Creating a New World

No One is Coming to Save Us

/ Lauri Ann Lumby / 2 Comments

One of the biggest lies of patriarchal institutions is that they are here to help and/or save us. As we are witnessing firsthand in yesterday’s flurry of executive orders, populations that once believed they had our government’s protection, no longer do.

Whereas we may be tempted to cast a finger of blame upon certain governmental officials for depriving us of what we once believed to be rights, the fault does not lie with them alone. In the simplest of ways, they are simply acting as patriarchal institutions often do – keeping human beings enslaved to the whims of the powerful (and fearful) few.

Power, as we see it in patriarchal institutions, is not built on strength. Instead, their power is based in fear – fear over losing what they value the most – money – measured both in wealth and possessions. In order to keep or grow their perceived power, someone else has to suffer. Like hungry locusts, patriarchal institutions gobble up everything around them with no thought for the survival or thriving of others.

In our culture, patriarchal institutions include: governance, banking, corporations, healthcare, education, technology, and religion. All of these exist to manipulate and control the general population for the sake of their own selfish needs. They do this by keeping us afraid while also promising that we could not survive without them. We need them for our wellbeing and in exchange for our servitude, our needs will be provided for, and we will be safe and protected.

Bullshit!  Not a single one of these institutions actually has our highest good in mind. Instead, they seek profit over well-being, and power over advancement of the species. To this end, they want to keep us ignorant and unaware of the deceptions behind the mask of their false promises.

No one is coming to save us. In fact, the only one who can save us is ourselves. It is by facing the lies of the dying patriarchy that we will find our salvation. Once we see past the lies and stop waiting and expecting our government (for example) to have our highest good in mind, only then can we begin to save ourselves. We save ourselves by freeing ourselves of these expectations, grieving the loss of our former dependency on the outside “savior,” and then doing the work of caring for ourselves. In caring for ourselves, we are free to be who we are made to be – unique, special, courageous, and authentically/inwardly strong. It is here where true power resides. From this place of inner power, we are able to step forward as our own savior and gather with others who have also saved themselves and who are now ready to help others find the way.

Neither governance, religion, education, healthcare, or any other patriarchal institution is here to support or guarantee our highest good. It is for this reason (among others) that we must do the work of saving ourselves.

Hope in the Perceived Darkness

/ Lauri Ann Lumby / 2 Comments

Donald J. Trump has officially been sworn in as the 47th president of the United States. Across social media platforms, the reactions have been either silence or sentiments of despair and hopelessness. I haven’t yet seen celebration, but I’ve definitely seen grief.

As for myself, I have spent too many years and too much time in deep prayer over the role Donald Trump is playing in the unfolding human drama to get upset. Once I got over the initial shock in 2016 of his victory over Hillary Clinton (let’s be honest, Hillary was less than a perfect candidate), I prayed, “Please help me understand the larger purpose at work here.” I’ve shared before what I was given to understand, but I’ll share it again in case you missed it:

Donald Trump is playing the role of the Angel of Death.

Biblically, the Angel of Death arrived at crossroads times to bring liberation to the enslaved by destroying the power of the ruling class. The Angel of Death is perceived as benevolent from the perspective of those being liberated, and malevolent by those who are losing their power.

In the short term, it may appear as if a Trump presidency will deprive some of freedoms they once had while elevating the status of the ruling class, but there is so much more at play here than what is in our immediate sight.

Stepping back……way back…..away from the media propaganda, political rhetoric, and those who benefit from creating (perceived) division….is a 10,000 year old human experiment coming to an end. This experiment began with fear and ended with patriarchal power. This experiment has reached its limits and will result in the extinction of humankind if equilibrium is not restored.

Donald Trump is being called to play a role in the restoration of that equilibrium.  In the short term, and through eyes conditioned by division, we may not like what we see. To see evidence of this restoration we will have to look at things through a new set of eyes.  Some of this evidence we may already see. For some, we will have to look beyond what is right in front of us to a time that we do not yet know.

Hope and Trust are two words that may prove helpful as we navigate this transitory time.

Hope – not in that which is outside of us, in some person of perceived authority and power – but hope in ourselves. A big part of the dying system is the savior complex – the idea or illusion that there is someone outside of us who is going to save us. Instead, we are here to save ourselves. We are the hope we’ve been looking for.

Trust – in a bigger story at play. In the natural unfolding of the universe story. In a higher plan. In God (if that is your thing). But most importantly – Trust in yourself. Trust in the Love that you are. Trust that this Love has the power to not only transform yourself, but also has the power to transform the world.

As the Angel of Death, Donald Trump is helping to facilitate the destruction of all the institutions and systems that have benefitted from the conditioning that has left us feeling powerless. On the other side of this destruction, should we accept the invitation, is a world in which all of humanity is empowered to come forward with our own unique giftedness for the sake of our own fulfillment, and in service to the good of the all. This can only happen, however, if we have hope and trust in ourselves and believe in the power of Love.

By dividing we have been conquered.

By uniting we will be set free.

Contained Radiance: How Best to Serve Humanity in the Face of Collapse

/ Lauri Ann Lumby / 4 Comments

On Monday, January 20, 2025, Donald J. Trump will be sworn in for the second time as President of the United States. Whether you are hopeful or terrified in the face of another four years of Trump, the result will be the same.  The empire will continue to burn itself to the ground. President Trump may hinder or hasten that collapse – only time will tell.

In the meantime, we do the only thing we can do:

  • We hold space for that which is meant to occur.
  • We bear witness to the collapse.
  • We care for ourselves and our loved ones.
  • We observe our reactions and acknowledge the fears being triggered.
  • We do the work of healing and transforming our unhealed wounds,
  • Most importantly, we guard our energy and the precious spiritual gifts we’ve been given to help usher humanity through this collapse.

The collapse is happening with or without us. We cannot prevent it.  Neither can we stop it. Nor should we. The power of the patriarchy has run its course along with the hierarchical systems that have been established on fear, power, and control. We must allow the collapse so that something new may takes its place.

Yes, collapse is uncomfortable. Yes, it can be terrifying. Indeed, many will lose property, wealth, and even their lives as the world seeks to right itself. Yes, there will be sorrow and we will grieve these losses.

And there is nothing we can do about it. Instead, we are called to do something for ourselves.

The something we are called to do at this time, is to confront the holes in our soul that have been caused by all the ways and times that we have given our energy away in an effort to help, heal, or save, and that energy was either rejected or taken advantage of. The time of limitless giving in a culture that limitlessly takes, has come to an end. Instead, we are called to seal up the holes left behind from all the ways in which our energies and our sacred gifts have been misused.

This week, in working with my online community, I saw our souls as being held within a jar. For many, if not most, our jars are full of holes where our magic is being stolen from us or from where we are giving it away. It is time for us to seal those holes so that our magic might be safely contained. For every hole we seal, the light of the Divine within us gains power and grows in radiance. The goal is to seal every hole so that the light of the Divine within us might be safely contained so that it might better serve ourselves and our world – not as a commodity to be given or taken away, but as the radiant light of Love that just is – the light that not only transforms ourselves, but transforms our world.

It is through this contained radiance that we can best serve our world at this time. Guard and protect your energy. Draw it inward. Seal up the holes. And let your radiance shine.

Here: With and For You

/ Lauri Ann Lumby / Leave a comment

I spent yesterday with two of my besties. Over coffee, lunch, and a long walk, we chatted about each other’s lives, as friends will do. The greater part of the conversation, however, was around the events that are currently playing out in our world. Most pointedly, the transfer of power in American governance. The unanimous feelings were anxiety mixed with dread – not, as one might expect because of the individual coming into power – but because one can never know exactly what this individual might actually do. Words might say one thing. Actions might prove otherwise.

We are worried and anxious. Not just because of the transfer of power, but because of all that is unfolding at the hands of the human species. We are standing at a crossroads as a species and if you’re not anxious then you are either part of the problem, or not paying attention.

Never, it seems, have we been bombarded by so much chaos, uncertainty, anxiety, and dread. Nothing is as it once was.  Once-treasured institutions are collapsing. The world is either at-war or burning. We’ve been made to see the true corruption and evils hiding behind the masks of those individuals and institutions we once held as sacred.

For many, this constant bombardment has left us feeling emotionally and mentally as if we have suffered through a war. For those who are currently suffering through war, the impact is far greater.

The world as we have known it IS COLLAPSING, and we are being forced to bear witness to the collapse. We are made to experience the chaos and fear of collapse. The collapsing is ongoing and relentless, and we are left wondering, “what if any of this will remain?”

Perhaps nothing. Maybe not even ourselves. The reality of this brings us face to face with our own mortality and the possibility of death.

We are all suffering through the dying of what we have known. BUT, you need not do this journey alone. I am here – with you and for you. For sixty years I have been cultivating the resources and tools to restore myself to peace and resolve when the anxieties of the world become too great. If I can do this for myself, I can do this for you. Whether you are in need of a listening ear, or tools that you can use yourself to make it through this dying, I am here for you.

All you need to do is reach out. If you have my cell number, text me.  Otherwise, my email is lauri@lauriannlumby.com.  I am here as a source of support. We can meet one-on-one in my home, over the phone or via ZOOM. Wherever and however you are, DO NOT weather this journey alone. You have support. I am here with and for you.

With love,

Lauri

The Practice of Non-Interference

/ Lauri Ann Lumby / 2 Comments

The world is ruled by letting things take their course.

It cannot be ruled by interfering

(Tao Te Ching Verse 48)

  • The wildfires in California.
  • The genocide in Sudan.
  • The destruction of Gaza and Syria
  • The war in Ukraine
  • The aftermath of Hurricane Helene

These are just a few of the devastatingly destructive experiences that are in the forefront of our minds – all in some way brought about by the actions of human beings. We pray for those affected. We hold them in our thoughts. We wish, and hope, and plead for things to change so that the world might live in peace and humans might be safe from other people’s actions.

When we have the resources and the opportunity and it is within our power to do so, we take action – like my friends with The Beacon Network who have been boots on the ground providing help and support to those areas impacted by Hurricane Helene. Most of the time, and in most cases, however, there is literally nothing we can do. All we can do is stand back and watch these events unfold and perhaps grieve for those affected and hope these devastating experiences never come our way.

Grieving, and hoping, however, do nothing to ease the anxiety we feel over the suffering of others. Whether our anxiety is fear over the possibility that these kinds of events might find their way to us, or empathetic concern for those harmed, the impact is the same. We experience fear, unrest, worry, concern, and maybe even panic. In an attempt to calm our anxiety, we ruminate about all the ways we might protect ourselves from such disasters, how we might help those who have been harmed, we fixate on the terror that those who are facing these horrific events might be feeling. Again, none of this calms our anxiety. In fact, it likely makes it worse.

Fixating on the devastation others are experiencing or creating for themselves helps no one – lease of all ourselves, most of all those affected. All this misplaced worry does is cause us harm and prevents us from being present to what is around us and within our field of influence or control.

We cannot fix it. We cannot solve it. We could have done nothing to prevent it. We cannot save humanity from the devastation brought about by their own actions. As is true each and every day, the only one we can truly save is ourselves – and even that is debatable (when it is our time, it is our time, period!).

Soooooooooo, what do we do when humanity is destroying itself and the world along with them? We get out of the way.

I know!  I know!  I can hear the collective gasp, “How can we just stand back and watch the world go up in flame?”

This is where the wisdom of the ancients provides us some guidance and support:

From Ecclesiastes (3: 1-8):

There is a time for everything,
    and a season for every activity under the heavens:

 a time to be born and a time to die,
    a time to plant and a time to uproot,
     a time to kill and a time to heal,
    a time to tear down and a time to build,
     a time to weep and a time to laugh,
    a time to mourn and a time to dance,
     a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
    a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
     a time to search and a time to give up,
    a time to keep and a time to throw away,
     a time to tear and a time to mend,
    a time to be silent and a time to speak,
     a time to love and a time to hate,
    a time for war and a time for peace.

From Jesus (MT 6: 25-27):

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?  Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?  Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?

From HH the Dalai Lama:

“If a problem can be solved, there is no use worrying about it. If it can’t be solved, worrying will do no good.”

From the Quran (Surah Al-Imran Ayat 173):

“Sufficient for us is Allah, and [He is] the best Disposer of affairs.”

From the Tao Te Ching (vs 48):

In the pursuit of Tao, every day something is dropped.

Less and less is done

Until non-action is achieved.

When nothing is done, nothing is left undone.

The world is ruled by letting things take their course.

It cannot be ruled by interfering.

In short, the wisdom teachers know through their own personal experience that the closer one draws to Source (God, Tao, Presence, Truth, Love, etc.), the more we are able to meet the reality of the human experience from a place of equanimity. We are able to ride the joy, the sorrow, the celebration, and tragedy without getting caught up in any of it. In the face of tragedy, especially, we experience our initial human and empathetic reaction (anxiety, fear, worry), but we are then able to walk ourselves back and see the tragedy through the wider lens of the human experience and recognize that this too serves a higher purpose. Maybe the tragedy begins to wake people up. Perhaps it calls them into action. Maybe it invites them to make a change in their own life. Or quite possibly, they see it as something over which they have no influence or control, so they are able to let it go and experience the restoration of peace.

As human beings, survival is our first instinct, so it is natural to feel anxiety or worry in the face of devastation. Equally is it natural for our instinctual response to drive us to seek out ways to keep ourselves safe. It is wisdom, however, that allows us to move beyond those initial instinctual reactions and ask ourselves over what we actually have influence or control. If nothing, then the invitation is to let it go, trusting the natural unfolding of the human experience while turning back to ourselves which in truth is the only place we can actually know peace.

Into the Wilderness provides a process and protocol to support you in cultivating inner peace, non-attachment, and to heal from the conditioning that drives us to try to interfere in those things that are actually outside of our control.

  • Online course
  • At your own pace
  • Pay what you are able.
Learn more HERE.

Finding Our Way to Peace

/ Lauri Ann Lumby / 3 Comments

We are conditioned in this world to look outside of ourselves for the things we need. In some cases, this is rightly so – food, clothing, and shelter for example. But for the things we need most – contentment, joy, love, and peace – we can only find these within.

Finding our way to peace is solely an inside job. Whereas we may be freer to access the peace that resides within us through a change in the external circumstances of our lives, it is only from within that we can find and deepen that peace. It is also in cultivating our own inner peace that we are able to access the inner resources we need to discern our readiness and make external change when called for.

While peace may only be found within, we continue to seek outside for that peace. We wait and hope for the world and the people around us to change so that we might know peace. We cast our gaze outward for evidence of the manifestation of our prayers for peace. We sit in expectation for the day in which our prayers for peace will be made real.

But the truth remains – those who do not know inner peace cannot be a part of manifesting peace on earth. Conflict and war exist because human beings are not at peace. If human beings knew peace within themselves, then there would no longer be hardship, hunger, poverty, homelessness, or war and the needs of every human being would be met – not just so they might survive, but so they might thrive.

Our own search for peace, however, does not depend on any other human knowing peace. Neither can any other human being infringe on our ability to dwell within (or at least return to) that deep well of inner peace. Our peace is independent of any one else’s peace or lack thereof. We are the sole creator of our own peace.

Creating that peace, however, doesn’t happen overnight. Neither is it a simple task. In order to know the peace that dwells within and to know it even more deeply, we must embark on a deep and arduous journey of inner work.

First, we must create the space in our lives through which we might glimpse this peace. For me, this is my daily spiritual practice. We must create the time and space for our practice and remain diligent and persistent in it.

Then we need Grace. I cannot say how it will happen for you, but for me, Grace arrived in the midst of my practice and showed me a glimpse into my Union with Source. In this experience, everything fell away except for the light of this Union. In this I experienced contentment beyond understanding. This moment of Grace was but a moment, but through that one encounter I have remained motivated to keep going.

The “going” is the arduous part of the journey. The journey becomes our practice and life itself shows us all the places within where we have forgotten Union with Source (what I call “Love”). All comes up for review. The review is ongoing and never-ending. Over and over and in increasingly subtle ways, we come up against all the places where we have forgotten that we are Love – forgetfulness brought forth through our conditioning, past wounds, traumas, etc. In becoming aware of these wounds, we are given an opportunity to heal them. In acknowledging the wounds and inviting their healing, we are again met with Grace, for we are not healing our own wounds, they are being healed for us. Our simple task is to say yes to the healing.

Healing the wounds may be simple, but showing up again and again for them to be healed is not. Our egos and our need to control (a function of the ego) get in the way. We often become impatient with the journey and wonder if it will ever end. It will not – but we must remain diligent, disciplined, and persistent in our task. Yes, we can quit, but as many have discovered, the Universe finds ways to drag us back to the task.

When we are called to know peace, we don’t really have a choice but to continue the search. We continue day in and day out, no matter our mood.  We become angry, frustrated, disheartened, and despairing, but we continue. We continue because our soul will not give us rest, for the rest we ultimately seek can only be found within and the world provides an infinite number of distractions – including the desire for peace in our world.

Human beings will never know peace until we find our own peace within – and that peace begins with me.

Now say this to yourself: “That Peace Begins with Me,” then find and be that peace.

The journey toward peace begins with a single step: starting and maintaining a spiritual practice.

In this course, you will learn what a spiritual practice is, dispel myths around meditation, and be instructed in a myriad of spiritual practices so that you might find the one or two that speak to you and begin your practice.

Learn more and enroll here.

Seeing Beyond Appearances

/ Lauri Ann Lumby / 1 Comment

As 2024 draws to a close, I have grown especially fond of the memes that identify this past year as one of the most difficult ever!  I don’t need to get into the details for you to know what I mean. While things could have been a whole lot worse, 2024 was a year I would not choose to relive!  I’m weary. The whole world seems weary.

Despite what we might see on the surface of things: the conflict, the wars, the politicking, perceived division, etc.; a much greater movement is happening. That which has been born out of fear and rooted in power and control is breaking apart. On many days, it may not look like it, but it is.

Perhaps the best way to see this breaking apart is to look at the political conflicts in our world, in particular, the men with large faces and even louder voices who seem to be leading us all toward our own destruction. Interestingly, those who are the most boisterous and who garner the most attention are those who perfectly represent and embody the dying system. These are the men who have thrived in a patriarchal and hierarchical system and who are clinging and grasping after the control they believe they need to maintain their power. Damn the rest of humanity, what matters to them is their power.

While we may look upon these men as our enemies, what if instead, they are the vehicles through which the dying world will finally die so that a new world might come forth. What if, as my mom used to say, “the kitchen has to get dirtier before it can become clean.” What if what seems to be humanity moving backward, we are simply being pulled back like a sling shot so we can be hurled to our new futures?

Things are not always as they appear to be. As human beings, we see our lives and our world through the limitations of our judgment which has been formed by our preferences, previous conditioning, and societal expectations. In order to survive the breaking apart of what has been and the temporary discomfort of that breaking, we have to see through different eyes. We have to lay aside our own judgments and perceptions and allow for another view. For me, this means turning to my highest self (what some might call God) and asking to see the truth beyond the illusion. In every instance where I have asked for help in seeing so that I might understand, I have been surprised at what I’m shown and in that surprise, I have found comfort, along with the courage to keep on existing while the entire world seems to be falling apart.  

As we timidly move toward 2025, let us be open to seeing beyond appearances and to the Love that is ultimately guiding it all.

Seeing through the Lens of Love

The Order of the Magdalene Formation Program provides you with resources, knowledge, and tools to support you in your own journey of self-discovery and empowerment. Through this eighteen-month training program, you will:

  • Become rooted in scholarly and intuitive knowledge of the Magdalene, her role in the ministry of Jesus, and her example in the ongoing mission of Love.
  • Discern your own unique giftedness and how you are called to use these gifts for the sake of your own fulfillment and in service to the world.
  • Learn practical skills for uncovering and healing all that separates you from Love and from living as your most authentic self.
  • Rediscover ancient knowledge and practices for self-healing.
  • Cultivate and deepen your contemplative life while growing in contentment and compassion.
Enroll in the FREE Preview Course

Created and facilitated by Lauri Ann Lumby

64 weeks of content

7 individual courses

6 private mentoring sessions

UFO’s Aliens Disclosure

/ Lauri Ann Lumby / Leave a comment

One of this week’s top headlines has been about multiple UFO sightings over New Jersey and other places along the Eastern seaboard.  My response to the UFO’s is “Mothership, take me home.” I know I’m not alone in these sentiments.

Many people I know have feelings of not being from here – of not fitting in, of not being like other humans, having sensitivities, etc. that others seem not to have. It sometimes gives me comfort to believe I’m not from here – explaining why I feel so often out of place. I have offered this suggestion to others who have found these thoughts equally comforting.

But what if it’s true?  What if we’re really not from here? What if we were sent here from another dimension, planet, plane, galaxy, universe so that we might help to save human beings from themselves? On many days, it seems like this might be the case.

I would consider this nothing more than a comforting fantasy if I haven’t had sooooo many otherwise unexplainable encounters and experiences of otherworldly beings. This full-disclosure is not something I often share, but it seems with the increasing talk of aliens and UFO’s it might be time.

I have had enough first-hand encounters with non-human entities that I am fully convinced that we are not alone. Further, I am certain that many of us are not fully-human, but are hybrids of some kind from other worlds, perhaps sent here to show humanity that there is another way of being. Case in point: A friend of mine recently shared with me well-documented military proof of other-worldly intervention in what could have been catastrophic human actions – cases where (for example) nuclear arms were inactivated by other worldly means. Don’t take my word for it – do a simple Google search using the terms: UFO. Northern tier. Nuclear Silos.

Evidence like this suggests to me that other-worldly beings are not something to fear but are here and involved for the sake of our higher good. The other-worldly encounters I have had further support this belief. Yes, they were startling experiences, and the appearance of some of these “beings” was so dramatically different than our own that they initially caused me fear.  Once I got past the fear, however, I was able to be open to their reason for reaching out and could receive their messages to me and to humanity. Sometimes (often) the messages are less of a message and more akin to a download – where I feel the energy of information, knowledge, even healing being pumped into me. Sometimes, their appearance was simply to communicate protection and support. I have since learned to welcome their appearance in the same way I would the appearance of an ancestor or an angel. Who’s to say, maybe aliens are the angels the bible and the Quran have spoken of for centuries.

The way in which these encounters have surfaced for me, further convince me that it’s not likely “the mothership” will be showing up as any sort of physical craft. Instead, these beings seem to have the ability to move through dimensions and planes – showing up at the foot of my bed, in my dreams, during meditation, and in any other number of times where the veil between worlds is thin. Sometimes, the veil isn’t thin, they just show up, wanting to be known.  Only once have I seen/encountered a “ship,” but that may simply have been me seeing into a room that is in reality light years or universes away.

Additionally, I have had a few experiences that could be interpreted as alien abduction but as is true of all alien counters, there’s no way to prove it as the only witness there has ever been is myself.

Are aliens and UFO’s simply a function of our imagination? Perhaps we will never know. For myself, it doesn’t matter if my encounters were objectively true. They felt real enough to me to give them credit and to experience the benefits that have come from said-encounters.

To all the aliens among us, including ourselves, thank you for whatever support you have been and continue to bring to humanity. It’s comforting to know we’re not doing this alone and that perhaps there is something out there (or within us) that will keep us from doing further harm to ourselves.

Please, may it be so!

Transcending Division

/ Lauri Ann Lumby / 2 Comments

Recently I spoke of the perceived division that America has been caught up in for these past many years and the opportunities we have to transcend that division, find common ground, and work together for the good of the all.  To do this, however, we first have to heal the division between us. This may sound like an impossible task, but from personal experience, I can attest that moving beyond division (especially political) is not only possible, the effort is profoundly worthwhile.

Let me share with you two stories from my own life that demonstrate this point…

Before sharing these stories, I should probably share where I tend to stand politically. Based on my social media and other public accounts, some would likely think of me as a bleeding-heart liberal. On some policies, maybe. But in truth, I tend to be moderate-to-progressive while being somewhat left leaning. In an electoral college system, this means that for the past many elections, I have cast my vote for the democratic candidate. That is not to say I wouldn’t vote for a candidate of another party, if their policies were in line with my beliefs and vision of what our country can be. It’s just that for most of my adult life, the democratic platform has more closely aligned with my beliefs.

I should also add that I have many friends and family members, who I deeply love and respect, who tend to vote differently than I. Knowing these individuals and what is important to them, I can (for the most part) understand their choices. Even if I don’t understand them, I can honor their choice. Their vote doesn’t make me love them any less.

Love, as it turns out, transcends division.

Now on to the stories that demonstrate some simple ways in which we can begin to move beyond division as a culture and find common ground…

The first happened sometime after the Parkland school shooting. As you likely remember, there was a loud cry for a ban on guns along with an equally loud cry in defense of the second amendment. In the midst of the outcry, not being a gun owner myself, and really knowing nothing about guns, I reached out to a good friend who both a gun owner and a strong advocate for second amendment rights. I asked if we could meet and discuss all of the above. I reached out to this friend because I knew he would provide me with intelligent, well-researched, and historically accurate information. I also knew that this would be a civil conversation.

It was. He instructed me on the history and original intention of the second amendment. He explained the current gun laws and all the protections therein. We discussed guns for hunting, assault weapons, and handguns – and where they fit into the discussion. In the end, I felt I could make an informed decision about where I stand on the topic of gun ownership. As it turns out, my friend and I discovered we had arrived at a similar position, perhaps with a few nuances, but that we could honor those differences between us.

Perceived division arriving at common ground.

The second conversation was more recent as it related to the 2024 presidential election. I knew of several family members and friends who voted differently than I did. In the midst of a friendly chat, I learned of another friend who had voted in that way. This is one of my closest male friends and I wasn’t surprised about his vote based on his background and life experiences, but I was curious, so I invited him into a conversation. I wanted to know what inspired him to vote the way he did, and he wanted to know what motivated me to vote the way I did. We had a respectful and informative conversation without judgment or condemnation. We both wanted to understand the other because we are friends and care about each other – and that’s what friends do. I think I can speak for both of us in saying that while we chose differently, we could understand why the other chose the way they did and honor that choice.

Differences don’t have to end a friendship.

Admittedly, both examples were conversations that happened between trusted friends who were emotionally mature and could carry on a civil conversation without judgment or condemnation. No one was attempting to prove they were right or convince anyone of anything. I don’t know what a similar conversation would look like with a stranger or with one who appears to hold violent beliefs. If we ever want to heal the division that has been created and imposed between us, however, and work toward finding a common ground from which we can improve our lives, we have to start somewhere.  

WE are the Revolution

/ Lauri Ann Lumby / 2 Comments

Whereas I do not advocate for or support murder as a means of getting across a message; an interesting phenomenon has unfolded following the assassination of United Health CEO, Brian Thompson. (For the record, his death is a terrible tragedy. I would never joke about nor celebrate this murder!)

The phenomenon about which I speak is the overwhelming bipartisan outpouring of frustration over the abysmal state of the American healthcare system and the epic greed of the private insurance industry. The almost universal opinion seems to be that the only people whose needs are being met as it relates to healthcare are the CEO’s and stockholders of the for-profit insurance industry. It’s unfortunate that it took the murder of a corporate employee to awaken our collective rage, but for the first time in many years, Americans have found something upon which most (if not all) can agree.

In the frustration over healthcare, insurance, medications, etc. I suggest that we Americans have found common ground. What would happen if we set aside our perceived political differences and got real with the topics that actually matter TO ALL OF US:

  • The cost of healthcare.
  • Access to quality education.
  • Access to healthy food, clean air, and water.
  • The widening economic divide.
  • Adequate and affordable housing.
  • Personal and public safety.

We stand at the tipping point of the American experiment. In the past many years, the powers that thrive upon our dependence have pitted us against each other, and we have fallen for their trick. This division, they believe, is how they will continue to gain power. What they don’t realize is that we have begun to awaken. The outcry over the insurance industry is evidence of this awakening.

I am calling this a moment of hope, and a moment of invitation. We can continue to participate in the perceived division imposed upon us and remain in a state of imprisonment to the system, or we can come together in search of common ground and begin to work on behalf of that good.

When we step away from division and come together, then we will be the revolution the system fears and the one we’ve been seeking. We are that revolution!