I have no answer here, just questions. Recent experience with those suffering from mental illness have me wondering what role faith might play, both for those who suffer from it, and those who care for them.
As one who seems to have relatively good mental health, what it might be like to not have that is a mystery, as faith often is. Having had meaningful spiritual/faith experiences, knowing the power faith brings to my life, I wish those who don’t have that could, for that peace and guidance, regardless of their mental health. But perhaps even more so for those who don’t, since hopelessness and being lost seem a common thread.
Faith helps me believe those suffering from mental illness can heal.
How might we help someone with mental illness bring faith into their situation, if they don’t have it? It would seem those who are on the brink of giving up, who are contemplating suicide, most desperately need faith.
I repeat: You can recognize a Warrior of the Light by the look in his eye. Warriors of the Light are in the world, they form part of the world, and they were sent into the world without saddlebags or sandals. They are often cowardly. They do not always act correctly. Warriors of the Light are wounded by the most foolish things, they worry about trivialities, they believe themselves incapable of growing. Warriors of the Light sometimes believe themselves unworthy of any blessing or miracle. Warriors of the Light often ask themselves what they are doing here. Often they find their lives meaningless. That is why they are Warriors of the Light. Because they fail. Because they ask questions. Because they keep looking for a meaning. And, in the end, they will find it.
Coelho, Paulo. Warrior of the Light: A Manual (p. 84). HarperCollins. Kindle Edition.
Many asked me what my plans were when I retire. At first I would be pretty vague, not sure if they would understand, or perhaps feeling a little uncomfortable explaining about being led by the spirit. But I was pleasantly surprised at how interested people were when I did try to explain.
Nahko says:
Something holy moves here on the land It is my brothers’ and my sisters’ hands It is the way we make our plans We don’t make them.
Well this is it, what is this?
This is Eden, Eden is
Where I live and where I give
My whole being to the Great Spirit
We’re not waiting and we’re on our way
One of the advantages of living with my parents temporarily after retirement is access to cable news programs. My sister Lisa introduced me to Rachel Maddow’s radio program when I was in Madison, Wisconsin, many years ago, and I was really impressed. She has become a master of political analysis in the years since. There was a nice exchange between her and Richard Engel last night, as she told of how much she had learned from him.
The following is a summary of last night’s The Rachel Maddow Show from the show’s website, and a link to the episode:
Rachel Maddow explains how an ostensible top secret NSA document submitted through the show’s inbox is likely a fake, and points out the perils of such forgeries to news organizations trying to report out important stories like the Trump Russia story.
In the episode she clearly explains in great detail how this sinister situation was intentionally created. I hope you will listen to it very carefully. It easy to see how even a seasoned reporter could have been pulled into this trap. She even draws parallels to a similar situation that effectively silenced Dan Rather’s true story about George Bush’s military service. Richard Engel actually said something on air about how he was glad she had avoided this “land mine”.
This is of course consistent with the Trump/Republican administration’s ludicrous, but extremely dangerous attacks on the press in so many ways. Because a free press is the greatest threat to the administration. Which has made me aware that I need to be supporting such excellent reporting. So I have subscribed to some news sources that I had previously been reading for free on the Internet.
We have to do all we can to protect freedom of the press and reporters. Push back against “fake news”.
From the Facebook page of Congresswomen Barbara Lee (D-CA), who was the only person to vote against the Authorization for the Use of Military Force, which granted the President the authority to use all “necessary and appropriate force” against those whom he determined “planned, authorized, committed or aided” the September 11th attacks, or who harbored said persons or groups. The AUMF was signed by President George W. Bush on September 18, 2001:
History was made today. After 16 years of hard work, my amendment to repeal the 2001 AUMF was passed by the House Appropriations Committee with bipartisan support. This is an huge step towards FINALLY reining in our endless wars.
Letter to Congressional representatives approved by Iowa Yearly Meeting (Conservative) in 2014:
As members of the Iowa Yearly Meeting of Friends (Conservative), we continue to oppose the 2001 Authorization for the Use of Military Force (AUMF).
There are grave constitutional concerns about the AUMF, as it erodes the separation of powers and prevents adequate, effective checks and balances between the branches of U. S. government. The brief 60 words of the AUMF do not contain geographical or temporal limits, dangerously leaving open the door for this and future presidents to claim the authority to wage war against anyone at any time.
The Congressional Research Service report last year revealed that Presidents Bush and Obama publicly invoked the AUMF over 30 times, to justify military action in Djibouti, Georgia, Ethiopia, Yemen, and elsewhere.
It also poses significant threats to human rights, civil liberties, and the fulfillment of moral obligations. It has been used as part of the legal justification for indefinite detentions, acts of torture, mass surveillance, and an expansive drone war that has killed thousands of people far from any battlefield. These policies harden extremist sentiments, diminish the rule of law, and weaken American security and integrity.
The President has at his disposal adequate means to counter violent extremism, and if he believes at any time he lacks necessary authority, he can petition Congress, which can debate and decide that question. This is infinitely preferable to living in a permanent state of war.
In the Light of God’s Love, Deborah Dakin, clerk Iowa Yearly Meeting (Conservative) Religious Society of Friends
Entire Scattergood Friends School marching 12 miles to Iowa City to protest Vietnam War
The previous blog postwas about Nahko talking to the water protector youth during his concert at Standing Rock last September 8, 2016. Following are further remarks, as he talks to the youth between songs. To put this in context, this was just 5 days after security forces used attack dogs against the water protectors (link to story and video below). He was speaking to these young people while they were in the middle of their nonviolent resistance.
This isn’t over. These messages are also meant for you and me. The struggles continue. While indigenous peoples will continue to lead, the support of everyone is needed now more than ever.
“We are the ones, we are the ones, we are the ones we have been waiting for. We shall overcome, we shall overcome.”
Please take this to heart. Your spirit will soar.
When you’re feeling bad, when you’re feeling frustrated, put all your prayer into your palms, put them to the ground, put them back to the sky, honor the Father, the Mother, just know it will be alright.
Are you guys feeling proud, are you proud of yourselves? Because the whole world is watching. The whole world is watching. So whatcha gonna do? Gonna show love? Are you gonna be smart? You gonna think before you act? Take care of each other? You’re gonna show ‘em what family does. They don’t know what that’s like.
You gotta put down the weight, gotta get out of your way.
Get out of your way and just look around the corner at your real self and look at all the potential that this beautiful Earth and love has to offer you.
It’s crazy being out in front of you guys. I had a moment there. I was like, I like started spacing out and I’m like oh god they’re looking at me aren’t they? I was thinking about how much happened before any of us were here. You know? There is a lot of history here. We gotta hold that when we’re standing out there. You gotta hold that when you’re on that line out there, too. You’re here for a lot more than just this pipeline.
It’s about rejoicing, it’s about laughter right now. We’ve got a big day ahead of us tomorrow folks. So, I just want to say I’m so grateful and I’m really proud of you guys. I’m really proud of you. (and then he turned away with obvious emotion).
On this July 4th we are in the midst of a new revolution, a nonviolent revolution.
Below is an amazing video of Nahko Bear performing solo at the Water Protectors Youth Concert Sept 8, 2016.
He says the resounding message he hears during his travels is:
“Remember that nonviolent direct action is the way to a successful revolution. And that is a hard one, because they are so bad (chuckles). When they come at us you just want to hit ’em, you know? Just sit with that. I know it’s tough. They’re going to try to do everything they can to instigate you. But remember what we’re here for. We’re here to create peace for our Mother. We’re not here to create more violence.”
Aho Mitakuye Oyasin
This is the place for all my relations
To bring celebration through meditation
Giving thanks for all of creation
We are so provided for
We are so provided for
We are so provided for
We are so provided forAll of the blessings I have received
How could they have been bestowed upon me?
So I’ll put it all back in the ground
Back in the soil where I am found
It all started
Wakan Tankunl Skan Skan
Something holy moves here on the land
It is my brothers’ and my sisters’ hands
It is the way we make our plans
We don’t make them
Well this is it, what is this?
This is Eden, Eden is
Where I live and where I give
My whole being to the Great Spirit
We are waiting and we’re on our wayAho Mitakuye Oyasin
This is the place for all my relations
To bring celebration through meditation
Giving thanks for all of creation
We are so provided for
We are so provided for
We are so provided for
We are so provided for
“Directions”
For the West
For the North
For the East
For the SouthGrandfather, I’m calling on you
Need your guidance now
Grandmother, I’m calling on you
Need your guidance nowFor the West (hmm)
For the North (hmm)
For the East (hmm)
For the South (hmm)Grandfather, I’m calling on you
Need your guidance now
Grandmother, I’m calling on you
Need your guidance now
For the West (hmm)
For the North (hmm)
For the East (hmm)
For the South (hmm)
Grandfather, I’m calling on you
Need your guidance now
Grandmother, I’m calling on you
Need your guidance now
HOKA!
For the West (ooo)
For the North (ooo)
For the East (ooo)
For the South (ooo)
Grandfather, I’m calling on you
Need your guidance now
Grandmother, I’m calling on you
Need your guidance now
[Verse 1]
Dear brother
When you gonna call back your mother?
She thinks you’re sleeping in the gutter
We both know you can do better
When you gonna write your older brother?
A letter
Hey man I miss you, gettin my shit together
And for the record
I wrote this note as a reminder
Hermano mio there’s a future
We can believe in
It’s gonna take more than songs of justice and freedom
There’s a furture, we can believe in
Gonna take more than songs of justice and freedom
Freedom! Yeah
If you’re thinking, about leaving
Hold my hand, understand this too can be a kingdom
Blessed
And when the rain comes
Put your hands in the dirt, baba this is where you came from
This is where you came from
This is where you came from
This is where you came from
Systems broken no fucks given
Wealthy people living off the backs of the broken
Dreams of America
Dreams of America
Need a pipe carrier
Let me smudge you off so the vision can get clearer
Your mothers crying boy can you hear her?
[Pre-Chorus]
What I see, in you
A young tree bearing fruit
Place to start
Don’t hide behind your heart
[Chorus]
You gotta put down the weight
You gotta get out of your way
You gotta put down the weight
You gotta get out of your way
[Verse 2]
Dear lover
You can find me on the front lines covered
In the blood and tears of another
Brother, sister, mother
Revolutions being broadcast on Facebook and Twitter
There’s a noise
I can hear it when the megaphone roars
Wipe the tears from this tear gas choice
We have a choice
Stand in front of your fear, baby, time to find your voice
It’s a story
A love story
We can believe in
Death, birth, your life’s worth is trending
It’s a story
A love story
How vain are we to expect a happy ending?
I got my hands up
Follow directions still they shoot us
I’m fucking sick and tired of no justice
No peace
Promise me I’ll never pick your body off the streets
We’re all taking heat here
The trust is broken I don’t get these police
Disenfranchised step in to a new life
Maybe if you listen to the wind there’s a war cry
Peace in America
Peace in America
Be decent America
I’m begging you
[Pre-Chorus]
What I see, in you
A young tree bearing fruit
Place to start
Don’t stand behind your heart
[Chorus]
You gotta put down the weight
You gotta get out of your way
You gotta put down the weight
You gotta get out of your way
The journey from Indianapolis, Indiana, to the town of Indianola, Iowa, is turning out to be more of a culture shock than I thought it would be.
Flags line the streets of the neighborhood my parents, and now I, for the time being, live in. This makes me feel so uncomfortable, but I wonder about the intention. This probably means different things to different people.
I think the most common idea is this represents pride in the United States. There were times when our country embodied a number of admirable ideals, none of which were perfectly implemented, but resulted in a better society, for white people, than many other countries. Especially compared to those with repressive governments and intolerant ideologies.
But even those ideals were tarnished from the beginning, with the institution of slavery, and the genocide of Native Americans, and theft of their lands.
Unfortunately we have been moving even further away from those ideals, as corporations and the rich corrupt our governing institutions in a dramatic way. And with a growing nationalist, white supremacy movement.
All of this is especially tragic at a time when global cooperation is crucial in order to address our environmental crises.
Pride in the idea of the United States becomes a problem when that promotes the idea that our country has the right, or responsibility to police the world, and to consume resources to a much greater extent than others.
Martin Luther King Memorial, Washington, DC
“The spiritual energy of the Path uses justice and patience to prepare your spirit. “This is the Path of the Knight: A path that is at once easy and difficult, because it forces one to set aside trivial things and chance friendships. That is why, at first, many hesitate to follow it. “This is the first teaching of the Knights: You will erase everything you had written in the book of your life up until now: restlessness, uncertainty, lies. And in the place of all this you will write the word courage. By beginning the journey with that word and continuing with faith in God, you will arrive wherever you need to arrive.”
Coelho, Paulo. Warrior of the Light: A Manual (p. 82). HarperCollins. Kindle Edition.
I have been blessed to have been involved in the Indiana Moral Mondays movement, and to have seen and heard Rev. Barber in person on a number of occasions. He is one of my spiritual heroes. Here is a slideshow of photos I took along with the audio of Rev Barber speaking in Indianapolis in 2014.
I’m sorry I will miss hearing him speak in Indianapolis on July 9th at the Central Christian Church.
He gave a most amazing speech at the Democratic National Convention last summer, which you can see at the link below. I view it again and again from time to time, it is so good.
She says “I can’t debate someone into caring about what happens to their fellow human beings. The fact that such detached cruelty is so normalized in a certain party’s political discourse is at once infuriating and terrifying.”
This has been at the heart of a continuous struggle with a friend I’ve known for decades. Early on he would often get angry and just leave. We finally reached an uneasy truce when I said people could have basic disagreements and still be friends. But it seemed a kind of failure that we reached the point that there were many things we found we just couldn’t talk about.
He was visibly surprised at times when he would say something like, “I think … is outrageous.” And I would say, based on what you believe, I can see why you would think that. To his credit, he would actually stop and think about that. The common refrain from him became, “we are never going to agree on …”, and that would be the end of the discussion.
A Warrior of the Light is not constantly repeating the same struggle, especially when there are neither advances nor retreats. If a battle is not progressing, he knows that he must sit down with the enemy and negotiate a truce; they have both practiced the art of the sword, now they need to understand each other. This is a dignified gesture, not a cowardly one. It is a balance of forces and a change of strategy. Once the peace plans have been drawn up, the Warriors return to their houses. They do not need to prove anything to anyone; they fought the Good Fight and kept the faith. Each one gave a little, thus learning the art of negotiation.
Coelho, Paulo. Warrior of the Light: A Manual (p. 78). HarperCollins. Kindle Edition.
I don’t think we can explain to someone why they should care for others. Our own lives should be an example of doing so, as we work on ourselves and our own spiritual life. It is only when others find ways to hear the spirit in themselves, that they will then be able to care for others.
Many have said those who seem to have this uncaring attitude are reacting from fear and insecurity. If we could find ways to bring love into their lives, that would begin the process of moving away from fear, which naturally leads to caring for others.
Today is my last day at work at Riley Hospital for Children, the day I move out of my apartment, and the day I begin the trip to Iowa. It was difficult to make the decision to retire, when I enjoy my work and colleagues so much. Many factors went into the decision, but ultimately I have been feeling for some time led, as Quakers say, to devote more time to other types of work. More work related to Quaker spiritual and social justice concerns. I was increasingly finding my scheduled work was interfering with new efforts related to environmental and social justice activism, such as working on the resistance to the Dakota Access and other pipelines. And wanting to be more connected to Quakers in Bear Creek Meeting, and Iowa Yearly Meeting (Conservative).
I knew it would be difficult to move away from so many very close friends, in so many different communities I’ve been blessed to be connected to over the forty seven years I’ve lived here, but it has turned out to be so much harder than anticipated.
Holding Randy Porter’s ashes in preparation for the move brought an odd sense of reconnection to him, not that he has ever been out of my thoughts for long. Leaving the places where we grew up together is especially hard.
Riley Hospital for Children is really one big family. A large number of people I work with have been working here for over twenty or so years themselves. A number them have been here the entire time I have. A special closeness develops when you have shared some very intense clinical situations together. Also when you have shared in the frustrations and elations of research projects.
North Meadow Circle of Friends has become my Quaker meeting away from home, and there, too, we have shared some intense times together. Many meeting members joined in efforts to resist the Keystone and Dakota Access pipelines, and with our Quaker Social Change Ministry program, and partnering with the Kheprw Institute (KI). It has been a true joy to see these two communities grow together. I was so happy that a number of my friends from KI joined us at North Meadow last Sunday as I said goodbye, for now. Last night Paulette Fair, Mimi, and Rasul picked up some furniture and clothes I no longer needed. They also picked up Shawn’s car, to use until we can figure out what to do with it.
I will miss my close friends from our years of work on various environmental efforts, beginning with the Keystone Pledge of Resistance, where we created a plan for direct action and trained about 50 people how to participate in nonviolent civil disobedience.
I was also profoundly affected by a number of opportunities to spend time with Native Americans, related to Dakota Access Pipeline resistance. I also got to know Joshua Taflinger and Brandi Herron through these efforts, and was overjoyed to hear, last night, that they are going to be married.
When I arrived at Riley this morning, I was presented with the most wonderful gift, a bound book of photos of the many people I’ve worked with over the years, and written messages from many of them.
I also received this amazing video from one of the physicians who did a research fellowship in our lab many years ago, Andre Feher.
Quakers, social justice and revolution 