Listening and Love

 Hi.

It's been awhile, I know, I hope you are okay.  Mr. Bookcharmer and I are doing well in our bubble, although the ache of missing family and friends will definitely get sharper as the holidays approach.  But, we have an election to get through first.

Whew.  I can't even tell you all the nonsense that has happened because it became impossible to keep up with the insanity, and harder even to see the abuse and poor behavior I could stand to witness via the news.  I'll just give one example that history should not forget:  The 45 campaign stranded rally attendees, in Omaha, in late October, outside, at night, for hours.  As https://www.cnn.com/2020/10/28/politics/donald-trump-omaha-rally-cold/index.html reported, "Omaha, Nebraska (CNN)When President Donald Trump left Omaha on Tuesday, thousands watched and cheered in the frigid air as Air Force One took off into the night sky. But for these loyal supporters, their experience at the Trump rally was far from over.

For the next several hours, hundreds and hundreds of people who attended the rally were stranded, as a chaotic scene unfolded on dark roads on a remote stretch near the Omaha airport. They waited for buses that didn't arrive, unable to reach the site because of a clogged two-lane road.

President Trump took off in Air Force One 1 hr 20 minutes ago, but thousands of his supporters remain stranded on a dark road outside the rally. "We need at least 30 more buses," an Omaha police officer just said, shaking his head at the chaotic cluster that is unfolding.— Jeff Zeleny (@jeffzeleny) October 28, 2020."

Yeah, you go ahead and focus on your day after reading that madness.  So, we've donated, we've voted, we discussed the propositions on the ballot with fellow Californians....and now we wait.  As long as this year has been, as long as the past four years have been, the next four days, wow.  

So I'm writing to say hello, to just check in with the blogoverse, and also to capture a little something I wrote this summer, and then I'll leave you with a message from an artist I'm coming to enjoy very much.  And probably a little commentary.  Ready?

So this summer I took an online course about Love as a Force of Social Justice.  The class itself was a bit disappointing--online learning is pretty lonely, as millions of schoolkids are experiencing.  Considering the Major University hosting the class, I had expected a bit more of a dynamic learning experience.  Be that as it may, I had time to think about the main topic, which is how do we build a loving community?  Here's a fragment from an assignment response I wrote back in July:

The artist Corita created a piece in 1985 titled Love is Hard Work, you can see it here:  https://corita.org/piece/85-06 . I have been inspired by Corita for many years and she has an amazing canon of work, but this is the piece that comes to my mind most often when I think of her.  Just four words in the sense that, as people often say, love is just four letters.  But I think this piece with its broad strokes of color and short message brings us the message that _working_ to love someone is an important part of understanding, and a part of the process of coming to agape.

If it was easy to love, agape love would be everywhere.  Why is it hard?  Because to love, we must listen.  For anyone now weary of "listening" to long meetings, webinars, town halls, newscasts...really listening takes a lot of energy.  There is passive listening, active listening, but how do we listen with our whole beings? 

How do we learn to listen?  Who are the models for listening?  How do we know when listening has taken place? 

The act of love for social justice I have witnessed in the summer has been a progression from outcry to creation.  Across the country, people have taken to the streets during a time of pandemic to spread the message "Black Lives Matter."  I have held my breath in fear and sometimes wept at seeing how protesters have been confronted violently by police, been driven over by fellow citizens, been arrested for proclaiming their love and respect for Black Lives.  

Love is hard work, indeed.  But the results are showing--sculptures to a racist governments have been pulled down, the 8cantwait policing reform is under discussion across the country, people are rethinking how they want community safety to be carried out.  But none of those conversations would have happened without the profound and robust response to the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor.  

Love is hard work, because instead of falling into despair, we have to act. 

So that's what I wrote back in July, and I continue to hold on to Corita's words, that Love is Hard Work.  This is a nice foundation for the artistic message you can see here, a billboard by artist Christine Wong Yap that reads How Do You Keep Your Heart Open? 

https://christinewongyap.com/work/2020/how-do-you-keep-billboard.html

She writes of this installation:  "To keep one’s heart open is to embrace a mindset of abundance, rather than a mindset of scarcity; to opt for connection and generosity, rather than self-preservation; and to work towards belonging, rather than othering."

This is an admirable artistic and philosophical practice. It requires trying again, giving people grace/space, a willingness to continue reaching and being available.  

And how do we as tired humans do this?  I think you have to believe in yourself and be steadfast in the face of doubters and disparagers.  I have seen the importance  of this in recent local political campaigns, where women of stellar character and valuable insight, have been misrepresented in advertisements by political action committees and poor journalism.   The organizations behind this behavior are not Fox News or a MAGA pac--one is business PAC and one is local newspaper.  In California.  Yet, these women who are running on platforms of equality, human rights, and environmental protection have lies and veiled racist phrases circulating.  I remain consistently impressed by long time friend Sally Lieber and new on the political scene candidate Raven Malone for standing up for themselves.  They both inspire me with their ability to call out the duplicitous information being printed on mailers and in newspapers and stay focused on the mission of their campaigns.  

So good people who are thinking of running for office in the future--I want you to believe in yourself and I want you to do it.   Wherever you are in the community--believe in yourself and keep your heart open to listening and being able to learn.  

So, that's all I have for now.  Wear your mask, wash your hands, and stay well.