Yet again.......

Yet again violence rears its ugly head. Be patient; give it enough time , and we will forget and move on. But will you please take a minute with me and put yourself/myself in the shoes of mothers and fathers and brothers and sisters. Will you listen to the heart beat and feel the heart ache of those who have lost children to gun violence in this country? Some of you have probably already said, "there he goes again, that damn bleeding heart liberal." Some of you have probably said, "what good does it do to keep talking about it? There's nothing we can do" And that's the point! Many clichés come to mind, but the one that keeps ringing in my head is, "Silence is complicity."
If your first response is to answer violence with greater violence, you are part of the problem.
If your god is the NRA, you are part of the problem.
If your first response is the priority of "MY" second amendment right, you are part of the problem.
I refuse to surrender to the Tea Party/Sarah Palin/Phil Robertson/fundamentalists who have no clue as to the meaning of separation of church and state.
I refuse to surrender to the Bundy/tax evasion/eco-terrorist darlings of the FOX, ultra-right ideologues.
I refuse to surrender to the Rubio/Paul/Santorum closed minds who deny the integrity and potential of those (immigrants) who see the hope and dream of a better life that can be realized in this great nation.
I refuse to surrender to the militaristic/homophobic/racist/ignorant (anti-education and science) voices screaming across this landscape.
I invite you, urge you, plead with you to be the force and presence of love, compassion, understanding, Other-centered caring, and together let's show the world there is a better way, a just way, a loving way.

How did we get to where we are today?

I just finished Roger Williams and the Creation of the American Soul by John Barre (he wrote the definitive history of the influenza pandemic of the 1910s). While a biography of an early 17th century backwoods preacher may not sound very relevant to our world, I can assure you there is NOT a more relevant book out there. I was raised in a tradition that regarded him as a hero for Baptists. Boy, was I surprised to get the bigger picture.

Williams was born and raised in England before and during the turbulent years before and during the reign of good old King James---yes, that flamboyant, bisexual King James of the KJV of 1611 who demanded a certain translation of Romans to justify his assumption of the divine rights of kings!!!!!  Williams was also a tight friend of Oliver Cromwell!!

Williams studied the law with Edward Coke, one of the greatest jurist in English history, who incidentally regarded Thomas Littleton as his greatest predecessor (sorry for the family plug there!). Williams was a "Puritan" who came to Mass. Bay Colony in the 1620s. He soon fell out with them (I will spare the details for those who wish to pursue), and ultimately attained the charter from King Charles for the Plantation and Commonwealth of Rhode Island. Its better than a Dan Brown mystery!

But here's the point and relevance. The two giants of the period, friends then adamant adversaries, who shaped the world you and I live in, were John Winthrop and Roger Williams. They had diametrically opposing views of church, state, democracy, and freedom.

Yes, Puritans left England seeking religious freedom---then immediately turned around to deny it to everyone who disagreed with them. They sought "a city on a hill" in which community, demanded by a Christian state, conformity imposed by government compulsion in which only church members could vote, and opposed the Church of England as too popish. Winthrop demanded godliness that he insisted was attained and practiced in community. No one was allowed to follow their own conscience. Massachusetts, under this church/state would go on to banish Anglicans, Baptists, and any dissenters. They even hung Quakers! But you get the point; his was a state based on the church with morality imposed.

Williams, on the other hand, believed that government is secular and does NOT and is NOT advanced by biblical passages. He decried the insertion of biblical strictures on the civil code. As he opposed conformity, he was willing to doubt, even himself. He urged debate and saw the church as corrupt, tainted. He demanded that worship be individual. Before you Libertarians hoist him on your shoulders for promoting individualism, freedom, and nonconformity, we must also acknowledge that he was NOT antinomian and adamantly opposed anarchy. Williams' gifts to the American experience were separation of church and state (he invented the phrase about wall of separation that Jefferson borrowed), the seeds of democracy (that Winthrop could not tolerate), equality under the law (this was his argument with kings in England), promoted liberal arts education (while employing Bacon's scientific method), and the concept of "soul liberty." While the last is a historic Baptist principle, truthfully Williams was a member of a Baptist congregation was less than a year! There went another of my early childhood myths!

It is a page burner if you like history and political philosophy.   Enjoy.

Life has a way of.......

Life has a way of bringing us back to reality and what is important. It is so easy to get caught up in plans of grandeur and secondary significance that we ignore or miss what is in front of us. Others have stressed living in the present, living in the "now." To say the obvious, so obvious I for one have to be reminded, the past is over; there's nothing I can do about yesterday. I need to let go and center in the present. That doesn't mean I forget, that I don't honor those and what have gone before me. There is great necessity in learning from the past and not repeating its mistakes. Santayana was insightful. Obvious, again, I do not control the future. I can plan and hope and yearn, but ultimately I do not control. If you want to give God a laugh, tell her your plans. Thank you, Neibuhr, for the Serenity Prayer. Goodness how I need that wisdom!
Since last I sat and stared at this screen, so much has happened. "Life" has demanded attention.
Friends have continued to struggle mightily with life-threatening illnesses. Baby showers have announced the anticipated arrival of new life. Childhood playmates have lost mortal combat for life and love, and they did it with great dignity. Other "family" have announced their affirmation of love and optimism by setting a wedding date. The cycle continues; samsara; moksha.
Grass needs cutting. Invitations need answering. Doctor appointments need to be kept. Journeys need to begin and end. Classes need to be taught, mothers remembered, graduations celebrated. The present really is a gift and not to be taken for granted. Through it all, hope and love sustain us and make it all worth the effort.

Sticks and stones.....

Remember the children's chant: sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me? Saying that might have kept some of us out of trouble at recess, but the more I reflect on those words, the more I must disagree with the assumption. Words can hurt us and often do.
I think for example of the blatant lies that are often broadcast in public and social media. Sometimes we do it unintentionally, not having questioned the source of our information, but repeating what we have received because it fits our preconceptions. Other times we do it deliberately to make our "point" and advance a particular agenda.
I think of slander and libelous comments fostered on those with whom we disagree. We assume the worse we can make others look, the better we and our like-minded associates can seem. We use words we do not understand and maliciously apply them to those we oppose. I heard someone observe: everyone is intitled to their own interpretation, but no one is intitled to their own facts. I have tried to be sure my "facts" are right before I pronounce them with authority.
I think careful and responsible attention to the words we use can restore civility and respect allowing ample opportunity for disagreement. Words set a tone, create an atmosphere or climate, and open or close attempts to communicate.
The words we use say more about us than about those we are attempting to characterize. Example: when someone says "nigger," they are revealing their prejudice and smallness of character. When we fill our discourse with words of violence and negative, destructive intention, we reveal our hostility and anger that accomplishes nothing constructive and uplifting.
I have consciously tried to eliminate phrases like "Jew someone down" because of the prejudicial stereotype behind it; I try not to use the word "kill" when talking about people and ideas because of the hostile, violent connotation; I try not to call someone I disagree with an "enemy," as I try to acknowledge their integrity and value as fellow human beings. Do I always live up to this lofty advice? No, and I apologize for my shortcomings. More and more I appreciate this incredible journey we are on together, and I need all the help I can get.
I am reminded of my traditions petition: "May the words of my mouth (MAY THE WORDS OF MY MOUTH) and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Thy sight." I start each day with these words on my lips, asking for help.

A Tribute to My Father

Wednesday would have been my father's 100th birthday (March 19, 1914--March 19, 2014)! He was the finest man I have ever known, and even after I outgrew his 5' 7", I still looked up to him. I miss him everyday.
My earliest memory of him was the day he came home from the Great War and I saw this strange man grab and kiss my mother. Even though he was married with a child, he still considered it his patriotic duty to volunteer and serve his country. When it was over, he never glorified the war or mentioned it to me other than the time I asked him where he served. He was the ideal citizen soldier (he served in the Navy), and whether he agreed or not, he supported me in my conscientious objection to Vietnam.
Nine months and five minutes later :) my sister was born. They had a special bond (like Mother and I did) that showed me his warm and gentle side. He taught me how to ride a bike, take care of puppies, build model airplanes, and shoot a gun. Some of our best times were early morning breakfasts and waiting together in the deer stand. His trophies were limited, mine nonexistent.
He took me to the library for my first book about the birds and bees and taught me how to drive, leaving me alone to drive home after getting my licence at age 14. He was a teacher par excellence, remembered and revered by generations of veterans on the GI bill and high school students. Nothing escaped his ever watchful gaze, earning him the nickname "Hawkeye" around school.
Most of all he taught me integrity and deeply held moral values. He was not above admitting mistakes and changing his mind when convicted of the right. I remember him saying in 1954 that if the schools were ever integrated, he would stop teaching. Well, they were and he continued sharing his wisdom and talents and skills with the next generations. He put his arms around me when a cross was burned in our front yard because of my youthful idealism, and he ended his professional life as the director of a predominantly black technical college in Beaufort, SC.
My father was a passionately, deeply religious man, on the conservative side (son of a country Baptist preacher), and quiet in his political convictions. He led by example: gentle, strong, caring, devoted. He could say "I love you" without hesiation, and even as adults, we kissed and hugged.
Harold Elijah Littleton, Sr. father and friend      I miss you!

Visiting grandchildren

Our daughter Shanon was born during a challenging time in "our world." We gave her the middle name "Hope," to express to the extended family (in a time of strained communications) our affirmation of the good gift of creation, desire for wholeness, and optimism for the future. She and her sister Raquel have not disappointed us. Beautiful, intelligent, talented, capable, compassionate, caring, generous only begin to scribe these amazing women. Then they put the icing on the cake by giving us four grandchildren!
When the Nelsons from California visit, especially in summers, I get to take the boys hiking and camping and catch up on long times between visits. Raleigh is a little closer, so we see the Baggetts more often. Such is my pleasure this week.
Shanon is on the west coast with her sister, and I am needed (fortunately with the time) to help out in Raleigh. I get to fix breakfast, ferry to school, meet the bus drop off, take to piano lesson, watch a basketball game, prepare dinners, and who knows what others joys will present themselves before I return home next Tuesday. Forgive a point of personal privilege, but my grandkids (like yours I'm sure!) are absolutely phenomenal. The gratifying thing is---they are being raised to embody the values of their parents. They are becoming wonderful, loving human beings. This week is not a burden; it is a gift to me and I'm soaking it up!
Along with everything else, they are a constant reminder of my/our responsibility to give them a clean, safe, generous, accepting world in which loving and compassionate people and societies take care of the sick, feed the hungery, strive to eliminate poverty, and live by moral values that put service to others to the top of our priorities.
I look at my grandchildren and remain "hope-full."

Reflections on Lent

For the Christian world, Wednesday was Ash Wednesday and marked the beginning of Lent. Many non-liturgical traditions ignore or do not understand the meaning and significance of the season. Lent is the 40 day period leading up to Good Friday and Easter. It is a time of preparation; it is a time of self-denial and introspection. It is a time of "dieing" as the believer gets ready for "resurrection," re-birth. It is a serious time. It is intended to be a life changing time.
So, whether you are Christian or not, may I invite you to consider the message of Lent, death to the old and life to the new. During Lent many give up something--chocolate, meat, alcohol--to focus inward. Here is my list of suggested things to give up (based on the words of Jesus of Nazareth found in Matthew 5: 39-44:
1) give up hate, revenge, and retaliation. To be struck on the right cheek was to be back-handed, slapped, humiliated. The imperative (yes, imperative, not suggestion or recommendation or do when convenient) is to live an alternative to violence, which is usually our first reaction. DO love in humility.
2) give up greed and hoarding and selfish consumerism. If someone takes your "coat," offer a second. We never know their needs, and generosity is not "qualified." DO love wastefully, without thought to race, social or economic status, beliefs, etc.
3) give up begrudging meeting others needs or rightful expectations of us. When asked to go a mile--doing the minimum, doing the expected, doing the required--gladly double the effort to relieve the suffering of others. DO love because the person in front of us has dignity and value and a rightful place on this earth.
4) give up thinking about what and if we will receive in return. "Pay forward." Open our hearts and pocketbooks to respond to the needs of the world. DO think of others first. Do go out of the way to assist those in need. Lead by example.
Detractors will immediately say: these are not practical, these are ideals to strive for but not feasible, these cannot be attained, these are nice but unrealistic.
How do we know? Few of us have earnestly tried. One step at a time. One day at a time. Until we die to the old and enter the new.