This blog posting is a shameless paraphrasing Richard Rhor’s meditation today – I hope it’s ok w/him! You can find his work at the Center for Action and Contemplation. https://cac.org/
All too often, governments become rigid and need to be revived, reformed, and reborn.
When governments become machines more than movements, it’s a sign that they must shake off the historical and cultural calcifications so they can continue evolving as a useful servant of the people. Just as in our own lives, growth is never in a straight line; it is often three steps forward and two steps backward.
This year, when so much decency has been lost in government, it is a good time to again rebuild our people driven democratic ideals “from the bottom up.” Rather than coming from those in power at the top, the most effective and lasting change happens at the grass-roots level, led by those who are on the “edge of the inside” and are not afraid to shake and challenge the status quo; and are not afraid of those that aim to destroy the goodness of responsible government by deconstructing it for their own self gains.
I hope in 2018 we (re?)gain the strength to mend the breach between the world as it usually is (Power) and the world as it should and could be (Love). Both love and power are the necessary building blocks of an empathetic, caring government. Love utterly redefines the nature of power. If it is true that power corrupts and destroys, love respects and builds up.
Power without love is mere brutality, and love without power is only the sentimentality of private lives disconnected from the Whole. Goodness in its fullness holds power and love together, creating new hope and healing for the world.
As this year draws to a close, may we go and grow forward as breach-menders, restoring the places in which Goodness and decency have become hidden or misrepresented.
Have courage and be tender. #RESIST