Four Days and Counting

November 4th--I can hardly believe it is almost here. I will be so relieved. It's been way, way too long since the last time. Oh, I'm not talking about the Presidential election--no, nothing as grand as that. I'm talking about my mammogram. You know, that annual, supposedly, time when you go into the little room with the machine that squeezes your breasts flat while the nice nurse takes a picture? Don't get me wrong. I am THANKFUL that I have the wherewithal to go to a mammogram. I am grateful that I have a job and health insurance, and that such a service is available to me, even encouraged. But let's face it, the mammogram is right up there with a trip to the dentist. Not something I look forward to. In fact, I would rather go to the dentist. I have a friend who is going through radiation for breast cancer right now--the mammogram she had could very well have saved her life. And so I want to honor her and all of the other women out there who have faced this disease. And like my friend said, this disease, if caught early, is one of the most curable of cancers. Who am I to neglect my health because it is uncomfortable. I'll report back when I've actually made the appointment to get that other mandatory procedure when we turn 50. Oh, yes, that one.

Sharing the Wealth

Okay, so I don't know much about political systems, I can't remember half of the history I learned in school, but I do know that "sharing the wealth" is not a bad thing, especially when compared with "trickle down economics"--I'm not afraid that my piece of the pie is going to be eaten by some lazy person who doesn't deserve to get dessert. Since when did you have to deserve to eat?
It is shameful that we live in a country where so very many of us can't afford even the most basic health insurance. People have lost, or are losing, their jobs and their homes, not to mention any dreams of retirement. And yet we are told that "sharing the wealth" is a dirty, Socialist phrase. I like what Cornell West said on Bill Maher's "Real Time"--in a discussion of the term "social justice", Dr. West said "Social justice is what love looks like in public." Wow. Don't you just love someone who can sum it all up so beautifully? Dr. West, may I borrow your terminology? Can it be that Barak Obama shares the vision of Dr. West and many like him, that society would be a better place if there were more sharing of all kinds of wealth--we could all be a little more like Robin Hood, huh?

I Never Cease to Be Amazed

Autumn in the Pacific Northwest can be soggy, but not this season. Here we are at the end of October, and it feels more like October in the Southeast. Sun, that rare commodity in our corner of the world, has stuck around for several glorious days. As I ride the bus to work in the mornings, I hear people sitting around me sigh as we all contemplate the view from the Tacoma Narrows Bridge. This is why we live here, we tell ourselves, and each other, and anyone who visits here when the rain has settled in for the winter. "Oh, but you should see it when it's sunny. It's why we live here!" And the visitors nod their heads sagely--"Oh, sure"--as the rain comes down in buckets, or in a fine mist, or somewhere inbetween. But we know that the rain keeps it green here. And that's okay. I can live with that. Just wait until March, when it's been raining for a month straight, with at least two more months of rain to look forward to. Just wait. The people on the bus will sigh and say, "Two more months. And look how green it is!"

the election

Here we are again, election time in the land of the free and the home of the brave. Let's hope we are brave enough to survive the economic woes to make it to the other side. I am not old enough to have lived through the Great Depression, and my parents were only about 7 years old at the time, but I've heard stories, as I'm sure all of us Baby Boomers have, about the deprivations and dire outlooks for the future. No doubt many people suffered greatly in that time. No doubt that their children and their children's children will bear witness for years to come. But we are still here. We're here and we're going through a financial crisis--again. Is this just evidence of the fact that everything old is new again--that tired cliche? Or does this mean that the greed of mankind never tires? Or?? Whatever personal meaning we can glean from this crisis, like any other, should help us to "shore up the ruins," as T. S. Eliot said about modern life. Amid the political wrangling and name calling and back stabbing and soap-opera dramas, ordinary life goes on. We go to work, we cook dinners and eat with our families, we go to football games, to church, we sing in the choirs, we read the newspapers, we ride the bus, we shop for groceries. And we choose to find a way to make it work. This choice to survive is what separates us from the animals--instinct can go only so far. Hearts and minds together, we choose to keep going, putting one foot in front of the other, not out of instinct, but out of love. More later. . . .