uncertainty
My newfound church family held a meditation service last night to help us help each other deal with the results of our recent election. It did help. Candles always help. Tears help. Just knowing you are not alone helps.
I told my son to keep his head down and his mouth shut at school. He didn't. He talked back, discussed, gave his opinion. He told me he had no problems, only once did he feel any venom and it was sprayed generally not targeted. He told me 'I have to stand up for what I think is right.'
Out of the mouth of babes. Or young men approaching adulthood with grace and thoughtfulness and more courage than I possess.
At the service the minister told us that we have to fight to change bad behavior, not condemn bad people. I am not sure about that part. That is something we do as parents--our children are not bad, just exhibiting bad behaviors, which we need to point out, and help them change. Does the same hold for adults? At what point is there accountability? When do we say, here, you did this bad thing, and you are all right with it. Own it and all its consequences.
What happens when the consequences don't fall on those people but on other people, over there?
Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard.
H. L. Mencken was from Baltimore and we toured his house once. I think he would not have been surprised at this turn of events. Disappointed, but not surprised.
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I told my son to keep his head down and his mouth shut at school. He didn't. He talked back, discussed, gave his opinion. He told me he had no problems, only once did he feel any venom and it was sprayed generally not targeted. He told me 'I have to stand up for what I think is right.'
Out of the mouth of babes. Or young men approaching adulthood with grace and thoughtfulness and more courage than I possess.
At the service the minister told us that we have to fight to change bad behavior, not condemn bad people. I am not sure about that part. That is something we do as parents--our children are not bad, just exhibiting bad behaviors, which we need to point out, and help them change. Does the same hold for adults? At what point is there accountability? When do we say, here, you did this bad thing, and you are all right with it. Own it and all its consequences.
What happens when the consequences don't fall on those people but on other people, over there?
Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard.
H. L. Mencken was from Baltimore and we toured his house once. I think he would not have been surprised at this turn of events. Disappointed, but not surprised.
This entry was originally posted at http://vjs2259.dreamwidth.org/405657.html. Please comment there using OpenID.