{"id":1977,"date":"2017-08-14T12:08:50","date_gmt":"2017-08-14T19:08:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.loghouseplants.com\/blogs\/greengardening\/?p=1977"},"modified":"2017-08-14T12:08:50","modified_gmt":"2017-08-14T19:08:50","slug":"what-do-we-do-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.loghouseplants.com\/blogs\/greengardening\/2017\/08\/what-do-we-do-now\/","title":{"rendered":"What Do We Do Now?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Standing Up To Far Too Much<\/strong><\/p>\n

Like most of my friends, I\u2019m stunned by Saturday\u2019s events in
\nCharlottesville. Maybe it\u2019s hitting me harder today since I found out long after most people. My weekend was spent participating in the Port Gamble Maritime Music Festival and playing for a benefit event. I\u2019ve been struggling with depression and anxiety since well before the November election and have chosen to maintain a media fast much of the time. I don\u2019t have a television and rarely listen to the radio, though I do follow a few trusted media sources, such as NPR, The Washington Post, and YES Magazine. It\u2019s not at all because I don\u2019t care what\u2019s happening in our country and in the world. It\u2019s because I feel immobilized and crushed in spirit by the daily barrage of horrifying, terrifying news.<\/p>\n

The constant barrage of inhumane, unconscionable actions, statements, and events is clearly deliberate policy on the part of our current administration. It\u2019s an effective strategy, diluting the focus and sapping the energy and drive of everyone I know who is progressive, kind, hopeful and humanitarian. I am so grateful that some folks are able to use their rage to fuel constructive activism against the relentless tide of malicious cruelty pouring from the White House, Congress, and the Senate. Me? I make a lot of phone calls to encourage my representatives to accurately represent me. Most days, I find myself weeping with desolation because so few of our elected officials red or blue or in between seem able to demonstrate genuine concern for vulnerable populations; people of color, women of all descriptions, those on the LGBT spectrum, refugees, the disabled, the elderly, the young, the undereducated, the underemployed and unemployed, the homeless, the dispossessed, outliers, those who \u201cpresent different\u201d and don\u2019t quite fit in. The people Jesus always had time for, right?<\/p>\n

What Are We To DO?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I respect and admire all religions that encourage people to practice loving kindness and compassion, but as it happens, the tradition I am most deeply acquainted with is that of Jesus. These days, progressive Christians often talk about how uncomfortable it feels to identify oneself as Christian when that label carries so many contrary and even evil associations. (Actually, it has for millennia.) I\u2019m imagining that if I were a progressive Republican I might feel much the same way about claiming THAT label these days. However, no matter which label we might accept or which tradition we follow (if any), most folks I know are asking the same question: What are we supposed to do when the ruling regime ignores, reviles, or actively punishes and endangers vulnerable people?<\/p>\n

Given my background, I often remember the Beatitudes, a collection of statements Jesus made in the sermon on the mount. In Jesus\u2019s terms, humble people are blessed. Those who grieve for themselves and others, who mourn the state of the world and the ugliness of inhumane behavior are blessed. Those who are kind, gentle, and able to appropriately control their own actions are blessed. Those who seek social justice are blessed. Those who are compassionate, merciful and generous are blessed.<\/p>\n

Blessed or Oppressed<\/strong><\/p>\n

The opposite of beatitude or blessing is sometimes defined as misery, or \u201cbeing unwillingly afflicted with pain and suffering.\u201d When we know or learn about people who are miserable, suffering, frightened and and oppressed, here are some practical responses:<\/p>\n

Feed the hungry<\/p>\n

Give clean, pure water to the thirsty<\/p>\n

Clothe the naked<\/p>\n

Shelter the homeless<\/p>\n

Comfort the imprisoned<\/p>\n

Visit the sick<\/p>\n

Bury the dead<\/p>\n

Few of us will be presented with direct opportunities to do all these things but pretty much all of us have daily chances to do at least one. None of us can fix the world but each of us can ease suffering, at least a little. Some people scorn those who just send money to worthy causes but money makes it possible for activists to act. Even so, there is even more power and healing in direct, hands-on action. Such actions don\u2019t have to be huge or even particularly difficult. They aren\u2019t earth shaking, but they do change the world, quietly building community and reducing suffering, little by little.<\/p>\n

Take garden vegetables or fruit to a food bank<\/p>\n

Make soup for a sick acquaintance<\/p>\n

Invite a lonely neighbor to tea or dinner<\/p>\n

Knit a chemo cap or a preemie blankie<\/p>\n

Send a personal note to a shut in<\/p>\n

Shoot hoops with a kid who needs a Big Brother<\/p>\n

Play cards with a nursing home resident without visitors<\/p>\n

Donate clothing directly to a homeless shelter<\/p>\n

Pass along toys to foster parents who take in babies<\/p>\n

Volunteer with Hospice<\/p>\n

This Little Light Of Mine<\/strong><\/p>\n

None of that works for you? Or all of it works but it\u2019s just not enough? Tonight there will be many gatherings all over the country with people standing to protest the death and damage, the destruction and disrespect, the cruelty of police and protector complicity in Charlottesville and in far too many other places. Gather your friends and community, find a candle and stand on a prominent street corner to hold vigil for lost people and lost values. Stand up, knowing we\u2019re standing up to far too much, but let\u2019s stand anyway and let our little lights shine.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Few of us will be presented with direct opportunities to do all these things but pretty much all of us have daily chances to do at least one. None of us can fix the world but each of us can ease suffering, at least a little. Some people scorn those who just send money to worthy causes but money makes it possible for activists to act. Even so, there is more power and healing in direct, hands-on action. Such actions don\u2019t have to be huge or even particularly difficult. They aren\u2019t earth shaking, but they do change the world, quietly building community and reducing suffering, little by little. Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"footnotes":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1lB7f-vT","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.loghouseplants.com\/blogs\/greengardening\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1977"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.loghouseplants.com\/blogs\/greengardening\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.loghouseplants.com\/blogs\/greengardening\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.loghouseplants.com\/blogs\/greengardening\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.loghouseplants.com\/blogs\/greengardening\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1977"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.loghouseplants.com\/blogs\/greengardening\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1977\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1980,"href":"https:\/\/www.loghouseplants.com\/blogs\/greengardening\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1977\/revisions\/1980"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.loghouseplants.com\/blogs\/greengardening\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1977"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.loghouseplants.com\/blogs\/greengardening\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1977"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.loghouseplants.com\/blogs\/greengardening\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1977"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}