We have “Spirit Sightings” on this blog from time to time. Today I heard about the following one.
A friend of mine was returning from a winter break in the Florida Keys with her husband. Because of bad weather their flight to Minneapolis was delayed.
On the plane she noticed an elderly couple nearby. They were very upset at the delay. Evidently the woman had an appointment at the Mayo clinic in Rochester. It took her many weeks to arrange this appointment. A delay now would mean missing the appointment the following morning. She was distraught. My friend noticed that she tears were in her eyes.
My friend said to her husband, “I could take them to Rochester if they arrive late to Minneapolis.” He wasn’t sure. They had children waiting for them at home. But she insisted, “What if they were your parents or my parents? Wouldn’t you want someone to help them?”
She took the initiative and spoke to the couple. She explained that if they would be willing to trust her – she would drive them to Rochester when they arrived in Minneapolis.
A flight attendant nearby overheard the conversation. “Why couldn’t a shuttle take them to Rochester?” she thought. She spent the rest of the flight arranging a shuttle from the airport to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester.
Upon arrival the couple was allowed to exit the plane first before the other passengers, and a shuttle was waiting for them to drive them to Rochester.
Spirit Sightings are really uplifting. I am so proud to know someone like my friend. These are the kind of people I want to spend time with, be around, and be like. People like this remind me that we can be so much more – if we only take time to notice and listen.
If you’re interested, read about another inspiring Spirit Sighting here. Actually, although they are not named, both of the women in these Spirit Sightings know each other. I wonder if they will recognize each other?
In the previous post I discussed how increased income disparity caused by the power of global multi-nationals is creating a world we do not want to live in.
But what can you and I do? We are not victims, nor are we uninvolved bystanders, we are participants. We are not powerless, we vote with our dollars, time and actions.
I promised you some suggestions. Here are ten for your consideration. If you are already doing some of these – yeah!!! If not, start now!
1. Social change starts inside. We can explore our own values. Know what they are and live in a way that brings integrity to the best within ourselves. Eliminate any violence (physical, mental, emotional, verbal) in your own life. Meditate. Reflect. Pray.
2. Education. We need to become educated regarding the real nature of poverty. Get your news from sources other than American news companies. Read how other countries perceive events in the world. (Jerusalem Post, Al-Masry Al-Youm, Der Spiegel).
3. Read. Read. Read. Most of what we need to know can’t be found on TV. TV is junk food for the mind. Read how U.S. policies have affected other countries. Books like Mark Kramer’s Dispossessed and Jeffrey Sach’s The End of Poverty provide a good foundation and a bibliography of other resources. Request that these books and others be available in your local library. Other books include The Blue Sweater, Three Cups of Tea and Half the Sky.
4. Volunteer and donate to non-profits such as Bread for the World or Mary’s Pence, working with networks of women to solve the problem of poverty – not just provide charity.
5. If your church or community offers mission trips to poverty stricken areas – go. Talk to those struggling with poverty. Listen and learn from them the problems they face every day for clean water, food, housing. We would not last a day in their world. Or arrange a dialogue with some of the working poor in your city through your church or community organization. Find out what life is like for many right in your own community.
6. Buy Fair Trade and local products whenever possible. Buy produce from your local Farmer’s Market. Know where the things you purchase come from and how those who make them are paid.
7. Learn how extreme weather caused by climate change particularly impacts the global south, the two thirds world – creating more poverty. Drive less. Carpool. Walk more. Use public transportation when you can. Consolidate your trips. Fly less often. Shop less. Consume less. Live more simply.
8. Work to end sexism, racism and “isms” of all kinds. Discrimination moves billions of dollars unfairly from one group to another. Begin with suggestions in a previous post here. In the Twin Cities we have an inter-faith discussion group. Join us or start one in your community. Learn about the different (“different” not worse) values and perceptions of other faith traditions. Hear others’ stories and share your own.
9. Become active in local politics. Meet with your local politicians. Participate with many others in “A Day on the Hill” – a joint religious advocacy gathering today at the State Capital. Or work with MICAH for affordable housing in your community. All change starts locally.
10. What else can we do?
The ability to develop deep relationships beyond our own family (clan, social class, nation) and connect with others who are different than ourselves is what it means to become truly human. This is compassion. This is what brings depth and meaning to life.
We are part of the human family and the web of creation. Just like with our own families – this family will not be healthy and whole until each member is healthy and whole.
This is not an easy task. Certainly it is not an instant or quick-fix task. But neither is it an impossible task. Rather, it takes education, listening, connecting and be willing to make different choices. Come with me on the journey!
Jesus described himself as anthropos. This word in the Greek text was originally translated “son of man.” We can better translate it today as “the human one.” The latter is the central truth of Christianity.
If the central truth of Christianity is what it means to be a human person we have to ask ourselves, does the practice of American Catholicism bring us closer to this truth? Christianity, including Catholicism, should foster human persons who have developed their own well-formed interior moral sense. Well formed enough to be able to look beyond their own immediate family, circle or group. Well formed enough to have the compassion to go deeper and want to change the legal, political, social and economic structures that keep people, indeed entire nations, in poverty. Charity alone won’t accomplish this.
Instead, in observing North American Catholic communities, Catholicism seems to foster what governments also hope to accomplish; too many people who look to external authorities for moral guidance instead of forming their own; too many who are compliant with cultural norms – even when those norms or lifestyles create suffering elsewhere in the world.
American Catholicism exhibits an obvious clericalism that promotes poor personal boundaries and the abdication of personal responsibility. Too many practicing American Catholics are committed to attending Mass every Sunday yet resist moving out into the world and learning about the complex nature of poverty. It seems that American Catholics have more concern and interest in sports teams.
Is this all Catholicism can achieve in North America? If this is where we are as an American Catholic community, we wouldn’t score high on any evaluation I can think of.
While part of this can be blamed on a Church that has become inculturated, we need to look critically at church legal and organizational structures that promote external authority and immaturity over adult responsibility. From ordinational leadership with no accountability to the annulment tribunal, we as Catholics have succumbed to church structures that promote the value of external authority rather than take responsibility for the development of our own mature autonomy – primacy of conscience.
Yet we claim to be Catholic Christians. As such, we claim to be called by God to live differently in the world. We claim to be discerning and listening to the Spirit. By definition this means we live by our own well-formed interior authority, God’s authority within us – not exterior authority, not the expectations of our culture or society. Do we?
Each of us has a story that we tell ourselves and others about our lives. Our story may include the roles we have played in relationships such as a spouse, child, sibling, parent, grandparent or step-parent for example. The part we play in our story may be determined by our occupation or education. Often the story includes events we encountered and how we overcame them or failed to. Take time to think about your story.
Recently I learned that my life story, as told by my family of origin, is completely different from the story that I (and others) know about my life. Since I never knew about the story being told, it didn’t affect my own life choices. However, I’m sure the story I told myself sometimes limited the choices I saw in my life – as all stories will.
The Judeo-Christian tradition offers a number of healing archetypal life stories. Many identify with the story of Exodus in the Hebrew Scriptures. It is a story of leaving a life of enslavement to the dominant culture (Egypt) and escaping to a new life. Others may resonate with the story of Jesus. Jesus was falsely accused, scapegoated, tortured and killed – but he was resurrected as a new creation, no longer constrained by who he used to be. In both stories, the world is an enchanted place. God can do for us what we can not imagine for ourselves. In my own life, I truly feel that God “resurrected” me into a new life.
You are not your story. I am not my story. We can change our story to change our future. We can create a new story. We can choose no story at all.
Do you have a story? Consider its components. Are you the victim or the hero in your story? Does this expand or limit the possibilities you see for yourself? Ask yourself this question, “If this was not my story, how would my life be different going forward?” Or consider this, “What would be my ideal story?” Using magazine pictures create a collage using key elements of your new life story. Or find a picture or object that represents your ideal story. Place it where you can see it easily. Now live as if that story was already true!
Happiness is a choice and a habit. I have learned that how I feel on the inside does not depend on my exterior circumstances. Individuals like Ghandi and Etty Hillesum are well-known people who have demonstrated this for us. Be inspired. Read Etty Hillesum’s diary, An Interrupted Life.
Whether we are married or not, have children or not, are rich or not, has no bearing on our ability to be happy. Once our basic needs are met, if we choose happiness, life will open itself to us. Enjoy life fully and then, regardless of your circumstances, you will have had a wonderful life. If marriage, children, the job we want, etc. occur – then that is merely icing on the cake – is it not? If those things don’t happen, life is still good.
Since happiness is a choice why wouldn’t we choose it? Like learning to play the piano, choosing a life of happiness requires daily practice that keeps us healthy in body and mind.
How do we choose happiness habits? We choose them – or not – a thousand times each day. Here are some choices for happiness we can make today:
Play, skip, volunteer, exercise, stretch, build deeper relationships, read what inspires you, use your imagination, dance, cook for yourself, cook for others, sit and just listen, do nothing, listen to music, meet new people, smile, laugh, sing, enjoy nature, pray, meditate, find awe in the ordinary, be willing to be surprised, breathe deeply, discover yourself, enjoy time alone.
All that is required to choose happiness is to have our most basic needs met. That is why it is important to work for change so others’ basic needs are met – then they will have the ability to choose happiness too.
Choose happiness habits today!
Coming soon . . .
Recently this blog visited Paris and Dublin. Next time we are off to Juarez, Mexico. Join me.
