Last week I traveled to Washington DC to visit a friend and attend a concert. This was only my second time in the Capital, the first being very brief, so we did some of the tourist stops. We went to the Air and Space Museum where I touched a moon rock and saw spacecraft, the American History Museum where we saw the flag that inspired “the Star Spangled Banner,” and we waited in line and received the hottest tickets in town, to the National Museum of African American History and Culture.
This is an amazing museum, and yet it is not easy on the heart. The history and legacy of oppression is something that seems beyond comprehension to my 37 year old brain. We hope, of course, that if faced with similar situations, we would do better. But honestly it’s hard to know for sure what we might do if the whole culture around you has constructed and fiercely defends these norms.
My friend and I pondered as we walked along the Mall afterward if there are things we have accepted as part of ‘normal’ now that in 100 years will seem reprehensible. It’s a big question with no easy answers.
This morning I awoke to the news that Germany is close to legalizing same-sex marriage and this month marked the 50th anniversary of Loving v. Virginia which invalidated laws prohibiting interracial marriage in the US. We have certainly come a long way in the quest for it to be OK for people to be who they are and love who the love. Laws are important, but they don’t change culture, and there are still too many who feel the sting of oppression. The work is not done.
I could make a big ol’ list of the places we fall short, but you know at least some of them, and that’s not really the point of my writing this. Because we can easily get overwhelmed by all the stuff happening and even feel paralyzed by not knowing where to start to make a change.
That is something I can give some clues on. But I must warn you, once you know, it’s hard to un-know. Ready?
The most important thing you can do is to move more and more into alignment with the truth of your spiritual being. Seem simple? It is in concept, but a lifetime of steps in practice.
The rationale is that as you become more in-tune with your deeper truth, you will see the connections you have with all of the humanity. As this happens, you will notice and correct ways that you have behaved that have been less than kind/inclusive/fair/etc. When you hear of injustices, you will find in the stillness of prayer and meditation what right action to take in response.
You cannot fix everything; instead we must go deeper, deeper into ourselves and deeper into the issues that are alive for us. In this age of information, it is so simple to go online for the answers and to throw money at a problem. And there are plenty of worthy causes to send your money too. But action is more than that.
How are you willing to show up, in your day to day interactions and choices to truly honor the humanity and spirit of each person you come across? What judgements or assumptions do you have that might not be true or fair? Once you ask these sometimes uncomfortable questions, what are you willing to do to change it? How are you willing to be God in action and not just talk about it?
Just as there have been plenty of people throughout our history who have perpetuated or allowed others to be treated as less than, there too have been many who have stood up, at great personal risk, for others to have physical, emotional, spiritual, and cultural freedom and equality. This is the theme of all the museums I visited and the biggest lesson too. As individuals and as a world, we must continue to examine where we fall short of expressing our oneness with all, then do what we can and must to right it.
It may seem too big, however the spiritual strength to do what is yours to do is within you now and always, ever a conscious moment away.