So Grand

Two weeks ago I visited this remarkable place. It is awesome in the old-fashioned sense of the word; I am filled with awe, and I feel I will somehow always be nourished by that awe. Yesterday I quoted David Whyte who suggested we need beautiful questions. The Grand Canyon is that—a beautiful, beautiful question.

Whyte's Wise Words

I just listened for the second time to Krista Tippet's interview with David Whyte. Below are some quotations from Whyte's interview that I loved even when I'm wasn't always sure what he meant.

I went back into poetry because I felt like scientific language wasn’t precise enough to describe the experiences that I had in Galapagos.

...we have so many allies in this world, including just the color blue in the sky, which we’re not paying attention to, or the breeze, or the ground beneath our feet. And so this is an invitation to come out of abstraction and back into the world again.

This is another delusion we have that we can get — take a sincere path in life without having our heart broken. And you think about the path of parenting, there’s never been a mother or father since the beginning of time who hasn’t had their heart broken by their children. And nothing traumatic has to happen. All they have to do is grow up.

Relationship Tip

From Alain de Botton:
...one of the kindest things that we can do with our lover is to see them as children. And not to infantilize them, but when we’re dealing with children as parents, as adults, we’re incredibly generous in the way we interpret their behavior. And if a child says — if you walk home, and a child says, “I hate you,” you immediately go, OK, that’s not quite true. Probably they’re tired, they’re hungry, something’s gone wrong, their tooth hurts, something. We’re looking around for a benevolent interpretation that can just shave off some of the more depressing, dispiriting aspects of their behavior. And we do this naturally with children, and yet we do it so seldom with adults...

Four Stars

Last weekend I saw again the movie Philomena (streaming on Netflix). I liked it even better the second time around. The story is intriguing. Philomena Lee decides, 57 years after she gave her son up for adoption, that she will reveal this secret to her family and try to find him. Her daughter requests help from journalist Martin Sixsmith, and the search is on.

Philomena gave birth to her son at Sean Ross Abbey in Roscrea, Ireland, so that is their first stop. The nuns there assure her they have no information, and all records were destroyed in "the fire." Lee and Sixsmith then continue the search in the United States where they find more unexpected answers. Then the search concludes back at Sean Ross Abbey.

The actors are great with Judi Dench as Philomena and Steve Coogan as Sixsmith. Their chemistry together is an engaging, complicated mix of emotions. They don't learn what they set out to find but as their search progresses their goals change. That's the happy ending.

Nourished by Words

After hearing David Whyte's radio interview, I've been wanting to check out one of his books. My library had only this one of them, so I picked it off the shelf and brought it home before I even looked inside. I was surprised to find in it a series of short essays, each talking about a particular word. The words are alphabetical, starting with “Alone" and ending with “Work.” I read a couple essays before I discovered the subtitle: The Solace, Nourishment and Underlining Meaning of Everyday Words.” I was hoping for some poems, but the essays look like they will be worthwhile.

Here is a sample passage from my skimming. It's about the word “Friendship.”

...the ultimate touchstone of friendship is not improvement, neither of the other nor or the self, the ultimate touchstone is witness, the privilege of having been seen by someone and the equal privilege of being granted the sight of the essence of another, to have walked with them and to have believed in them, and sometimes just to have accompanied them for however brief a span, on a journey impossible to accomplish alone.

I haven't decided yet how meaningful this book will be for me, but even this short passage has nourishing images

The Frontier Where You Find Your Identity

And in Galapagos, I began to realize that, because I was in deeply attentive states, hour after hour watching animals and birds and landscapes — and that’s all I did for almost two years — I began to realize that my identity depended not upon any beliefs I had, inherited beliefs or manufactured beliefs, but my identity actually depended on how much attention I was paying to things that were other than myself. And that as you deepen this intentionality and this attention, you started to broaden and deepen your own sense of presence. And I began to realize that the only place where things were actually real was at this frontier between what you think is you and what you think is not you. That whatever you desire of the world will not come to pass exactly as you will like it.
But the other mercy is that whatever the world desires of you will also not come to pass. And what actually occurs is this meeting, this frontier. But it’s astonishing how much time human beings spend away from that frontier, abstracting themselves out of their bodies, out of their direct experience, and out of a deeper, broader, and wider possible future that’s waiting for them if they hold the conversation at that frontier level.

This quotation is from David Whyte and the interview I mentioned on January 18. Sometimes, Whye's writing is too abstract for me—even the paragraph above is somewhat abstract, but it touched me as it seemed to explain something I've thought about from time to time. In 2003, I hiked the Camino de Santiago in Spain for the first time, a hike of approximately 450 miles. When I came home, I could only say, “It changed my wiring." Whyte comes closer to explaining what happened. For five weeks I walked and absorbed the landscape. Much was beautiful and vast. It was almost 14 years ago and it still makes me happy to think about it. I started to add, “but Whyte isn't talking about happiness.” He is going deeper than happiness. He includes loss and sorrow as well. True, but often, happiness is a bonus.

More Wall?

If immigration reform were easy, it would have been settled years ago. I do not have the answer. Thank goodness I don't have to. One of the solutions Mr. Trump is promoting is a wall. It seems to me the place to start would be visiting much of the border, talking to lots of people, and doing lots of other research. If Mr. Trump has done this, he gives no sign of it. The New York Times published this intriguing picture below of the wall separating Nogales, Mexico and Nogales, Arizona and writes about the situation in that area.

CNN published a number of photos including the pictures below of this 1,934 mile long border..

An editorial in the Arizona Daily Star says, "We understand the emotional appeal of building a wall to solve difficult problems in the U.S. immigration system and national security — just build a wall to keep the bad people out, problem solved! — but we must deal in facts." While this piece is an editorial, it includes a lot of basic facts to help you make a decision as to the effectiveness of more wall.

Pain x Resistance = Suffering

A Conversation about Conversation

Insomnia struck this morning around two, and after a period of discomfort, I used my computer to listen to a rerun of On Being. There I met the poet and philosopher David Whyte. In the middle of the night, I thought, after listening to this, I may never be the same. Now, this afternoon, I think, maybe so, maybe not. He certainly has some intriguing ideas for me to think about. The poem above is a glance into it. Much more is available here at Krista Tippet's interview.

"Is America Possible?"

The beginning of Krista Tippet interviewing Vincent Harding...

Krista Tippett, host: Vincent Harding is the voice I want to hear this week. The conversation I had with him before his death at 82 in 2014 ever after changed the way I think about our democratic experiment. He was a leading figure in the Civil Rights Movement, and he was wise about how the Civil Rights vision might speak to 21st century realities. Just as importantly, Vincent Harding pursued this by way of patient yet passionate cross-cultural, cross-generational relationship. The Civil Rights Movement, he reminded us, was spiritually as well as politically vigorous; it aspired to a “beloved community,” not merely a tolerant integrated society. Vincent Harding posed and lived a question that is freshly in our midst again: “Is America possible?”

Dr. Vincent Harding: How do we work together? How do we talk together in ways that will open up our best capacities and our best gifts? My own feeling that I try to share again and again, Krista, is that when it comes to creating a multiracial, multiethnic, multireligious, democratic society, we are still a developing nation.

It's a question I've been asking myself lately.

"I can't be a pessimist because I'm alive..." James Baldwin

Really?

"Surreal is Merriam-Webster's Word of the Year because it was looked up significantly more frequently by users in 2016 than it was in previous years, and because there were multiple occasions on which this word was the one clearly driving people to their dictionary."

"The most perfect state is the acceptance of now." Eckhart Tolle

Good to be Alive

This video was one I watched in my spinning class today--kind of fun and cheerful.

Understanding According to Tolle

People have been repeating the words of Jesus for years, and who has understood them? Maybe one or two Buddhists. (Eckhart Tolle)

The Evolution of War

Here's an interesting view of politics from Keith Witt.

Carl von Clausewitz famously said “war is the continuation of politics by other means.” From a developmental standpoint, it’s actually the other way around: politics is war by other means. The 1800 election between Adams and Jefferson was the first ever peaceful transition of power in a democracy. Since then, instead of waging war against those we disagree with, we wage political campaigns, (which is a huge improvement though we sometimes have to hold our noses to participate).

The man who discovered morning

I don't exactly believe in horoscopes, but I love to read my horoscope at Freewill Astrology. Rob Brezsny is the author; I wonder if he believes in horoscopes. But he often has something meaningful and fanciful to say. Here my Libra horoscope for the week.

A reporter at the magazine Vanity Fair asked David Bowie, "What do you consider your greatest achievement?" Bowie didn't name any of his albums, videos, or performances. Rather, he answered, "Discovering morning." I suspect that you Libras will attract and generate marvels if you experiment with accomplishments like that in the coming weeks. So yes, try to discover or rediscover morning. Delve into the thrills of beginnings. Magnify your appreciation for natural wonders that you usually take for granted. Be seduced by sources that emanate light and heat. Gravitate toward what's fresh, blossoming, just-in-its-early-stages.

Happy Thanksgiving

I attended a spinning class this week. The instructor (my daughter) played her Thanksgiving soundtrack. The above is one of the songs.

Google "gratitude" and you'll get hundreds of quotations. Here are just three.

There are days when I walk through the center of Stockholm when I get this sudden feeling of happiness - a sense of belonging and at the same time gratitude that I'm so privileged that I can live my life in my city. Bjorn Ulvaeus

I hope all reading this can honestly replace the word Stockholm with the name of the city they live in. I'm glad to live in South Bend. I do think it's interesting that the writer talks about walking instead of riding. I'm much more likely to appreciate places when I walk.

It is through gratitude for the present moment that the spiritual dimension of life opens up. Eckhart Tolle

We learned about gratitude and humility - that so many people had a hand in our success, from the teachers who inspired us to the janitors who kept our school clean... and we were taught to value everyone's contribution and treat everyone with respect. Michelle Obama

After the Revolution

When Alexander Hamilton was 26, and approximately two years before the end of the American Revolution, he was already thinking about how the nation should be governed if and when it achieved freedom. According to Ron Chernow, when American entered the revolution, “People continued to identify their states as their 'countries,' and most outside the military had never traveled more than a day's journey from their homes.” (157) While the war somewhat diminished this lack of unity, Hamilton saw how this separateness made finding enough soldiers and money a problem for winning the war and accomplishing other goals. So in 1781, Hamilton begins to address this issue. Here is how Chernow describes it.

[Hamilton] introduced a critical theme: the dynamics of revolutions differed from those of peacetime governance; the postwar world had to be infused with a new spirit, respectful of authority, or anarchy would reign: “An extreme jealousy of power is the attendant of all popular revolutions and has seldom been without its evils. It is to this source we are to trace many of the fatal mistakes which have so deeply endangered the common cause, particularly that defeat which will be the object of these remarks, a want of power in Congress.” where revolutions, by their nature, resisted excess government power, the opposite situation could be equally hazardous. “As too much power leads to despotism, to little leads to anarchy, and both eventually to the ruin of the people.” (158)

This seems relevant to the issues of the day and it is still difficult to achieve the right balance.

Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow. Penguin Books, 2004.

Alexander Hamilton

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I spent Saturday afternoon in Chicago watching Hamilton, and like so many others, I loved it. The music captures the emotions of the story: sorrow, excitement, commitment, passion, longing, jealousy, longing, conflict, and more.

I came home and started reading Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow, the book that inspired the musical (731 pages plus six pages of acknowledgments and 49 pages of notes). Lin-Manuel Miranda, was reading this book on a vacation—I picture him in a hammock—and was inspired to write the songs for this play. So far, Chernow's book does paint a picture of an exceptional man. I can see how Miranda was moved, but being inspired to write a musical is indeed an exceptional response. Who could have predicted that a rap musical about one of the lesser-known founding-fathers would be so successful? (President Obama says rap is the language of revolution.) Miranda tells the story of our American history in a way that engages. He says, "You want to eliminate and distance between audience and your story." History teachers cannot teach history like Miranda does, but Hamilton reminds all teachers that a list of facts doesn't stick well. Hamilton provides emotional engagement that makes the facts of history relevant and important. And as a bonus, it's enjoyable.

This video shows President Obama introducing a presentation to Hamilton before it is performed at the white house. If the introduction is too long, you can skip to 8.3 to hear the introductory song. This one is a great interview with Miranda by Chris Hayes.