Here’s a link to the sermon I gave at the Skagit Unitarian Universalist Fellowship (SUUF) last Sunday, if you’re interested in listening to it. Topic: Choosing Love.
https://suuf.podbean.com/e/choosing-love/
Link to “Choosing Love” Talk
Reply
Category Archives: Christian Science
150th Anniversary of the Publication of the Christian Science Textbook, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures
“Oh God, I’m going to now read this Christian Science text… and it’s going to be heavy sledding… and I was stunned to read this absolutely magnificent kind of prose… Mary Baker Eddy was a wonderful writer… she writes gorgeously… and I kind of fell in love with it… I didn’t become a Christian Scientist, but I found it tremendously moving.”
– Tony Kushner, talking about the title to his new play, The Intelligent Homosexual’s Guide to Capitalism and Socialism with a Key to the Scriptures. http://www.kqed.org/a/forum/R201405151000
Although I might not be considered a very religious person, I am very grateful for what the study of Christian Science has brought into my life – the healings I’ve experienced and my growing understanding of the power and presence of Love. And I’m very grateful to Mary Baker Eddy, the author of Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, for giving us the textbook for Christian Science. Science and Health was published back in 1875, but it’s still timely today, 150 years later. Even in 1875 Eddy was talking about consciousness, the nothingness of matter, invention and discovery, evolution, and atomic power – topics that we see being discussed among those who study quantum physics and other physical sciences today. Prophetically, Eddy wrote (on p. 125): “The astronomer will no longer look up to the stars, – he will look out from them upon the universe; and the florist will find his flower before its seed. Thus matter will finally be proved nothing more than a mortal belief, wholly inadequate to affect a man through its supposed organic action or supposed existence. Error will be no longer used in stating truth. The problem of nothingness, or ‘dust to dust,’ will be solved, and mortal mind will be without form and void, for mortality will cease when man beholds himself God’s reflection, even as man sees his reflection in a glass.”
And the topics that are still being debated on religion discussion forums today are topics that Mary Baker Eddy addressed and dealt with almost 150 years ago. God, she told us, was not an anthropomorphic being, but “God” was another name for Love, Truth, Life, Spirit, Mind, Soul, Principle. Hell and heaven were not literal places, she told us, but states of mind. For her, the story of Adam and Eve was an allegory, not an actual event. She was progressive, far-thinking – a visionary.
I’ve read Science and Health from beginning to end probably five or six times. Most recently, I read it through last spring – and, once again, passages popped out at me for the first time that I’d never seen before. It’s, like, every time I read Science and Health the exactly right thought presents itself to me.
I thought that to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the publication of Science and Health, I might post some of my favorite passages from the book. But how to choose?! There are so many passages that speak to me and have brought me clarity and healing. I’m going to try to limit myself to twenty-five of my most favorite passages, but this is not going to be easy for me. Okay. Here goes:
The opening sentence to the textbook is profound:
“To those leaning on the sustaining infinite, to-day is big with blessings.” (p. vii)
(What a great way to start the day, right?! – expect blessings! – expect good!)
“Divine Love always has met and always will meet every human need.” (p. 494)
(Love supplies all good, and withholds no good.)
“No power can withstand divine Love.” (p. 224)
(Love the hell out of the world.)
“Love is impartial and universal in its adaptation and bestowals. It is the open fount which cries, ‘Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters.'” (p. 13)
(Love loves all Her creation, without discrimination, exclusion, or bias. Loves tells me I am Her precious child.)
“Love must triumph over hate.” (p. 43)
(A promise!)
“Human hate has no legitimate mandate and no kingdom. Love is enthroned.” (p. 454)
(Love is the only power. Love’s government is the only legitimate government.)
“Meet every adverse circumstance as its master.” (p. 419)
(We aren’t victims. As expressions of God, we express all the power of God.)
“Harmony in man is as real and immortal as in music. Discord is unreal and mortal.” (p. 304)
(If it’s discordant, it’s not music; if it’s discordant, it’s not a part of us, or any of God’s creation.)
“At all times and under all circumstances, overcome evil with good. Know thyself, and God will supply the wisdom and the occasion for a victory over evil. Clad in the panoply of Love, human hatred cannot reach you.” (p. 571)
(Good always overcomes evil.)
“Heaven is not a locality, but a divine state of Mind.” (p. 291)
(If we feel joy and love we’re in heaven right now.)
“Fear never stopped being or its action.” (p. 151)
(Fear has no power over us.)
“We should master fear, instead of cultivating it.” (p. 197)
(Fear is not the boss of us.)
“The whole earth will be transformed by Truth on its pinions of light, chasing away the darkness of error.” (p. 1910
(Truth wins.)
“Eternal Truth is changing the universe.” (p. 255)
(Truth transforms.)
“…the light of ever-present Love illumines the universe. Hence the eternal wonder, – that infinite God forms and peoples the universe.”
(Imagine all of infinity filled with expressions of Love!)
“Happiness is spiritual, born of Truth and Love. It cannot exist alone, but requires all mankind to share it.” (p. 57)
(No one can be denied Truth and Love. Happiness comes from sharing Truth and Love.)
“If thought is startled at the strong claim of Science fo the supremacy of God, or Truth, and doubts the supremacy of good, ought we not, contrariwise, to be astounded at the vigorous claims of evil and doubt them, and no longer think it natural to love sin and unnatural to forsake it, – no longer imagine evil to be ever-present and good absent? Truth should not seem so surprising and unnatural as error, and error should not seem so real as truth. Sickness should not seem so real as health.” (p. 130-131)
(The thought that disease is unnatural helped bring me a healing of what seemed to be an infected tooth this summer. I came to the understanding that there is no bad substance, and there is no lack of good substance, and it’s not natural to be diseased.)
“We are sometimes led to believe that darkness is as real as light; but Science affirms darkness to be only a mortal sense of the absence of light, at the coming of which darkness loses the appearance of reality. So sin and sorrow, disease and death, are the suppositional absence of Life, God, and flee as phantoms of error before truth and love.” ( p. 215)
(This helps me answer the question, “Where does the bad stuff come from?” Just as darkness doesn’t have a source, the bad stuff doesn’t have a source – it doesn’t come from anywhere – it’s a big nothing.)
“Mind is the master of the corporeal senses, and can conquer sickness, sin, and death. Exercise this God-given authority. Take possession of your body, and govern its feeling and action. Rise in the strength of Spirit to resist all that is unlike good. God has made man capable of this, and nothing can vitiate the ability and power divinely bestowed on man.” (p. 393)
(My mortal body is not the boss of me and I don’t need to look to it to find out how I’m doing. I am the boss of my body.)
“…progress is the law of God…” (p. 233)
and “In Christian Science there is never a retrograde step, never a return to positions outgrown.” (p. 74)
(We don’t need to fear losing ground or losing progress.)
“The time for thinkers has come. Truth, independent of doctrines and time-honored systems, knocks at the portal of humanity.” (p. vii.)
(I find this bolstering.)
“Spiritual rationality and free thought accompany approaching Science, and cannot be put down. They will emancipate humanity, and supplant unscientific means and so-called laws.” (p. 223)
(How reassuring!)
“Christian Scientists must live under the constant pressure of the apostolic command to come out from the material world and be separate. They must renounce aggression, oppression and the pride of power. Christianity, with the crown of Love upon her brow, must be their queen of life.” (p. 451)
(A mission and a purpose!)
And I’m going to include the 23rd Psalm (p. 578) , with its spiritual interpretation by Mary Baker Eddy. (Last spring, the line “Love anointeth my head with oil…” brought me a healing of an uncomfortable welty skin condition on the back of my head and down my neck and back – I could feel Love pouring over my skin and the next morning I woke up healed.):
[DIVINE LOVE] is my shepherd; I shall not want.
[LOVE] maketh me to lie down in green pastures:
[LOVE] leadeth me beside the still waters.
[LOVE] restoreth my soul [spiritual sense]: [Love] leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for [LOVE] is with me; [LOVE’s] rod and [LOVE’S] staff they comfort me.
[LOVE] prepareth a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: [LOVE] anointeth my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house [the consciousness] of [LOVE] for ever.
Okay. That’s about 25, I guess. I know I’ll think of more good ones as soon as I publish this post.
Click here to read, or listen to, the full text of Science of Health with Key to the Scriptures for free. The link will take you to the official Christian Science website, which has provided free access to the Christian Science textbook.
This Sunday I Will Be Speaking at the SUUF: “Choose Love”
This Sunday (November 2nd), at 10:30, I will be speaking at the Skagit Unitarian Universalist Fellowship. The topic is “Choose Love.” If you want to attend the service in person, the address for the fellowship is 500 West Section Street in Mount Vernon. (The fellowship hall is behind the Mount Vernon post office.) If you want to attend via zoom the link is:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83222201810
It would be lovely to see you this Sunday and to celebrate Love together!
Karen.
Heaven Everywhere
I admit I was nervous about traveling to LAX this week. I was flying with Alaska Airlines, and they’d had a spot of trouble last week. Also I was concerned there might be a dearth of air traffic controllers – seeing as how these heroic folks haven’t been paid for the last week I wouldn’t have blamed any of them for leaving to find work that would provide them with income. So it was with some trepidation – and a lot of prayer – that I I started my journey to Los Angeles on Tuesday morning.
There had been moments before my trip when I’d had this sense of certainty that Love was with me, preparing my way for me, leading me. I was motivated by Love to travel to California to see my son, daughter-in-law, and grandbaby, and I knew this was a right desire, and could only lead to Good. At those moments, I determined that my mission was to shine love on everyone I encountered on my trip. But, every now and then, a news headline would hit my newsfeed that had me doubting again. There was a battle going on in my thoughts between fear and happy anticipation to see my loved ones again.
My husband drove me the hour and a half to Sea-Tac (bless him!) and dropped me off at the departures door. Now it was just me and Love. It took practically no time to find the security line – and I was, like, the second person in line! I got through the whole security line in probably three minutes!
Once I was on the other side, I went in search of a restroom. There was a flight attendant in the restroom, standing by the sinks, cleaning out her bag – apparently she’d spilled something in it. I asked her if she was going to LAX, and she said she was – I told her we were going to be on the same plane then. Her job, I said, was one of the hardest jobs in the world – flight attendants have to serve and take care of everyone else first, but they’re dealing with the same difficulties as everyone else on the flight. She smiled and nodded and said that yup, we’re all in the same boat together. I asked her if she’d had any problems last week while Alaska Airlines’ technology wasn’t working, and she said she and her crew had been grounded 12 hours someplace. Yikes! But here she was – ready to get on another plane and serve her passengers. Another hero. She indicated – pointing to her bag – she was feeling a little frazzled at the moment, but I told her (and this was true) she totally looked put together, and I felt reassured knowing she was going to be on the plane with me.
An hour later, when I boarded my flight, I saw Sheryl there, greeting people at the door, smiling. I said, “We made it!” and she started laughing.
The flight to Los Angeles was incredibly quick and smooth – I think we landed early. And when I got there, my beautiful daughter-in-law and precious granddaughter were there to pick me up. My daughter-in-law set my little granddaughter down about ten yards away from me and let her race to me, a big grin on her face. I scooped her up and held her close and felt myself in heaven.
I was only in LA for three days – but it was chock full of joy and hope and good people. It was chock full of love. And it was so good to be with my son, daughter-in-law, and grandbaby again.
We went to the neighborhood playground and I climbed the equipment with my grandbaby and enjoyed watching her work her way around the big toys; We stopped at Shawn’s Pumpkin Patch https://shawnspumpkinpatch.com/ , where we met Whitney and Dennis, and I had fun volunteering to take family photos for the other tourists; We strolled down the Santa Monica Pier, and stepped into the photo booth for some pics; We went to the Cafe Gratitude for dinner and met sweet Kiara pup standing in line with her human there; The next day we went to the The Butcher’s Daughter for lunch – that day I was proudly wearing my Mariners shirt and I asked one of the servers if he was a Dodger’s fan – he said no, but I found out he was a Yankees fan, and I had fun talking baseball with him for a quick minute; I bought fresh-squeezed lemonades from Mike at Hot Dog on a Stick in Santa Monica – and I really wanted to give Mike a tip for his genuine kindness to me, but he wouldn’t take one – he graciously allowed me to snap his photo, though, and laughed when I introduced myself as a Boomer named Karen – passing my Karen test; Then my daughter-in-law, grandbaby, and I sat and listened to Ian Bradley and his drummer make music next to the Hot Dog on a Stick restaurant while we sipped our lemonades. I dropped a donation in their box and got thanked and twirled for my humble gift.
The morning of my last day there, my daughter-in-law brought me to a music-in-the-park event for toddlers hosted by the musician, Ryoji. And oh! Once again, I felt I was in heaven. The music, the youngsters, the parents and grandparents and nannies – of every color, race, and ethnicty – enjoying music and dancing together and showing love to one another – isn’t this heaven?!
In the afternoon my son drove me to LAX for my trip back to Sea-Tac. We gave each other big hugs goodbye, reminded each other we’d see each other again soon at Christmas, and I headed for the security line.
I got in line behind a woman who just radiated good will and kindness. I told her I’m always a little nervous about going through security – afraid I’ve accidentally committed some security transgression (this time I accidentally wore my cellphone into the full body scan, but – thank goodness! – the TSA official clocked the cellphone before he scanned me – he said cellphones are 99% of the reason the scanner alarms go off – yikes!). My new friend, Alia, laughed and yawned and said she was too tired to be nervous about that today. We got to talking then, and learned we were both on the same flight to Seattle! How cosmic! I followed Alia through the security line and then we both went separate directions in search of food. But we met up again in the waiting area before we boarded the plane, and got to talking about our families, the goodness of people, and kindness. Heaven again!
I met so many wonderful new friends on my trip! And every place I went I found heaven.
Choose Love
Hello, dear ones!
This Sunday I will be speaking at the Skagit UU Fellowship at 10:30. The topic is “Choose Love.” You are invited to attend in person or via zoom.
The fellowship hall is located at 500 W Section Street in Mount Vernon, Washington (right behind the post office). Here’s the zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83222201810
It would be lovely to see you this Sunday and celebrate Love together!
Love, Karen
Let’s…
Choose Love over hate.
Choose Love over fear.
Choose Love over selfishness.
Choose Love.
because…
Fear is not the boss of me.
Hate is not the boss of me.
Selfishness is not the boss of me.
Love is my boss.
-Karen Molenaar Terrell
Finding Magic on an Autumn Day
Yesterday I headed towards Fir Island, with the vague mission of finding snow geese. Other than some flocks flying overhead, and in a field far away, I did not see any snow geese. But I did find some other cool magic.
I started my adventure with a quick walk on the Padilla Bay Dike Trail. This is where I saw some snow geese flying overhead, and saw a flock out in the distance, on the other side of the water.
After my walk, I stopped at the La Conner-Swinomish Library to see if I could find my books there – and look! I’m shelved right next to Anne Lamott! How cool is that?!
I also stopped in to see Jolyne at the broadband office while I was in La Conner. Jolyne and I are on different sides of the political divide, but we’ve managed to maintain our friendship through all the ups and downs of the last several years, and I’ve really appreciated her thoughtfulness to me as she’s seen me struggle with current events. This time she went back into her office and came out with a little journaling book for me, and then we exchanged a much-needed hug. A gift!
As I was headed towards Fir Island, I passed by what used to be the old Rexville Grange – a quick look showed me there were people going into a store there, and I made a note to check it out on my way back.
I got as far as the Snow Goose Produce stand. It was closed, and, alas, there were no snow geese to be seen. So I headed back, and turned in at the store I’d passed earlier. It’s called The Rex Bistro now – and it was the exactly right place I needed to get myself a mocha and a treat (a raspberry crumble bar), and to sit and ponder. There’s an outside eating area there, under a roof, and I sat by one of the patio heaters and listened to the rain pattering on the roof, and felt myself relax into the peaceful ambiance. It was mellow and wonderful.
I maybe sat there for a half an hour, just listening to the rain, and watching the flames in the patio heaters. Then I headed back down Best Road and ended up at (surprise!) Christianson’s Nursery. There was a man moving trees out into the path there – and I asked him if someone had bought them. He told me that they’d gotten too big for their little pots and were being transplanted to bigger ones. And when I looked at these trees that made sense. Jesse and I introduced ourselves then, and I learned that he had once been a teacher, too! We exchanged teacher stories – agreeing that it was the students we’d worked with who had made our jobs so fun.
My soul all filled up with the sound of pattering rain, the sight of trees ablaze in their autumn finery, a hug from an old friend, and an exchange of teacher stories with a new friend, I headed back home – where the cats greeted me at the door, ready for lunch.
Go Out There and Work Your Magic!
My dear Humoristian hooligans –
Today may your confidence in the power of kindness bring assurance to the lonely and scared. May your unassailable joie de vivre transform the bitter, the bossy, and the bullying. May the stodgy, stuffy, and stingy be transformed by your irrepressible good humor. May you bring laughter to those in sorry need of a good guffaw. May those who mistake meanness for strength be edified by your example of unwavering good will and courage.
Go out there and work your magic, my friends!
Karen
Bountiful Blessings: I Asked Love to Show Me She Existed Today
Ask, and ye shall receive. BIG time!
I asked Love to show me She existed today – after reading the stories coming through my feed this morning, I was in sorry need of reassurance. And Love said “Okay,” and then dumped such a deluge of blessings upon me – one after an incredible ‘nother – that I’m sitting here, still trying to process all the magic She poured over me today. I think Love has a sense of humor.
When I left the house, I was feeling sort of closed-up and tentative about the world. Cautious. I thought I would just walk and observe and keep myself to myself today. But, of course that didn’t happen.
Because. Connections. A Seahawks shirt. A WSU cap. Animal-lovers. A mountaineering father. I have found I don’t need to dig too deep to find a connection with pretty much every person I meet.
The first thing that happened was I saw my old friend, Baker pup, wagging his way down the boardwalk, greeting every human who came his way. So, of course I had to stop to talk to Baker’s human and thank him for bringing Baker to the boardwalk for all of us. Not long after I gave Baker a scratch behind the ears, I came upon another one of my favorite pups, Ari. Ari’s human let me give Ari a treat so that I could become his “hero forever.” And, if I’d just met Baker and Ari, that would have been enough. But no, Love wasn’t done with me, yet.
Just before I got to the coffee shop in Boulevard Park, I saw a little pup stylin’ a purple mohawk, and I was instantly charmed. Her human, Wendy, told me that she dyes Lucy’s hair herself – using masking tape to keep the dye inside a little rectangle on top of Lucy’s head. She said Lucy loves to go shopping with her at thrift stores, and enjoys her spa days when Wendy dyes her hair and gives her doggy massages. The idea of a spa day for Lucy totally tickled me. Wendy graciously agreed to let me take little Lucy’s picture.
I walked into the Wood’s in Boulevard Park to get myself a mocha. The barista fed me my line: “And what’s a good name for that drink?”
To which I answered my usual, “Well, I’m not sure it’s a good name, but my name is ‘Karen.'”
To which he answered, “I love that name! My mom is named Karen!”
To which, I gave him the highest tip.
As I stood off to the side, waiting for my drink, I saw a young man wearing a WSU cap. “Go Cougs!” I said, and he started grinning. I told him the year I’d graduated from WSU – long, long ago – and learned he’d just graduated in June. I learned that his friend also graduated from WSU, and is going to Tennessee soon, to get her law degree. My new friends introduced themselves as Emma and Austin, and cheerfully agreed to let me snap their photo.
I finished my mocha outside at a picnic table, people-watching and listening to the breeze gently rustle the autumn leaves above me. I felt such peace there.
A couple of women passed by, and one of them stopped and started frantically patting down her pockets. Uh oh. “Did you lose something?” I asked, concerned for her. She smiled and said she thought she’d lost her phone, but she found it. Whew!
When I felt it was time, I moved on down the boardwalk. I’d just gotten to the end of the first boardwalk section, when I saw a little group of people pointing and looking into one of the pine trees there. I was curious, and asked them what they saw. They told me there was an animal in a nest in the branches, and they helped me find it. I tried to get a picture, but the nest was hidden in the shadows of the tree, and it was hard to get a clear shot. For a while we stood together, speculating about what kind of an animal this was – we knew it wasn’t a squirrel because it didn’t have a squirrel tail, but see? There’s its ears and “I think it’s looking at us.” Someone thought it might be a mouse. I suggested it might be a completely new kind of creature – half-bird and half-mammal. And my new friends played along with me.
I loved these people. I asked them if they were from Bellingham, and learned they were visiting from Florida. I welcomed them to my part of the world and thanked them for sharing their discovery with me. And, of course, I asked if I could take their picture. I told them I was collecting magic today, and they were a part of that. So we all introduced ourselves, and I learned my new friends were Lin, Portia, and David.
After Lin, Portia, and David continued on their journey, I stayed a little longer to see if I could get a better view of the creature in the tree. And when Caden and Kylie passed by, I could tell they were people who would enjoy seeing the nest, too. So now *I* got to share the nest-magic with more cool new friends!
Little Fig pup appeared on the path as I was heading for the second section of the boardwalk. She just radiated friendly puppyness and it was impossible to NOT take her photo.
When I got to the ramp above Taylor Dock I found the women who’d passed me while I sat at the picnic bench in Boulevard Park – when I’d thought one of them had lost something. They recognized me and asked me if I’d take their photo for them. I did that for them, and then they posed for me so I could take their photo for myself. Rose and Claire were very fun. I learned that they were visiting Bellingham from Alberta, and I thanked them for coming down from Canada to see us.
But wait! There’s more!
When I got up to Fairhaven, I texted my husband to let him know I was bringing home dinner, and stopped at OVN to order a pizza for us. While I waited outside for my pizza, I noticed a dog at the next table was sticking her snout in between her humans, looking for attention, and I started grinning. More pup magic! I told the family around the table that I was loving their dog, and they started laughing. They said Kodak ignores them when they want to give her attention, but then inserts herself between them when SHE wants attention. “Like a cat,” I said, nodding, and they laughed and agreed.
I came over to their table to get a picture of Kodak, and to give her a pet on the head. Kodak’s family introduced themselves to me then. Cindy was the matriarch, and her children Zoe and Jordan were with her, and their friends, Vaughn, and Lani. I learned, then, that Kodak’s family was up in Bellingham because Zoe was attending WWU this year to study anthropology. And all this got us to talking about state universities. I told them one of my sons had attended WWU, the other one had attended WSU, I had attended WSU, and my father had attended UW. I said my dad and I had enjoyed the Apple Cups together – but, of course, that’s all different now from when he was alive. Cindy said her dad had gone to UW, too, and maybe her dad and mine had known each other! And then one thing led to another – we started talking about our dads – and we discovered they’d both been renowned mountaineers and almost surely had known each other!!! Her father, Jack Kendrick, had been one of Fred Beckey’s climbing partners and had climbed with the Whittaker twins. I told Cindy my pop had climbed Mount Kennedy with the Whittakers, and was probably best known for his participation in the 1953 K2 Expedition.
It was so fun talking to Cindy and hearing again the names of people from Dad’s circle of friends! (Here’s more about Jack Kendrick: https://www.mountaineers.org/…/in-memory-of-jack-kendrick ) (And here’s more about Pop: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dee_Molenaar )
Connections! I love these connections we all have with one another.
But wait! There’s more!
My pizza had been brought out by this time and it was time to go. So I bid my new friends goodbye, grabbed my pizza, and headed up to my car. When I got to the statue of J.J. Harris sitting on the bench at the corner of 11th and Harris, I saw a man in a Seahawks sweatshirt who looked like he might be wanting to sit next to Mr. Harris on the bench. I said, “Go Seahawks!” and asked him if he was thinking of sitting on the bench. He started laughing and said he hadn’t been thinking of that, but he would do that for me if I needed someone in a photo. So he sat on the bench for me. I took a photo of him with his cell and then took a picture of him with mine. I learned that Parry was visiting Bellingham from BC, and I told him I was so happy to see Canadians visiting us.
Parry reassured me that we’re “all one” – and it felt like Love Herself speaking to me.
I Woke Up Angry This Morning
I woke up angry this morning. Angry at the cruelty, and blatant racism, sexism, misogyny, and deceit playing out in front of us; angry at the people who seem to be fine with all of that; angry at the people who talk about “leftist extremism” while brushing off January 6th as a “rally” and ignoring the violence being done to children and other innocent people because they “look guilty” and happen to live in the wrong parts of towns in blue states; angry at an administration which seems to take delight in inciting violence and hate towards states and people it views as its “enemies”; angry at the federal agents who say “f***” the children and “now go home or you’re next”; angry at bullies; angry at the people who applaud the bullies; angry at the “friends” who have tried to guilt me into silence by calling me a “pot stirrer” when I’ve provided information counter to their political views; and maybe I woke up angry at myself, too, for feeling powerless to make the cruelty stop.
And so that’s how I left our house this morning – angry and grumpy.
We needed to go to Sedro-Woolley to run an errand, and, afterwards, ended up at a coffee shop for drinks and treats. After a while, when we still hadn’t gotten our order, I began to feel impatient and asked the baristas if maybe they’d forgotten us. We got our drinks soon afterwards.
Another customer had come in after us. She waited patiently at another table. She never asked if she’d been forgotten. She never looked agitated or perturbed. She quietly sat at her table, swinging one leg while she waited for her coffee. She had on the coolest rubber boots – she’d rolled them down at the top and there was this cool salmon-pattern revealed on the rolled-down parts. I had to ask her about them.
She told me the pattern was designed by the “Salmon Sisters” in Alaska. She’d lived in Alaska for a while, she said. I learned then that she’d worked for NOAA as a marine biologist, and now worked for the Washington Dept. of Fish and Wildlife. I told her my brother was a marine biologist, too, and had worked for NOAA for a time, and then another government agency, and had ended his career working for the State. We talked about fishing for a while – she told me something I hadn’t known – that if there isn’t enough fishing allowed, the fish population will exceed what the rivers supply in food, and the salmon population will begin to die out. She was interesting. And kind. She was interesting and kind and patient. And, when she finally got her order and was ready to leave, I thanked her for modeling kindness to me this morning. I told her I’d come in to the coffee shop feeling grumpy – which isn’t my usual self – and she’d helped bring me back to myself again. She smiled and thanked ME – which is, of course, what a kind person does.
Meeting my new friend reminded me of one of the most essential lessons life has taught me – that as long as we can love and show kindness to the people we encounter every day, we aren’t powerless – we CAN make a difference. Just like my new friend did for me this morning.
I’m still angry about the cruelty I see in our world. Maybe it’s right to be angry about that. But I don’t feel so powerless, anymore.
Thoughts on Love from Noemi Ban, a Holocaust Survivor
I had the great privilege of knowing Holocaust survivor Noemi Ban. I invited Noemi to come to my class and speak to my eighth graders about her experiences as a survivor of the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp. Her sharing was powerful and inspiring. Afterwards, Noemi asked me if I could drive her home, and she invited me into her house. The first thing I saw when I stepped into her home was a photo of her family – her parents and siblings – taken before the Holocaust. Noemi told me it was the only picture she had of her family. Her father had found it in the rubble of their home after the war. The photo was precious to her. She’d lost her mother and siblings in the death camp’s gas chambers almost as soon as they’d arrived at Auschwitz.
My friend, Diane Sue, who was a close friend of Noemi’s, told Noemi’s story in the book, Remarkable Resilience. I am feeling a sense of urgency right now to share this excerpt from Remarkable Resilience: The Life and Legacy of Noemi Ban:
“I imagine that my story has opened your eyes to the ease with which hatred can grow and destroy. Hate can be perilously insidious, beginning as a seedling that grows into a powerful tree, and, before we know it, we are surrounded by a dark and dangerous forest. Hate can destroy a person, or can destroy a civilization. Why is it so easy for some people to hate their fellow human beings? We asked that question when imprisoned in Auschwitz, trying to understand why the Nazis hated us when they didn’t even know us. Similarly, we may ask why some people hold so much animosity toward certain groups even in today’s world…
“I realize my reaction to what happened during the Holocaust could easily have been hatred. Many trauma survivors find it difficult to let go of their anger or resentment. I feel fortunate that I not only survived, but that I also avoided having my heart poisoned by hate. Those who hate can become bitter and lose their perspective on the beauty of life. I learned in Auschwitz what hate can do and I refused to do to myself what the Nazis did to me. If I focused on hating the Nazis, then I would still be their prisoner. And how can you live a peaceful life with hate in your heart? Some people wonder if I have forgiven the Nazis. Although I am working on it, I doubt I will ever be able to say that I have completely forgiven them. Nevertheless, when someone asks if I hate the Nazis for what they did to my family, I can honestly say I don’t hate anyone. I feel sadness, anger, and hurt, but not hate. There is another way to live life, and that was my choice—to live with love. “
Adventures of the Madcap Christian Scientist 