presidential election

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.  

Waiting to Exhale

/ Lauri Ann Lumby / 3 Comments

At the risk of becoming political, I must acknowledge the palpable collective energy of angst. For myself, this angst is presenting itself as a sense of caution along with a need to draw inward and sequester myself from the world, the news, other human beings, really any sort of engagement. When life requires that I do go out into the world, I feel the collective trepidation while also witnessing an increase in erratic and even violent behavior in my fellow human beings. Those who are empathic as I am have turned inward and become quiet. When speaking politically, it is in hushed, almost secretive tones. No one wants to utter the unthinkable. Everyone – no matter their political affiliation – seems to be afraid.

Beyond the outward symptoms related to politics and the current election cycle is the feeling of having been put on hold. I am not alone in this. For so many of us who have spent the last many years of our lives working for the betterment of our world, those missions have come to a halt. They have either run themselves out or come to a screeching halt. Inwardly, there is no motivation of inspiration left to drive our so-called missions. As one friend recently put it, “it feels like we are waiting in the wings to see what happens.”  EXACTLY! 

We are waiting. We’ve done what we could for ourselves and for humanity. As it relates to the election, we have cast our vote. Now we wait. We wait for the results and the fallout therein (my sense is that no matter the results, there will be a kind of fallout). We wait for our initial reaction to the results, then we will seek our hearts for an appropriate (preferably non-violent) response. Perhaps our response will be silence. Perhaps we will rage. We won’t know until we get there.  In the meantime, we are holding our breaths and hoping for the best.

My hope, no matter the outward result, is that LOVE and COMPASSION wins.

Sequestered and Waiting to Exhale

/ Lauri Ann Lumby / 2 Comments

I’m writing today as a kind of “energy report” but I’m not sure these are even the proper words.  More accurately, I’m writing to share some deep observations of what seems to be happening for those of us who are here to be and share Love in the world.

This may not be universal, but I know for myself and those with whom I am in close contact, we have been sequestered. This is not surprising considering we are in the middle of an eclipse portal between the lunar eclipse on March 25th and the upcoming full solar eclipse on April 8th.  This is a big deal eclipse for the US as it makes a wide swath across the nation and will be visible across much of it.

This sequestering feels deep, quiet, and still. For myself, I haven’t had much to do but be. Actually, it’s been glorious. I’ve been living my favorite kind of life – private, silent, gentle, with lots of time for reading, creating, learning, praying, and just being. We even got socked in last night by a HUGE snowstorm that effectively closed most of Wisconsin. Hey, I will never be disappointed with a snowday where I get to stay home, do nothing, and be cozy.

But there’s much more to this sequestering than snowdays. While we are being sequestered, set apart, told to stay home and stay put, while we’re perhaps being deprived of anything related to doing or making things happen, the world out there is about to LOSE ITS SHIT!

The two biggies that draw my attention: The war in Gaza. The US Presidential election.

I’m not going into details because if you’ve been paying attention, you know.

It feels like the universe is holding its breath and we are holding ours with it as it all seems like a powder keg is about to go off.  And go off it will. These conflicts need to come to a head, and they will. Two metaphorical representations of that which has never served and which desperately needs to come to an end.

So we wait. We watch. We take note. We pay attention. BUT WE CANNOT be emotionally involved. We must stand back as objective witnesses to paradigms in their death throes, because WHEN THE SHIT HITS THE FAN, we have to be here, ready and able to step forward in whatever way we are called. 

Until then, we wait, sequestered, holding our breaths, and waiting for the moment we can exhale. It’s back to work for me tomorrow, but today I think I’ll be spending the majority of the day in prayer.

I’m interested in hearing how you are experiencing this sequestering.  Please share in the comment section below! 

The Rumbling

/ Lauri Ann Lumby / Leave a comment

Yesterday (3/7/24) somewhere around the time the (American) State of the Union Address was to be delivered by President Biden, I was hit with an enormously powerful wave of grief. As I sensed this was not my own grief, I posted a quandary on Facebook, “Anyone else just get hit with a wall of grief.” The overwhelming and universal response:  YES! I did what I normally do in the face of disembodied impersonal grief – I prayed.

This morning, the grief was replaced by what I can only call “The Rumbling” (reference Attack on Titan – IYKYK!).  I felt the rumbling like a disturbance – a collective energy of both anxiety, and anger. It felt/feels like the stirring of something very unpleasant, even catastrophic. If you are familiar with the manga or anime series Attack on Titan, you know of what I speak.

This rumbling seems to be made up of years/centuries of anger, frustration, resentment, of needs going unmet, feelings of being silenced and unseen. This does not feel like the same kind of frustration often experienced by women or people of color, instead, this feels like an underbelly kind of energy – human beings who have historically felt rejected, unseen, and unheard, but who have not had the support to find healthy ways of expressing these needs or of getting those needs met. These are the humans who have languished on the fringe of economic demographics, and who, it seems, have never been given the chance to get a leg up in this world. These are the humans that instead of finding a way through the perceived (or real) obstacles, are seeking someone to blame. They believe it is someone outside of them who is at fault for their plight, and they are seeking a way to get back at those they perceive as having it better than them.

These folks have been given a mouthpiece, and his name is Donald Trump. Throughout his presidency and in the years since, he has given voice to all the foul vitriol of the projections assumed by his followers. In their minds, it must be the fault of women, people of color, homosexuals, non-Christians, immigrants, etc. that they are not getting their needs met.  DT is providing an example that they can follow in speaking their vile hatred of anyone that might have it better than they.

At the same time, DT has demonstrated to the world that wealth makes one immune to the law and the consequences of despicable and illegal behavior. The very wealthy of the world, and the wealthy wannabes, see in DT permission to be as horrible as they can possibly be for the sake of their money, and that there is no consequence to their actions.

I’m not exactly sure how it happened, but Donald Trump has taken control of the Republican party, distorted their once noble beliefs, and turned it into a platform for hatred and greed. Another four years of Trump will be the end of the American empire as we have come to know it….but he isn’t the cause of the end.

Before we point all fingers of blame at Donald Trump, the democrats are not innocent. The current administration’s continued participation (by supplying money and arms) in the genocide in Gaza and in continuing to ally with Netanyahu’s Israel, they have proven that the war machine, and the money to be made through it, are more important than the loss of innocent lives. The youth of our nation are rightly disillusioned by the White House rhetoric as it relates to Gaza. These are the youth whose votes will be lost if Biden’s campaign doesn’t do something to right this wrong.

Where this leads us is to the fact that neither of the candidates for president are appealing – for a variety of reasons. What this further illuminates is the very real fact that the form of governance and the vehicles through which our governmental leadership is chosen is flawed – a flaw that was present from the very beginning.

The American government was NEVER formed to support the voice of the majority. Neither was it formed to provide a platform for the minority. Instead, the representative government was created solely to meet the needs of wealthy, white, landowners. Period. Those who benefit from our current form of governance will argue this point. But the face remains, the US government was never set up to meet the needs of an increasingly diverse population of people made up of every race, gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, and belief.

It might be time for a change.

Beyond the circus clowns, and those making a big noise, is the true source of The Rumbling. It’s not about DT or JB. It’s not about the people for whom they speak, or who they believe they represent. Instead, it is about a system that was flawed from the beginning.  The clown show that we are witnessing is not the cause, but is instead a symptom of a system that is collapsing under its own weight – a system that has proven itself unsustainable. As such, at the end of the day, I’m not sure if the winner of the 2024 presidential race matters. Whether it is Biden, Trump, or some other character, the empire is collapsing, and we are being given the opportunity to witness its collapse.

It is really surreal to be witness to the collapse of an empire.

(PS I wonder if the Roman’s knew what they were witnessing as it was happening or if it was only in hindsight that they understood?)