IT MATTERS!
Michael Brown matters. Treyvon Martin matters. Yazidis matter. It matters that Matthew Shephard was left to die hanging over a barged wire fence in Wyoming because he was gay.
It matters that a seven-year-old boy from Honduras whom I met last week crossed the border unaccompanied into the U.S. He was picked up by U.S. Border Patrol officers. He was with a group of mostly teenagers. He is now enrolled in a procedure that will almost certainly lead to his deportation.
It matters that some people serving in the U.S. Congress and some voters in my country don't think it is important to make sure nobody, especially no child, goes to bed hungry because food is unaffordable for a family. It matters that some people in Congress don't think it is important for every citizen to have affordable health care. It matters that a member of Congress whose base annual salary is $174,000 plus generous benefits objects to raising the minimum wage paid to U.S. workers to something above $7.50 an hour.
It matters that the United Methodist Church Book of Discipline declares that homosexuality is inconsistent with the Christian Gospel and that the church uses the statement as a reason for denying LGBT people the same access to participation in the life of the church that is allowed to others. It matters that women are excluded from the Roman Catholic priesthood.
Some people say, “It’s no problem,” when I thank them for some kindness or service done. I don’t know exactly what it means. We used to say “You’re welcome,” which is, I guess, what is meant by the no problem response; but the suggestion that somehow there had been a problem that has been solved muddies the linguistic waters. Sometimes I hear myself saying, “It doesn’t matter,” which often doesn’t relate at all to whatever has happened; but I don’t like the sound of it. Almost everything that happens to people matters.
1 comment:
You've hit the bullseye once again, Brother. Sometimes before reading
your blog, I like to view your photos du jour and try to understand how
they are related. Picture #1 (the bramble) immediately made me think
of Jackson Pollack and his drip painting style. The prickly nature of the
other photos might represent all the thorny situations bombarding us
in recent days.
You bundled most of my wonderings into a well-articulated statement on what
matters to thinking, caring people in my small slice of this country and the world.
History is replete with periods of chaos that preceded change. Does the arc of
history truly bend slowly toward betterment? Being reasonably awake and aware
during the past 50 years puts my imagination into both hope and panic. What
will be the realities 50 years from today? For good or for ill, change is afoot.
I'm usually optimistic to the point of being labeled Pollyanna. Having recently
turned 70, I have begun to ponder a lot of things. My usual positive outlook on
most things has changed much like the muscles in my butt. Both are sagging.
Going to the gym may not restore my glutes, but it seems to be slowing down
their descent. Your blogs may not change my world, but they definitely improve
my outlook on things in it. I need both the gym and your blogs to slow down my
"droops".
I'm embracing an old label (Ben Quixote) once given to me by a friend. Jerral,
keep blogging your fight against all the pricks and thorny situations in this fucked
up world. I remain encouraged by the honesty in the expression of your passions.
I love all that makes you YOU.
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