1000 as compared to 217/1000 in the white community. Infant mortality dropped among all groups in the early 1900’s. By 1960 the United States had the 12th highest rate of infant mortality among developed countries. Currently the United States is 32/35 among developed countries. The most common factor cited in high infant mortality rates in the Black community is low birth weight. Black infants are more than twice as likely to die as white infants.

Among Black mothers, mortality (defined as death within a year of giving birth) is higher than it was 25 years ago. This translates to 50,000 preventable deaths every year–an increase of 200% from 1993-2014.  Black women are 3-4 times more likely to die from pregnancy related causes than their white counterparts. A recent New York Times article cites pre-eclampsia (gestational high blood pressure) and eclampsia related seizures as the leading cause of birth complications and maternal death. Black women are more than 60% more likely to experience pre-eclampsia and eclampsia than white women.

Sadly, none of this is news in the global community. In 2014 the United Nations Commission for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination called on the United States to “…eliminate racial disparities in the field of reproductive health and standardize data collection on maternal and infant mortality rates….” To date, no progress has been made toward this end.

The societal and systemic racism in the United States creates conditions that lead to higher mortality rates for mothers and infants in the Black community. Racial bias means that the concerns of pregnant black women are more likely to be dismissed by their (often white) doctors. Societal bias blamed black women by claiming they were less educated; however, several studies have demonstrated that black women with college degrees are twice as likely to die as white women with less education. Further, such social bias led to blaming black women for the deaths of their infants, when the actual causes of death were due to the larger issue of racism.

Dr. Arline Geronimus of the University of Michigan School of Public Health linked the stress of living in socially and culturally based racism as a central cause of poor pregnancy outcomes. Her research showed that racism (and sexism) creates toxic stress for Black women and this in turn leads to low birth weight, increased strain on mothers and more pregnancy/birth complications.

While much of the occupant’s base is hollering about being pro-life, their “commitment” to being pro-life seems to have more to do with white lives than Black lives. Sadly, this should broker no surprise.

Pro-life is a much larger issue than being “pro birth.” Benedictine sister Joan Chittister cites the difference between being pro-life and pro-birth. Being pro-life means every child is a wanted child and every child and mother has equal access to pre-natal and post-natal care. Every child and mother has equal access to food, affordable housing, healthcare, education and child care. Being pro-life means black and white mothers and their children are valued equally. In her 2004 interview with Bill Moyers, Chittister spoke passionately about being more broadly pro-life than just being opposed to abortion. Sadly, many Americans are much more articulate about what they are against than what they are for.

Just when we think the pain of racism cannot go any deeper, we see yet another facet to America’s Original Sin.

Many of us who were raised in the church were taught that anger is wrong, a sin or some kind of moral failure.  I was taught that “forgiveness” is the response to being wronged and, to make things worse, it was not “ladylike” to be angry. 

It creates baggage.

Jesus, however, got angry.  In the same day he cursed a fig tree, even though it wasn’t the season for figs, he turned over the tables of the money changers in the temple (Mark 11:12-25).  Guess Jesus was having a bad day.  Hey, it happens.

Jesus’ anger is encouraging because it validates that anger is a human emotion, part of what it means to be created in God’s image. So, how do we reconcile the whole “be nice” thing with the reality of being angry?

Simple:  be angry but do not sin (Ephesians 4:26). Yes, there is a difference between being angry and sinning.  There are some things that should make us angry: injustice, abuse, prejudice, all the “isms”, oppression and a host of others.

The larger context of the verse is important.  It’s about stepping out from behind what is false and speaking the truth in love.  We know all too well how anger stews and festers and then comes out sideways in a hurtful and inappropriate way. I’m guessing we all have some experience in that wheelhouse.

Speaking the truth in love is the base for healthy interpersonal relationships. It is also the foundation of a public theology of anger.  It is troubling to see an increase in the kind of vile talk, name calling and vitriol that dominates public conversation.  The occupant has set a low bar for human interaction. As a consequence, we are pretty good at rage, not so good at anger.

If we read our bibles and are paying attention, the values we espouse as followers of Jesus are seriously in jeopardy. But just getting mad and going off on a rant is not helpful, as fun as it may be.

More importantly it shows a lack of understanding of the issues and an unwillingness to engage them in a meaningful way. Genuine anger about an issue is very different than unarticulated vitriol.

Anger harnessed for righteousness changes things.  Anger harnessed for ego destroys things.

There is plenty to be angry about in these days. The feelings of powerlessness can be overwhelming. If we focus on our powerlessness, we remain immobilized. Being immobilized means our egos are leading the dance. We are silent because we are afraid, because it may not make a difference, because we worry about what others may think. These are maladies of the ego, and the ego has no place in the work of righteous anger toward what is wrong. If we allow our egos to win and remain silent, the dominant narrative wins. All that we think is wrong in our society will win. All that we grouse and gripe about will not change.

A public theology of anger is rooted in speaking the truth in love: articulating what is wrong, why it is wrong, and having a sense of righteous indignation that leads to action. Righteous indignation is not self-righteous indignation; it is a spiritually rooted pain for the pain of another.  It has roots in compassion.  It speaks with power and with love and not with vitriol. 

Creating a public theology of anger requires deep righteous indignation at the wrongs perpetrated against those who have the fewest resources to fight back.  It requires harnessing the human emotion of anger to work on behalf of others. So, “be angry, but do not sin.”

There comes a moment in righteous indignation when you can do nothing BUT act, when silence is no longer an option, when the wrong is stronger than fear of failure, when ego takes second place to the inner moral compass. If we focus our righteous indignation at the situation that is wrong, we will be energized to act. These days are filled with rampant injustice. The voice of righteous indignation is urgently needed.

In a well-timed diplomatic announcement, the occupant nearly broke his arm patting himself on the back. Israel, the United States, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain have entered into full diplomatic relations. It is hailed as an historic “peace” agreement, except none of the parties are in conflict with one another which is a pre-requisite for a “peace” deal. It is a business deal and a strategic arms initiative. Coming just weeks before the election, this accord is a strategic political move.  

By announcing this “historic peace agreement”, dubbed the Abraham Accord, the occupant is hoping to boost his failing numbers among the fundamentalist white evangelical voting bloc. The connection between Israel and fundamentalist white evangelicals is rooted in a weird biblical perspective. In the first testament, the Israelites were given the “Promised Land.” Fundamentalist white evangelicals claim to take the bible literally, hence they support Israel’s claim to all the land known as the Promised Land. This includes the West Bank that is currently occupied by Israel over and against the Palestinians.

The fate of the West Bank lies at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The Abraham Accord puts off Israel’s dealings with Palestine. This means the annexation of the West Bank remains an option in the accord. Much of the global community is in agreement that lasting peace in the region is contingent on resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. This means a two state solution.

The Abraham Accord is not so much a peace deal as it is a business deal and an arms deal. The accord was made public by announcing the first direct flight between the UAE and Israel. That is strictly about economics. The UAE hopes to access technical knowledge from Israel. In return, Israel hopes some of the riches of the UAE may come its way. In light of this, the claim that the accord is about peace holds little water. 

The accord is also a strategic geopolitical move as it allows the UAE to buy F35 fighter planes and other high tech military equipment from the United States. The UAE is in a much better geographic position to deal with the instability of Iran than Israel. The strategic military angle dealing with Iranian instability cannot be overlooked. Iran condemned the accord in harsh statements as soon as it was announced. Turkey vowed to cut off diplomatic relations with Israel. While this accord claims to be about peace, there is a likelihood that it will result in long term geopolitical instability.

What is stunning in all of this political wrangling is the absence of the Palestinians. In addition to furthering the divisions regarding who owns the West Bank, there is also a shift in political alliances that is troubling. For many years there has been an unspoken alliance between Palestine and the Arab countries. The essence of the alliance is that Arab countries will not enter into diplomatic relations with Israel until they account for their crimes against the Palestinians and until the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is solved. The Arab countries have been mostly silent about the announcement of the Abraham Accord.

The reason any of this matters to us is simple. For years the United States has had a symbiotic relationship with Israel. One can say nothing negative about Israel without sounding un-American. Yet there needs to be a voice that supports the Palestinians and ends their suffering at the hands of the Israelis.

Relying on the promise of scripture that the Promised Land belongs to Israel is a cherry picking festival of biblical interpretation. Though the Promised Land is a central theme of the first testament, there is much more to Israel’s relationship with Yahweh. The central message of the first testament (and the second testament as well) is God’s everlasting love affair with all of creation and all of the world’s people. As the chosen ones Israel has special responsibilities in living into this eternal love affair. When Israel lives in sync with the love of God the conflict will solve itself. When people come before land the solution comes into clear focus.

The central prayer of the Jewish liturgy comes from Deuteronomy 6:

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. Take to heart these instructions with which I charge you this day. Impress them upon your children. Recite them when you stay at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you get up. Bind them as a sign on your hand and let them serve as a symbol on your forehead, inscribe them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”

Love and not land is the overarching message of scripture. Trotting out an economic and military deal and calling it a peace accord is a sham. For the occupant it is part of making America great, but there is not greatness to be found in alliances that cause others pain. For the UAE, Israel and Bahrain there may be increased military security, but it brokers no true peace. Driving a wedge into the Arab countries holds no long term advantage. Icing out the Palestinians in talks about the future postpones the ultimate conflict that needs to be resolved. Peace in the Middle East is about peace between Israel and Palestine.

This Letter was sent to Vice President Mike Pence on September 16, 2020

Vice President Pence:

I am writing to protest your misuse of Scripture during your acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention. ( you can read his entire speech by following this link: https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/26/politics/mike-pence-speech-transcript/index.html )

As a Christian I am appalled at your use of Hebrews 12:1-2 and 2 Corinthians 3:17. It is an unconscionable misuse of Sacred Text for political purposes and it is wrong. Referring to Old Glory (the American flag) as a substitute for Jesus is wrong. The nod toward christian nationalism is an affront to the Christian faith.

I am an ordained minister and a life-long student of Scripture. The passage from Hebrews 12:1-2 (New Revised Standard Version—NRSV) reads:

            “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.”

It is Jesus who is the perfecter of our faith and we look to Him and not to “Old Glory and all she represents.” We fix our eyes on God and on the living truth found in Jesus, not on “this land of heroes.” We fix our eyes on the words and teachings of Jesus. He alone is the perfecter of our faith and is not to be co-opted as a tool of nationalistic “freedom.”

Your misquoting of 2 Corinthians of 3:17 adds an additional reference to nationalism that further distorts the truth of Scripture. The verse from the NRSV reads:

            “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.”

Your slight twist skews the meaning of the verse. The freedom we enjoy is from the Spirit of the Lord. It is a spirit of humility, grace and faith. It is not a freedom to do as we please. It is not a

freedom that has no base in the truth of who Jesus Christ is. It is not a freedom that wins through “might makes right.”  The true freedom that is ours, as Christians, is found in Jesus Christ and has nothing to do with nationalism.

Jesus was hung on the cross because of his refusal to collude with Roman occupation and the nationalism it represented. We, who seek to live after the ways of Jesus, refuse to collude in the ways of christian nationalism. We refuse to collude with the notion that “might makes right.” We refuse to collude with the ongoing exploitation of the poor. We refuse to collude with the ongoing degradation of the environment for the sake of corporations that exploit their workers. Your notion of “freedom” and your willingness to substitute “Old Glory” for Jesus shows the lengths to which you will go for the sake of your political agenda.

In the full authority of my office as a duly ordained Christian pastor, I speak truth to your misuse of scripture to gain re-election. I cannot change your political agenda, as distasteful as I find it, but I do protest your misuse of Sacred Scripture in furthering that end.

In faithfulness to the Gospel I remain,

Rev. Patricia L. Liberty

As we gathered (at appropriate social distance) for the traditional end of summer, there are reasons to remember that the Labor Day holiday is about more than burgers and beer.  

The growth of the labor movement and the evolution of unions in the late 1800’s were predecessors of the holiday known as Labor Day. A series of strikes and disasters galvanized the labor movement and strengthened the move for equality, workers’ rights and better working conditions.

There were several riots and strikes worth noting:

• The Haymarket Riot in Chicago in 1886. It was part of a national May Day rally that was led primarily by immigrant workers. What began as a peaceful demonstration ended in a riot when someone threw a bomb at police. Eight people died.
• The Pullman Strike, May-July 1894. Rail workers went on strike to protest wage cuts and firing of Union representatives. The Federal Government dispatched troops to Chicago. Ultimately what began as a peaceful protest ended in a riot.  During the strike there was a widespread railroad strike and boycott. As a result rail travel was all but stopped. It was the first time a government injunction was used to break up a strike.
• The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire in New York in 1911. Forty-five workers died when a fire broke out in the factory. Exits were locked, fire escapes were inadequate and there was no reasonable means of egress for the hundreds of immigrant women working 12 hour shifts, 7 days a week for $15.00 a week. The owners, Max Blanc and Isaac Harris ultimately reimbursed the families of the victims $75.00. They received $400 for each victim from the insurance company. Despite the devastating fire, sprinklers were not installed. The business partners had twice torched the building for insurance money and they wanted to make sure they had the option to do so again. They were among the worst in how they treated their workers.
• The Ludlow Massacre, 1914. Coal miners in Colorado protested for better wages, shorter hours and better working conditions. The striking miners and their families erected a tent city near the strike site, which allowed them to get out of the company owned town. In April 1914 the Colorado National Guard and the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company guards attacked the tent colony with machine guns and fire setters. Approximately 21 people died. Other skirmishes with law enforcement personnel led Historian Thomas G. Andrews to call this the deadliest strike in the history of the United States.

There were many more strikes in smaller factories scattered around the country.  What they all had in common was that workers demanded safe working conditions, humane hours, fair wages, workers compensation for injuries sustained on the job and vacation time.   

Out of this push for organized labor, union representation emerged as the protection for most factory workers. Labor Day, as a legal holiday began on June 28, 1894, though many states passed Labor Day laws for celebration prior to that.

 There are still workers fighting for basic rights: the right to be paid fairly for a day’s work, access to affordable benefits and more. Companies like Walmart, one of the largest retailers in the United States with owners worth billions of dollars, refuse to provide benefits to their employees. They give their employees just enough hours each week so they do not qualify for benefits. Because they are low wage workers they qualify for food stamps and Medicaid. This means that “We the People” are ultimately underwriting the massive profits of companies like Walmart. Other retailers have followed suit. It is perfectly legal, but it is far from moral or ethical.

Yet, during this pandemic, workers such as these (not the CEO’s making millions) are saving the day. Low wage workers show up and check out our groceries, clean hospital rooms, collect garbage, make our pizzas and sell us our wine and beer. Behind the scenes, truckers, warehouse workers, farmers and countless others do their best to assure the food supply remains intact (despite the fact that some people feel the need to hoard and create shortages).   

Laborers are and always have been the backbone of our country. They are the heart of the middle class and represent the largest segment of our society. In the wake of the pandemic, however, more and more middle class workers are falling into the category of the working poor. The ones we depend on the most are the ones who are treated the worst.

Unions are being undermined by the occupant and his cohort in order to favor big business. Corporate profits are at an all-time high, as reflected in the artificially inflated Stock Market. Workers’ rights and benefits are being eroded at an alarming rate. What we can all do is advocate for workers’ rights and shop where workers are treated well. This requires us to be informed consumers.    

Though Labor Day has passed, let this week be a reminder to thank the essential workers on whom we depend for our daily well-being.   

If we wonder how it is that black men continue to be shot at an alarming rate throughout the country, we need look no further than the intertwined history of American policing and white supremacy.

As far back as the period of Reconstruction following the civil war, blacks were arrested for wanting to vote, negotiate labor contracts or exercise their political and social rights. According to historian Khalil Muhammed, working for white landowners was the only thing that was not criminalized. Further, black labor was sold to private contractors and blacks who resisted were arrested.  As a result, blacks were arrested at disproportionately higher rates than whites for simply trying to assert what had been promised them during Reconstruction. The criminal justice system emerged during this time and racial bias was woven into the warp and woof of policing. It served to keep blacks in subordinate roles so they could be exploited in various labor markets.

In the beginning of the 20th century when blacks were migrating north in record numbers, the notion of criminalization followed. Blacks were criminalized at far higher rates than their white counterparts.  As census taking emerged as a metric for monitoring the population, the data bore out the fact that blacks had higher rates of criminalization. It is important to remember that their “offenses” were simply an attempt to exercise the freedom given them with the abolition of slavery. The consolidation of crime statistics brought about by the census fed arguments for diminished equal citizenship, segregation and unequal distribution of goods and services.

During prohibition, boot legging operations and speakeasies were disproportionately located in black communities (even if they were run by whites). This further reinforced the notion that black communities were hot beds of crime.

When the NAACP was founded in 1910, tracking data on lynching in the north was a priority. It resulted in increased attention to police violence. The first race riots took place in East St. Louis in the 1920’s. Riots followed in Philadelphia and Chicago. The first Blue Ribbon Commission in Chicago found that when police had the chance to protect blacks from white mob violence, they chose to either aid or abet the white mobs and disarm and/or arrest blacks. The 1922 report showed that police systematically engaged in racial bias. The recommendations of the report were largely ignored.

This scenario of race riots, investigations and reports had similar findings in Harlem and other cities around the country. The Harlem report was shelved before it was ever made public. Finally, a black newspaper called the Amsterdam published it.

As late as the l940s the NAACP tracked lynching data; many of the reported lynchings involved police officers or police accomplices who aided and abetted in various ways. In a paper titled, “Living Histories of White Supremacist Policing, Towards Transformative Justice,” the history of selective mobilization of police resources was traced and correlations were made with white supremacists in state and non- state actors. Such under-policing shielded white supremacist officers from closer scrutiny and sanctions. Make no mistake; police officers were involved in the denial of basic human rights to blacks.

Under the presidency of George W. Bush the FBI published a study on white supremacist infiltration of law enforcement. The 2006 report, a portion of which has been declassified, stated the “KKK is notable among white supremacist groups for historically having found support in many communities which often translated into ties to local law enforcement. Although the First Amendment’s freedom of association provision protects an individual’s right to join white supremacist groups for purposes of lawful activity, the government can limit the employment opportunities of group members who hold sensitive public sector jobs, including jobs within law enforcement, when their membership would interfere with their duties.”

According to The Intercept, a 2009 intelligence study by the Department of Homeland Security, it was concluded that the greatest danger came from small terrorist cells embracing violent right wing extremist ideology. When the study was released within the Department of Homeland Security the pushback was immediate and severe. It resulted in the dismantling of the one unit that investigated this growing phenomenon in law enforcement.

In 2015 a classified FBI counter terrorism policy guide stated that “domestic terrorism investigations focus on…extremists and often have links to law enforcement.” White supremacists actively seek membership in law enforcement as “ghost skins.” The term is used to refer to those who avoid overt displays of their beliefs in order to blend into society and covertly advance white supremacist beliefs.

Still, each time a black man is shot an investigation or study is undertaken. As we see again and again it brings no systemic change. While individual police officers who commit these offenses need to be held to account, these scattered prosecutions will do nothing to bring about change in police culture.

This is not to say that all police officers are white supremacists. That is NOT the case. All police officers, however, DO exist in a culture of white supremacy within the police department. It is a bias that is as invisible as the air they breathe. They are not conscious of the cultural bias (at least most of them) but this makes it no less influential in the way they discharge their duties.

What is needed is no less than a wholesale culture shift in police work. Separating the intertwined roots of American policing and white supremacy is no small feat. It is, however, absolutely necessary for police to stop murdering black men.

Ennui: a feeling of listlessness and dissatisfaction arising from a lack of occupation or enrichment.

After the better part of four months being cooped up in whatever place we call home, it’s understandable that we are a little bored. We also may be more than a little frustrated and tired of this seemingly endless pandemic.  Unfortunately, it seems the virus is not tired of the human race, so the end is not yet in sight.

Increased isolation means relationships with family and friends are disordered. There is decreased physical contact as we are socially distanced and unable to hug. Work routines, if they exist, are changed. Participation in communities that give life meaning is drastically changed or non-existent. In short, many of the ways in which we find meaning are disrupted.

We have been in crisis mode for months, and the crisis is not yet over. Tara Haelle calls it exhaustion of our surge capacity. She writes, “Surge capacity is a collection of adaptive systems-mental and physical- that humans draw on for short-term survival in acutely stressful situations, such as natural disasters.” While recovery from such crises is often a long term proposition, the actual survival skills piece is relatively short term. When a crisis plods on and morphs along the way, our capacity to cope is diminished. Feeling more brittle, having less energy, losing focus more easily and difficulty getting motivated are all indicators that our surge capacity is diminishing. We can be in crisis mode for only so long.

Given our national obsession with productivity and accomplishing something on a daily basis, having routines disrupted is far more than what it seems on the surface. It’s a recipe for deep ennui. Questioning our purpose, wondering what our value is and feeling not quite depressed and not quite anxious is the classic definition of ennui. It’s more than boredom. There’s a deep psychological and spiritual component to it.

Being in the midst of global crisis for months is a bit like being cast adrift in a foreign sea with an inadequate boat and no life jackets. We are so used to being in control, or at least deluding ourselves into thinking we are, that when something totally beyond the reaches of our problem solving, productivity and efficiency lingers for months, it is unsettling to say the least.

There is no shortage of suggestions for how to cope. Get outside every day. Make a list. Set small, achievable goals. Cut yourself some slack. It’s all good advice, but it’s a bit like putting a band aid on a compound fracture.

There is an essential truth we need to reclaim. We are more than our accomplishments (just like we are more than our failures). We are more than what we produce. We are worth more than our problem solving and efficiency. Our essential value as human beings is not something we can create on our own, it rests beyond us. A basic premise of the Judeo-Christian tradition is that we are created in the image of the divine. We live in God and God lives in us. We are partners with God in ushering in God’s realm. Our purpose and meaning as human beings rests in the holy partnership we share with the divine.

This foundation makes an ever expanding world view possible. It removes us from the rat race of doing and accomplishing and plants us in the realm of being. It also has the potential to transform every act of kindness, every deed of mercy, every human interaction (no matter how small) into a radical act of love that has the potential to change the world. It is a perspective that can undergird these changing times with deeper meaning that rests on an entirely different foundation than what the world values.

Sure, it may help to go for a walk, especially if you take in the beauty that is around you. It may be a spectacular sunset. It may be a weed pushing up through a crack in the sidewalk. Both are reminders that we are part of something that is holy and amazing. We get to participate in this grand revolution of love and kindness where our value is determined by what is beyond us, yet as close as our breath.

Sometimes things have been the way they are for so long we think that is the way it is supposed to be. In the last fifty years these places have suffered from war, unrest and military violence. The last century was the most war torn and violent in all recorded human history.  The Society of International Law in London states that during the last four thousand years only 268 have been free of war.

Sometimes things have been the way they are for so long we think that is the way it is supposed to be.

War, unrest, and violence: tens of millions of lives sacrificed on the altar of human greed, political and religious strife and overall failure of human kind to find a better way.

But our human experience to the contrary notwithstanding, it is not the way it is supposed to be.  War may be the norm, but it is not God’s design.  Scripture is filled with rich images of peace, which is more than the absence of war. It is about deep well-being, or shalom. Though the promise of peace seems remote most of the time it still reaches to us in a place of deep yearning, like water washing over parched earth.

One of my favorite images of peace from the Bible is from Isaiah 2. It is a reference to God’s people streaming uphill…and there will be peace. It’s a reminder that peace is an uphill journey. It comes when we are more committed to the ways of peace than the ways of just about everything else. That’s what makes it uphill.

As in Isaiah’s time, our mountains of nationalism and economic security are higher than the mountain of faith. It’s called idolatry. If you ever wondered why prophets were not usually welcome in their home towns, this gives you a clue.

Another thing about the way of peace is that it often starts with a solo voice. The way of peace often begins with one person who speaks truth to power, one person who journeys uphill again and again.

We are so often caught in powerlessness, thinking that our little actions will not make a difference, and thinking or perhaps fearing either irrelevance or failure, what is ours to do we do not do.  Isaiah’s witness is to the power of one and that becomes more than one. As the old folk song goes, “two and two and fifty make a million.”

Margaret Mead said it best, “Never doubt that a small, committed group of people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”

The uphill journey does not ask if one person can really make a difference, it stands as a witness that leaving things undone is a resignation to despair. By speaking truth to power, we refuse to collude with evil and insanity. Breaking silence is one of the most powerful things people do. It challenges the assumption of consensus.

Peace is an uphill journey that we choose to make, or not make, every day.  A deep commitment to peace means we live out individually what is needed collectively.  We stream uphill, even if we are the only ones.

It’s not about whether or not we change the world, it’s about whether or not we are transformed, it’s up to God what happens after that.  Thich Nat Hahn said it best:  There is not a way to peace, peace is the way.

It begins with what we do or fail to do every day. Peace in the world depends on peace in the country, which depends on peace in the community, which depends on peace in our homes, which depends on peace in our hearts.  That is the uphill journey.  We make it again and again.

The myth of Sisyphus is not simply a statement that life is absurd, but rather that meaning is to be found in the journey up the hill each time, not in the hope that this time we shed the rock forever.

Each time we venture uphill we shed a bit more of the violence that is as much a part of our world as air.  Each journey up the hill yields instruction and we learn a little more of the things that make for peace in our hearts, homes, communities and world.

When all is said and done, what will people say was your purpose in life? Usually the comments are about being a good person, and loving your family. But will they say of us that we loved the poor, spoke up for justice and peace, took risks for the sake of the Gospel?

We need not look far to find the causes for conflict.  We are in the midst of a global pandemic, hundreds of thousands of people are dying, the jobless and poverty rates are soaring. Suicide rates are on the rise. Fewer and fewer Americans can afford health insurance. More and more people are food insecure and it doesn’t show signs of changing for the better any time soon.

And still, the rich are getting richer. CEO’s earn at least 400 times the pay of the average worker. What is true here is played out in countless countries around the world, proving that there is not enough for everyone’s greed but there is enough for everyone’s need.

Just because things have been the way they are for so long doesn’t mean it’s the way they are supposed to be.  Peace is the promise, peace is the journey, peace is the goal, and peace is the work.

If this year were a beverage, it would be a colonoscopy prep. The saying isn’t original to me, but it sums up this year pretty well.  This year was already behind the eight ball because the occupant is slowly destroying our country while pandering to his cronies. Adding a global pandemic and the cascade of related crises creates burdens that everyone feels to some extent. I could create a list that would fill this entire page.

Instead, I encourage you to make your own list. Take a moment and consider how your life is impacted by everything related to the pandemic. List what is uncertain, what worries you, your concern for your family, financial worries and don’t forget the global concerns that no doubt will continue to impact us all. Take some time and write a list. Review your list. Then cut yourself some slack. Have some compassion for yourself. These are tough times. You are doing the best you can. Let that sink in for a moment. You are doing the best you can.

Hopelessness often comes from feeling out of control, that there is nothing we can do to change the situation. Another component of hopelessness is the kind of wishful thinking that just sets us up for disappointment.  Magical thinking is not hope. Last time I checked there were no fairy godmothers hanging around waiting to grant our heart’s desire. Equally unhelpful in the search for hope is the “always look on the bright side,” “things could be worse,” “just buck up and keep a positive outlook” twaddle that happy-clappy religious people peddle when they have never really known what it is like to feel hopeless.

True hope is of much stronger stuff than wishful thinking and trite phrases. In the familiar words of 1 Corinthians 13, hope is inextricably bound to faith and love. Faith, at its simplest is belief in Something bigger than ourselves. Love, at its simplest, is recognizing that the Divine is at work in all of creation and responding with the best we have to offer. Hope is a belief in the possibility that things can be different. When faith, hope and love combine, they dive deeply into the heart of the Divine and into the essence of what it means to be human. Combine faith, hope and love and there’s something to hold on to.

It’s important to say that hope is not tied to a specific outcome; it doesn’t depend on certainty. Trying to engineer the outcome falls back into the wishful thinking category. Rather, it is the belief there is potential for something different to happen. In like fashion, it is also the belief that the present difficulties have not eclipsed good things happening at this moment in time.

We see how the pandemic has brought out the worst in people, but it has also brought out the best in people. Hope can be found by looking for the little and big things that people do to make life better. I am continually in awe of health care workers who keep showing up and doing what needs to be done because this is their vocation, not just their job. It is their purpose in this life. I find great hopefulness in this. I find hope in the kind actions of strangers whose eyes smile behind the masks, who take a moment to thank essential workers and show politeness when others are being jerks.

Sure, there are many things that are beyond our control, but not everything is beyond our control. Hope is something in which we must actively participate. It means that we can be the change we want to see. The little changes we make in ourselves can be a source of energy that moves us forward. Actively participating in something that makes a positive change begins to shift our perspective. When we are looking for kindness, we tend to find it. Actively participating in life is a trustworthy toe hold in hope.

Comfort and hope also can be found in some things that are beyond our control. I find great comfort in the fact that the sun rises every day. There is nothing I have to do but pay attention. There is a steadiness to the rhythm of days that is grounding and centering.

Hope always hovers above the moment and calls beyond itself while holding fast to faith and love. We find hope in baby steps not giant leaps, in the places we look expecting to find something good. We find hope when we embody the change we want to see in the world.

This week I posted to my social media page and thanked people for sending good wishes on my birthday. This, in turn, sparked a whole new wave of good wishes– high school friends from whom I have not heard in years, friends present and those whom years and changing circumstance have distanced. I received phone calls and flowers and more. It was like being queen for a day!

It was not a particularly momentous birthday like a decade marker. I can still say I am in my early sixties. I guess that can be considered momentous. There is, however, more to it than that. Despite the creaky joints, gray hair and pounds that cluster around my waist as the years go on, a birthday matters. It is a reminder that I am growing older and that is a privilege denied to many. It is a reminder that I survived another year, and this year is a doozy of one to survive. It is a place holder in the journey of days, all of which combine to make a life. And as such, each passing year is to be celebrated.

I was also reminded that the day after my birthday was the fifth anniversary of the death of my mother following a courageous and lengthy battle with Multiple Sclerosis. I remember my sister having a heart to heart with my mother and telling her she could NOT die on my birthday. My mom managed to hang on until the next morning. Truth be told, I would have been fine with it. It speaks to me of some mysterious circle of life that would have changed me in a unique way, just as all birthdays do. In the way that grief goes, five years were just yesterday and at the same time, it has been forever. Grief has a strange sense of time. Again I remembered how many people came to pay their respects, sent flowers and cards. I was so grateful for those who cared for us in our sorrow and grief. I remember being pleasantly surprised by those I never imagined would come and disappointed by those I thought might show up and didn’t. Grief is like that too.

Mostly, this odd confluence of days reminds me that it is often the little things that bring the greatest comfort and joy. In these days of great challenge and utter weirdness, it is the little things that put the book mark in our days. A friend suggested it may be because people are spending more time at home now. Indeed, that may be part of it. When (and if) life gets back to normal, it’s a reminder of what we might hold on to, those little things that make such a difference in our life and the lives others. Getting back to normal often means being over committed, over busy and often times over-stressed. In the midst of such moments it is easy to think that our puny little gestures may not matter all that much.

News flash: they do matter.

They remind us that others matter to us and we matter to others, sometimes in ways we had never imagined or ways we have forgotten. The seemingly small gestures are gifts to the day and gifts to be treasured.

Being remembered on a birthday is simple enough but it means someone is thinking of us. In times of sorrow, receiving a card or a phone call is a reminder that we are held in the hearts of others when our own hearts are breaking.

Too often we wait to tell someone they matter and then time runs out. Too often our busyness eclipses the better angels of our nature that know that it’s the little things that really do matter. Maybe this is one lesson of the pandemic, albeit one that has come at a terrible cost. It’s the little things that matter.

Don’t wait to tell someone they matter. Don’t put off writing that note or card to let someone know you are thinking of them. Don’t neglect the opportunity to say thank you to an essential worker and tell them you appreciate them. As they no doubt get rations of garbage from far too many people, you can make someone’s day by just saying, “thank you.”

Don’t put off the little things that ultimately make up a life. They really are the big things.