Tuning Slide 4.45- Being Free #1

Weekly Reflections on Life and Music

It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.


Confucius

Last week I re-told the story of how I got stuck on a Memorial Day 50 some years ago. It held me under its control for nearly 50 years. Every now and then I would break through a little, but only in the past six to eight years have I been able to break out of it and begin ever so slowly to move forward.

This happened in my career as a pastor when I moved from the church where I had started as a “student” pastor to my second congregation and became a “real” pastor. I discovered confidence and my own gifts. It happened again in my early career as a counselor. When I was able to do things more naturally as a counselor, I knew I had moved into a new place.

Why did it take so long with my music? It’s hard to know, but for some reason my trumpet playing always sat there in the background, while I quietly wished I could do something about it. I did not face it, until finally, I did. I never stopped playing, but I didn’t advance. So I recently went digging into how people get past those stuck points. When you reach that kind of plateau or wall, how can one break through?

I came across a website/blog called Planet of Success that calls itself a “ community designed to inspire you to live a successful life full of joy, meaning, and happiness.” I found there a post about ten powerful ways to free yourself when feeling stuck. Steve Mueller, the founder of Planet of Success, tagged the post as “comfort zone” and “limiting beliefs.” Looking at his post I knew he had presented some good insights that showed how I managed to get unstuck in my careers- and then in my music. So in this and the next three weeks, I will look at these 10 ways to get free- and stay that way.

First, so you know where we are going, here are the ten.

1. Face your fears
2. Break your routine
3. Effect change, one step at a time
4. Overcome the perception of impossibilities
5. Be honest with yourself
6. Change your perspective
7. Differentiate between feeling and fact
8. Avoid blaming others
9. Stop comparing yourself to others
10. Stop making excuses
11. Be grateful for what you have

I will look at only the first three this week in my normal way of presenting some of the original ideas and adding my riff to it. My riffs will be in italics.

1. Face your fears
✓ People are unable to move forward because they are afraid.

At some point in life, we simply became afraid of going any further…. We gave in to our fears. We allowed fear to stop our progress in life.

Everyone on this planet, and I mean really everyone, has fears. It’s not something to be ashamed of. … There’s no need to be afraid of failure. Be concerned about not having the courage to try.

In my case, my fear was that I would fail. No, my fear was I knew would fail- I was convinced I wasn’t as good as I used to think I was and people might find that out. I put everything into hiding that. In my careers, I managed to overcome that because I was able to put in all the 10,000 hours needed for expertise. I was afraid of doing that with my trumpet.

2. Break your routine
✓ Feeling stuck in life can be the result of unhealthy and restraining routines.

Developing a routine can be quite beneficial. It helps you to keep moving when the going gets tough…. Moving on in life, however, requires us to break the existing structures from time to time. … Break restricting routines whenever they need to be broken.

Actually, I had no routine to break; it was the lack of one that kept me from growing. In reality, my routine was simply to avoid confronting my personal status quo and to accept my inappropriate self-judgment. My pattern of avoidance was finally overcome only by ending up in a big band and quintet in addition to a regular concert band. It was the first time I was willing to open myself to something different. It was difficult at first. I had to learn the whole new language of actually playing jazz. I also had to move away from my comfort zone and be more visible in a quintet. That became a new routine that eventually led to even more change.

3. Effect change, one step at a time
✓ If you’re feeling stuck in life, it’s important to overcome that which prevents you from moving forward.

It’s better to tackle one problem after another than half-heartedly trying to address everything simultaneously. Not only will the sheer size of the problem overwhelm you, but it could also make you reluctant to truly free yourself.

Just don’t be too hard on yourself. Try to stick to one problem until it is solved. One problem after another. This way you can affect positive changes in your life step-by-step.

At first, I didn’t know what I was changing other than finding new things to play in new ways. Small steps, playing 4th part in the big band, beginning to practice more often with the quintet pieces. I then decided to take some lessons. Simple. Back to basics reminders. One small step that at the same time expanded my horizons.

We will expand on these ideas in the next three weeks. These are the starting points for any change that we hope to be successful in.
Start small:

◦ What is a fear you need to confront?
◦ What in your current routine may be holding you back? (Note that it is not necessarily the routine, but how you perceive it. That’s a hint of what’s to come.)
◦ What can you change in the next week to begin the small, but important change?

What I Am Thinking

As many of you who know me already are aware, I am a flag-waving, liberal-radical patriot who loves this country and what we have stood for over these 240+ years. I take off my hat and stand for the National Anthem and Stars and Stripes Forever sends chills up my spine. I follow the sentiment of the one-time Watertown, WI, Republican and Civil War veteran, Carl Schurz in

“My country, right or wrong; if right, to be kept right; and if wrong, to be set right.”

(Yes, this is about to be a post on the NFL protests and tempest in a teapot.)

My first reaction can be stated simply, but not without a little length:

• No one protests or threatens to turn off the NFL when it is about
• Domestic abusers and batterers getting a simple slap on the wrist;
• An NFL superstar bumping and pushing an officer with his car in the Twin Cities;
• A history of concussions and intentional "illegal" hits and tackles;

This doesn't even take into account the exorbitant ticket costs and millionaire players being paid by billionaire owners. That is simply American business practices.

But the past week or so the whole issue of players protesting

• systematic racism

has exploded into a huge controversy threatening

• boycotts, 
• lower ticket sales, 
• attacks on the right of free speech, 
• threats of getting fired in NASCAR, and 
• the President of the United States turning it into a firestorm by calling the protestors "sons of bitches" when he couldn't say anything about Nazi organizers but that they had some "good people."

One would think that the very foundation of our nation is being attacked.

And it is, but not by the protestors.

Suddenly it is claimed the protests are disgraceful behavior, disrespecting veterans, contempt for the flag, and an insult to the National Anthem. As if waving the confederate battle flag isn't disrespecting my great-uncle who died at the Battle of the Wilderness as a Union (United States) soldier. Oops..no, that's heritage.

Meanwhile the results of three hurricanes are causing suffering and illness to millions in three different parts of the USA and our people.

Meanwhile most of us white Americans have great difficulty seeing how our privilege, based on our color, doesn't allow for the growth opportunities for many who are not.

Meanwhile we are closing our borders and our minds to the freedom of religion, calling hateful actions by Nazis "free speech", and Colin Kaepernick's and the NFL's peaceful protests anti-American.

• How have we managed to go so far downhill away from our values and promises? 
• How have we managed to allow ourselves to be sold a bill of goods that being American is to be white and European only? 
• How have we permitted attacks on racism to become attacks on the country?
• How have many who call themselves Christian been lulled into thinking that hatred and prejudice and discrimination are answers to that question, "What would Jesus do?"

 I keep waiting to wake up and find it is all a nightmare or some dystopian vision of an American that could be, but isn't. I keep praying that it is not too late.

I stand for the Anthem. But as I do so I am standing for what the Anthem and the flag are all about: Freedom!

The Power of Stories

Just finished reading an amazing trilogy of speculative fiction and fantasy that ranks in the top 5 along with Lord of the Rings. The Broken Earth Series by N. K. Jemisin is powerful, relevant, well-written and can change your perspective. (I will write a separate post on the series at a later date. One of the quotes I found compelling is about one who wants to be a "lorist", the caste that captures history and events in order to pass them down to the future. Here is what was said about them:

Lorists were warriors, storytellers, nobility. They told their truths in books and song and through their art… Not all fighters use knives, after all. [Emphasis in original.]
N. K. Jemisin, The Stone Sky

The last phrase sums up the work of writers. Whether they write fiction or non-fiction, essays or stories, poetry or prose, they are essential to making sure people learn and are informed. It is no wonder that dictatorial regimes seek to control the press and the writing of stories.

Nor is it a surprise that in our present political turmoil the charge of "fake news" is the new one aimed at political opponents, or that fake stories make headlines as if they are true. We have been in a period of attacks on the sacred American institution of a free press. That can be but a first phase of an attack on writers and storytellers with who the powers that be disagree. Censorship is a "four-letter word" in the United States so it will be far more subtle than that.

We must keep our eyes and ears open; we must maintain that freedom of storytelling, the telling of stories that contain the values and truth of who we are. These people with pens, pencils and paper- or computers and tablets- are essential. They are on the front lines of freedom at home.

Not all fighters use knives, after all.

Why I Stand

Personally, I always stand for the National Anthem. It is in honor of men and women, like my Dad. He served to stop a white supremacist ideology. He served, though he was almost too old to go overseas in 1944 (age 39). He served as a non-combatant medic to use his training for the greater good.

He served to help protect our freedom to kneel during the National Anthem without fear of reprisal.

He served because our freedoms were- and are- essential to our nation!

Sadness, Concern, Dread - and Patriotism

I have always loved the Fourth of July. Like many of my childhood friends, and my  generation, I am the son of a World War II veteran. We were raised with a deep, almost genetically-based patriotism. It was not a political statement at that time, or at least I didn't see it that way. It was an awareness of how lucky we were to be born in this nation "conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men were created equal." Patriotism meant loving our country for what it has given us- and more importantly- what we could do for our country.

That was a long time ago now. Half a century and more. But the Fourth of July- Independence Day- has never lost it's shine and excitement for me. Even in the midst of the Vietnam-era divisions, many of us remained deeply committed to the patriotic ways, although it soon became a political statement and not a healthy way of life. It became a point of contention as if to seek for greater exercise of freedom- the very fundamental of our country- was unpatriotic. But the flag leading the parade, a Sousa march, Fourth of July fireworks continued to make me feel a sense of hope.

Over the last several years I have had the added joy of being able to play in our local Fourth of July concert. To stand with the trumpets and play the closing section of "Stars and Stripes Forever" is a musical moment of patriotic joy; to play the Army field march takes me back to learning if from my Dad and I think of his service and sacrifice; the noise of firecrackers and the crowd having fun is what it is all about.

Last year, however, I had a moment in the middle of the concert that caught my attention. It was, of course, in the midst of the presidential election campaign. Donald Trump was ready to be nominated. I had the thought, "What if he wins? Is this our last truly free celebration of our independence?" I pushed it away, not out of denial, but of the hope and trust in our American way to do the right thing.

Trump did win. So far we have not lost our American way. I think we are still free. But the signs are not as hopeful as they were a year ago.

• We know that the Russians in some way or another have worked at hacking our election- the very foundation of our democratic process. (I still do not believe there was actual, active collusion between the Russians and Trump. I am not so sure of some of his campaign staff, however.)
• Fake news through social media and perhaps even the Russians has brought a division and an ongoing and escalating attack on the integrity of our freedom of the press- another basic foundation. 
• The President himself continues to take strange and seemingly irrational actions against anyone who may disagree with him. 
• Last week a commission has requested all voter data from all 50 states, including information that may not be public, potentially threatening the rights of privacy of our electoral process.

As a result of all this ongoing chaos in our national politics I almost started crying in the midst of the "Armed Forces Salute" the other night at a concert rehearsal. That's where we start with the Caissons Song. As I was thinking of Dad, sadness and even dread started to well up. What I am seeing in the things going on appears to be as great a threat to who we are as a nation than anything since the Civil War. Some of the very basic elements of American freedom and democracy are being challenged in the name of security. The advances in science we have enjoyed are being called questioned. Care for the poor and the elderly are being attacked.

Underneath those is the even deeper question that got Trump elected in the first place- the increasing losses of a healthy middle class. Instead of working on these together and developing new and creative plans for making a difference, we are expanding and exploiting the differences in the name of political gain. Add to that the just as deep issue of racism and the rise of white supremacy taking advantage of the divisions- and we have a difficult time to be living in.

This is not the country I grew up in. These are not the ways of greatness. They leave me with a sense of dread that I have written about here before. The courts have shown some ability to slow down some of the more troubling aspects. People have taken to the streets in mostly peaceful protests, interrupted only by, as usual, a small handful of those who are there only to make trouble.

There is not much I can do about any of this in action. I can write these words; I can talk to friends who may not agree with me and make sure I listen to them as much as I hope they will listen to me. I can, in my actions on a daily basis show that I am one who wants things to be different.

In the end I have to maintain my personal hope in the institutions and history that have allowed us to get to this 241st anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. The great American Experiment of freedom is still a work in progress. I pray that it continues to be alive and filled with hope. I cannot- and must not give up on that hope.

THAT is what patriotism is all about.

The Tuning Slide: 3.2- Music and Freedom

Weekly Reflections on Life and Music

From folk songs to patriotic anthems, jazz to rock and roll, popular music has long expressed what it means to be American. … As a product of various traditions, talents, and techniques coming together in harmonious but also contentious ways, popular music is truly the soundtrack of the American experience.
-National Museum of American History (Smithsonian)

Music is rebellious. It is the expression of people’s greatest desires.

It can also be overbearing and reactionary; enslaving and a weapon.

Music has power. Great power. To play music is to participate in that power.

Music can be freedom.

Freedom:
1. The power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint.
2. The state of not being imprisoned or enslaved.
synonyms: liberty, liberation, release, deliverance,

Music lifted religious movements through chants, hymns, or Bach chorales. It gave slaves a moment of their own after relentless hours in the fields. Music has been the sound of revolt as portrayed in the musical, Les Miserables. It carries the voice of generations seeing injustice and speaking out through people like Bob Dylan, Bob Marley, Tupac, or Eminem.

Freedom is not something to take for granted as we so often do. It is too easily revoked, sometimes for seemingly good reasons. When that does happen, music has been and will be there to stand against such reversals of freedom.

I reflect on this every year as we celebrate the Fourth of July. So for today’s Tuning Slide on the day after Independence Day, just some thoughts to reflect on- music and freedom.

The expression of freedom that is Jazz improvisation mirrors
the ethos of the best parts of society.
-Paul Kreibich

[First, from the website, Jazz in America an outline in a lesson plan for teaching about Jazz.}

Jazz is really the best music to represent America because:

a. It is partly planned and partly spontaneous; that is, as the musicians perform a pre-determined tune, they have the opportunity to create their own interpretations within that tune in response to the other musicians' performances and whatever else may occur "in the moment" -- this is called improvisation and is the defining element of jazz.

b. In everything from regular conversation, to basketball, to everyday life, Americans are constantly improvising.

c. Improvisation is the key element of jazz.

There is no better example of democracy than a jazz ensemble: individual freedom but with responsibility to the group. In other words, individual musicians have the freedom to express themselves on their instrument as long as they maintain their responsibility to the other musicians by adhering to the overall framework and structure of the tune.
Jazz in America (http://www.jazzinamerica.org/LessonPlan/5/1/242)

The genius of our country is improvisation; Jazz reflects that.
It's our great contribution to the arts.
-Ken Burns

[More thoughts from another lesson on the Jazz in America website.]

Each player has the freedom to play whatever he/she wants. But, at the same time, each player wants to play something that will not only please himself/herself, but make the whole group sound better as well, enhancing the overall sound. Musicians work together on this, supporting each other while not compromising their own artistic individuality.

Jazz musicians realize that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. Each individual part is enhanced by the group, i.e., each individual player gets better and comes up with more musical ideas because of the others in the group. They need each other to accomplish their individual and collective goals. The music is better because each player is different; it brings something new to the music.
Jazz In America (http://www.jazzinamerica.org/LessonPlan/5/1/248)

Music is freedom and being free is the closest I've ever felt to being spiritual.
- Ben Harper

Having grown up in the 50s and 60s, music’s revolutionary potential was part of my own personal soundtrack. From the folk protest songs to rock anthems, Sam Cooke’s “A Change is Gonna Come” to Punk Rock’s anti-establishment cries, music’s power to inspire and motivate has been seen as part of these moves toward freedom. In Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union, or Communist China, Western music, protest music, songs of freedom were often banned setting up even more of an interest in them. Nothing like telling a group or a whole country they can’t listen to something. It only enhances its power.

So whether it is listening or playing or improvising, let’s keep music alive- and revolutionary.

January 21 Thoughts- Inspired and Empowered

I was inspired and empowered today. I watched the Facebook posts of friends and family who were at some of the marches around the country. I was excited that so many people were standing up for their rights and the rights of others.

I watched the news and saw more people on the Mall in Washington today than there were yesterday. I watched a little of the feed on Facebook from back home in St. Paul, MN. A crowd of 60,000, three times the expected turnout, was exciting.

I saw several posts about people feeling empowered by the activities they participated in. They know they are not alone in their feelings and reactions.

THESE are the people that the press should be covering, in depth, and not the few who "riot" and are nothing more than destroyers of hope. But a peaceful protest, even of this size, is not "news." Or more to the point, it's not big news. It does not grab attention.

Even though it should. It is BIG news. THESE are the people who can- and will- be able to make a difference in the next four years. THESE are the people who will stand up for what is right. THESE are the people who have already made America great.

Let us learn to work together to maintain our dignity and wonder as a nation. Let us learn to work together as "we the people." In the end it has to be us, or we will never make it.

Pictures of a Great Country

These two pictures describe the kind of country I am proud to live in. They are from a hospital that is part of the Catholic Healthcare System.

The first celebrates the holiday season.

Wishing "Happy Holidays" does not 

constitute a war on Christmas.

The second expands on religious tolerance as a core value 

and being considerate of our neighbors.

Fifteen Years Gone: Never Forget

It is not about looking back and fanning fires of hatred and anger.
It is not about revenge any more, if it ever should have been.
It is about hope
and freedom
and being Americans together.

If we keep looking back we will never move forward.
If we only remember what happened we will leave those who died stuck in a world of no hope.

To look at what we can do and be - Americans of all colors and faith, all ethnic and cultural varieties...

that is the ongoing legacy of 9/11

a spur to move into a world where freedom is possible for all
and an incentive to sing our own individual hymns to freedom.

The video I produced last year after my visit to Freedom Tower, One World Trade Center holds up that hope with the inspiration of Oscar Peterson's moving Hymn to Freedom. Never Forget- and keep moving forward.

Calling Out Racism and Prejudice

Bill Moyers online presence last week posted an article by Todd Gitlin. (Link) It was titled

Trump’s Actual Racism and How It’s Thrived: Why has it taken so long for Republicans and for the media to call him on it?

He describes in some detail the history of Trump's racist statements showing that it didn't just start with an Indiana-born judge who just happens to be the judge in a case involving Trump U.

rhetorical excesses are not what’s roiling American politics. What we’re hearing is the white supremacy that speaks unabashedly of roundups, walls and rapists of color. Winking and nodding won’t serve the Republicans anymore. Dog whistles have been superseded.

Vox writer German Lopez isn’t having any of it:

“…Instead of calling it like it is, CBS News, MSNBC, The Washington Post and The New York Times have called Trump’s comments about Curiel ‘racially charged’ and ‘racially tinged.’ the weasel words the media typically uses to describe racism. It makes one wonder: What would it take for them to finally call Trump or his remarks just plainly racist? If claiming a qualified, vetted judge shouldn’t be able to do his job because of his race and ethnicity isn’t racist, then what the hell is?”

Oh, and then there's the oft-heard line that the African-Americans (you know, like the President of the United States) are racist against whites. Not to be too picky a wordsmith, but racism from a minority to a majority is not the definition of racism. There may be prejudice or discrimination, but it is not racism. Racism is a structural system of one race oppressing another, stereotyping them, keeping them from truly being part of the culture and nation.

After yesterday's killings it will only get worse. We will blame Muslim terrorism and ignore things like how it's okay for a terrorist to get a gun so easily. We will call for banning Muslims, but what will we do about those who are born in the United States? Deport American citizens? Put them in camps? Both have been done in the past. Our fear can do it again. Blaming all Muslims would be like blaming all Christians for the actions of the KKK.

I am tired of this. I am sick and tired of our national fear and anger leading us down paths of hatred and death and war.

Lord, help our human failings. Guide us in a way of peace.

After California... Finished. For Now....

The last of the primaries is over for this year! Sing praise!

Yes- the primaries are history. This election is making history. To make the obvious quote: What a long strange trip it's been.

Unfortunately I think we have hardly seen anything yet. Nothing, absolutely nothing of traditional political insight and wisdom has held true this year.

It may be one of the strangest and out-of-left-field campaigns in American history. Nothing is working like it has.

Either Clinton or Trump could win. By default, the candidate who is least offensive to the greater number of people will win. I don't remember any election in my 50+ years of political interest where the election is balancing on an incredible distrust in both major candidates. Republican friends say to me that they are worried by Trump, but are scared by Clinton. Democrat friends have a distrust of Clinton but are terrified by Trump.

Both candidates have a 70% dislike rating. Which, in a completely unscientific, non-mathematical way it turns into something like:

• Trump has 30% support;
• Hillary has 30% support;
• 40% goes to ?

That 40%- a huge number- will either stay home or vote for the less offensive candidate depending on their party preference. Again- I know this is not good statistics. Don't comment on that. It is a metaphor for how difficult this election is to figure out. I have yet to see a pundit on either side say they saw this coming. Only the extreme pro-Trump or pro-Sanders people can say they expected it to look like this.

I have also heard more stupid explanations this year for a particular candidate than I remember. Two strike me as good examples.

• We don't need another politician.
  OK. But this IS a political system and a political world. It's like taking your car to a garage for maintenance but refusing to allow a mechanic to work on it since another mechanic messed something up.

• He speaks what's on his mind
  Yes, but so does your drunk uncle at Thanksgiving! Do you want him to be the president?

Earlier in this election season I commented that I still have hope. We, the American people, often do the right thing at the right time. When I said that I really didn't think that the insanity would be as deep and broad as it appears. I did not count on the ability of a demagogue to have as much influence as Trump has shown. Nor did I think as much about how deep the distrust of Hillary goes. What worries me most is that this is a close, probably deeply divisive election. It is not out of the question that what we have seen over the past 8 years of ideologically-based decisions is but a start of even more division.

Personally, I am far less worried by Hillary than I am by Donald. Hillary IS a politician. She is a political animal and knows how to handle politics. Like any politician, she has her share of mistakes (Benghazi is not one of them, in spite of what a few GOP think. The email fiasco is.) As a politician she understands on some level what needs to be done.

Trump on the other hand is not a politician. Nor is he truly a business man. He is a self-centered narcissist who only seems to know what he thinks and cannot understand any way but the way of being a bully. I don't believe that he will be so irrational as to start a nuclear war over some perceived, probably personal, threat. But I can see him doing things that will crash the world economy because the rest of the world doesn't understand what he is doing any more than most of us do.

In addition, I have noticed that there are some out there who, while they don't like  him are working very hard to convince us that he won't be that bad. They are explaining, rationalizing, and even normalizing his positions. Which is what worries me as much as his statements do. The only exception to this, so far, has been the nearly unanimous reaction by other GOP on his racist statements against the judge. They need to know that this is the result of their normalizing his ongoing provocations and racism. These are NOT positions taken simply to gain a particular vote. Or if they are, it is just as bad!

Bottom line for me- if you are not a white, heterosexual, conservative Christian male, I say that you should be worried, very worried.If you are one or all of those things, I urge you to pay attention and get worried. Freedom, as we understand it, including freedom of the press, speech, and religion, is at risk.

Freedom of speech, press, and religion are First Amendment rights! Equal in importance and power to the Second Amendment right. No one is seriously trying to take away the right to own guns. Trump's statements indicate he would, in the name of safety and security, abridge the first amendment.

Yes, my comments are extreme. I hope I can look back in six months or four years and see how stupid they are.

In fact I pray that my statements are simply the rantings of someone who is afraid today because things looks so unusually bleak. I have always been an optimist. The United States is a great experiment in freedom and hope. We as a people have stood up to great issues in the past. And come through them. I believe we can do it again.

Chimes of Freedom

Bob Dylan's remarkable song, Chimes of Freedom came on my iPod shuffle mix this afternoon. It has always been one of my favorite of Dylan's protest era songs. It speaks of the ever-present need for the chimes of freedom to be tolling for so many of us. As I was listening, the first verse listing jumped out at me as befitting all the news of refugees in Europe. This part of the song reminds us of the responsibility that I believe we have toward our fellow human beings:

Seeming to be the chimes of freedom flashing
Flashing for the warriors whose strength is not to fight
Flashing for the refugees on the unarmed road of flight
An’ for each an’ ev’ry underdog soldier in the night
An’ we gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashing

Link

Here's the whole song. 

But the rest of the list is just as powerful as that first verse...

I can find myself at least a couple of times in the list...

or people I have known and met...

the rebel, the rake
the luckless, the abandoned an’ forsaked
the outcast, burnin’ constantly at stake

the gentle, the kind
the guardians and protectors of the mind
the unpawned painter behind beyond his rightful time

the tongues with no place to bring their thoughts
All down in taken-for-granted situations
the deaf an’ blind, the mute
the mistreated, mateless mother, the mistitled prostitute
the misdemeanor outlaw, chased an’ cheated by pursuit

the searching ones, on their speechless, seeking trail
the lonesome-hearted lovers with too personal a tale
for each unharmful, gentle soul misplaced inside a jail

the aching ones whose wounds cannot be nursed
the countless confused, accused, misused, strung-out ones an’ worse
for every hung-up person in the whole wide universe

We gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashing!

Link

It's hard to beat the poetry and depth of Dylan. Even when the words seem to be coming from somewhere the rest of us are unable to find, the way the words meld and move make us stop and pay attention. Dylan has often used words as others use musical notes.

The chimes flash full and loud in this unequaled song. Listen again, or hear Bruce Springsteen's superb version (Link).

14-Years and Not Forgetting!

Maybe "Free" Speech Isn't "Free?"

I have always been taught that freedom of any kind also brings with it responsibility. The old adage that free speech does not cover yelling fire in a crowded theater. That has naturally come to mind a number of times in the past few weeks with the terrorist attack in Paris and all that occurred after it.

The question really arose most clearly when the first edition of Charlie Hebdo after the attack published another cartoon of Mohammed. I gather there were all kinds of rationalizations and justifications for the publication. Many of those were highly philosophical discussions that make sense in some western thinking process. There is also the very basic of freedom of speech. But the magazine knew that the publication of another cartoon would raise the possibility (and high probability) of problems. They published it anyway.

Is this the same as yelling fire? Were the editors being irresponsible and putting innocent lives in jeopardy? Sure it is part of our western ethos (though not always practiced) that freedom of speech is important, but at what cost?

When we are dealing with a different cultural understanding in a time and place of war and danger is it a good idea to inflame the situation putting our values on a people who don't share those values?

They are not easily answered questions, I know, but as our world gets smaller and the great diversity more easily accessed, we need to be looking at them as important questions. We Westerners have often been guilty of cultural imperialism, ignoring and even denigrating other cultures. A certain humility needs to be at work here.

Yes, I know this can feel like censorship. Is it censorship, though, when I decide that I don't need to be as inflammatory as I can because I can care about others? Is it censorship when I find better and less inflammatory ways to say what I want to say?

Those, too, are important questions that can make the difference between life and death for innocent people.

Lenten Sunday Video Meditation

The Chimes of Freedom by Bob Dylan
Performed by Bruce Springsteen




Then watch and listen for a powerful rendering and translation performed by Youssou N'Dour:

Now It's Scary...

Herman Cain: Communities have right to ban mosques

A presidential candidate who has the chutzpah to even think this let alone say it is scary. But that is what he said.

Why can communities do this?

Because Islam is a set of laws as well as a religion.

So is Judaism.

And to listen to many fundamentalist Christians, so is Christianity.

Can you imagine the outcry if any candidate would say that a community has the right to ban a church for these kind of reasons?

What about Freedom of Religion is lost in this?

Which brings to mind a quote (emphasis added!):

First they came for the communists,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a communist.


Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a trade unionist.


Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a Jew.


Then they came for me
and there was no one left to speak out for me.
--Pastor Martin Niemoeller
Wiki Link

Frightening may be a better word than scary. Potentially horrific for who we claim to be as Americans.

Banned Book Week 2010

Yes, friends, it is that time of year again when we remember how precious freedom of speech and press (and publishing) really is- and how precarious it can be.

And what have we to be banned in the past year? Here is the list of most banned/challenged books of 2009 (Link):

ttyl; ttfn; l8r, g8r (series), by Lauren Myracle
Reasons: nudity, sexually explicit, offensive language, drugs, and unsuited to age group

And Tango Makes Three, by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson
Reasons: homosexuality

The Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky
Reasons: drugs, homosexuality, nudity, offensive language, sexually explicit, suicide, and unsuited to age group

To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee
Reasons: racism, offensive language, unsuited to age group

Twilight (series), by Stephanie Meyer
Reasons: sexually explicit, religious viewpoint, unsuited to age group

Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger
Reasons: sexaully explicit, religious viewpoint, unsuited to age group

My Sister's Keeper, by Jodi Picoult
Reasons: sexism, homosexuality, sexually explicit, offensive language, unsuited to age group, drugs, suicide, violence

The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big, Round Things, by Carolyn Mackler
Reasons: sexually explicit, offensive language, unsuited to age group

The Color Purple, by Alice Walker
Reasons: sexually explicit, offensive language, unsuited to age group

The Chocolate War, by Robert Cormier
Reasons: nudity, sexually explicit, offensive language, unsuited to age group

And let us not forget some that have been banned in the past, (as seen on Yahoo!) such as:

• Merriam Webster Collegiate Dictionary
• American Heritage Dictionary (1969)
• Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Bill Martin. The Texas Board of Education banned the book, in January 2010, because it thought the book was written by the same Bill Martin who penned the non-children's book Ethical Marxism: The Categorical Imperative of Liberation

And, taking the cake of irony:

• Fahrenheit 451 - The classic book about book burning. It was still on the Top 100 at #69 for the 2000-2009 decade.

August 28, 1963

Who Will Win If We Lose?

I haven't posted yet on the whole Ground Zero mosque debate.I have watched and listened with growing sadness, and a great sense of fear that we are losing something very important in this day and age.

I then came across a new book the other day at the library, Preaching With Sacred Fire which is an anthology of African-American sermons. I opened to one of the more recent sermons from 2001, not long after 9/11. I found the following, and it chilled me as I thought of what's going on at Ground Zero.

The devil likes unbelief, and he likes our thought life to be in agreement with fear. That's all he wants you to do is have fear, fear, fear. You walk around in fear. But you do understand that God has not given us the spirit of fear. He has given us power. He has given us love. He has given us a sound mind. But if the devil can make you fearful -- put fear throughout your mind, he's got you!

I me tell you something, people of God, bin Laden really doesn't have to do another thing. Because you know what has happened in America? Fear has taken over our minds, and because fear has taken over our minds -- that's why the economy is all messed up. Stock market is down. I mean, fear is crazy. You go to the airport, and they don't care who they stop. 80-year-old woman -- and what is she going to have on her? Can hardly move; can hardly walk. Fear! That is what the devil does. Bin Laden can just stand back and laugh and say, I don't have to do anything, I've got them now.
--"The Enemy Inside Your Mind, "(2001) Rev. Paul S. Morton, Sr. in Preaching With Sacred Fire, p.771

Fear! That is the underlying issue and it is one that is being used to great and terrifying ends. We are now afraid of anyone that might be, or even looks, Muslim. Yesterday a cab driver was stabbed after being asked if he was a Muslim. When he responded that he was the passenger attacked him. It is being called an anti-Muslim hate crime.

Fear! That's what it's all about. Is Obama a Muslim? Be afraid. Are anchor babies and illegal immigrants going to harm our standard of living? Be afraid. Is gay marriage going to ruin the institution of marriage? Be afraid. And when we act out of fear, unfortunately, we often act irrationally. Logic, common sense, thinking -- they go out the window.

I read again Pastor Morton's words if we have lost their fear takes over. Bin Laden need never again terrorize us for we are doing that to ourselves when we live in fear.

Perhaps it is also unbelief that is working at us. What we need is to believe again. We need to believe in ourselves. We need to believe in the rightness of our beliefs and values. We need to believe again that freedom of religion just as freedom of speech, freedom of the press, or even the right to keep and bear arms, are what set us apart and give us the ultimate and most powerful strength.

I pray that our American values and trust in the strength of our diversity will keep us free.

Does This Scare You?

No, not the event- the attempt to stop it.

The organizers of a Muslim day of prayer scheduled to take place Friday in front of the U.S. Capitol have come under attack from some conservative Christians....
[T]his week, some conservative Christians have called the event a threat to Christian values... [warning] that the service is "part of a well-defined strategy to Islamize American society and replace the Bible with the Koran, the cross with the Islamic crescent and the church bells with the Athan [the Muslim call to prayer]."
--from WaPo as reported at Pew Forum

Does it appear as if, in trying to maintain some "American" values, they are willing to take a stand that they would condemn if it were taken against them? Does it appear that in order to save our American freedom of religion, we have to destroy it?

{Shivers}