Sacred Shifts
Wednesday, March 23rd, 2022
March 23, 2022
Matthew Fox
‘We had (have) chosen a path of domination and destruction, of power-over instead of power-with, of wars and enslavement of African peoples and other reptilian games, of patriarchy and its distorted values, of rugged individualism and the survival of the fittest, rather than a path of interdependence and compassion, of gender balance and respect, of eco- and racial and economic justice. The very survival of our species, as well as millions of others and the rendering of our planet sustainable once again, calls for Julian’s wisdom. Julian stands tall as a leader in the spiritual revolution of our time’ (p. 119).
Julian of Norwich
“Fascism can come in a way that it is one step at a time, and in many ways, goes unnoticed until it’s too late.”
-Madeleine Albright [Fresh Air, NPR, 2018]
On this day in 1919 Benito Mussolini launched Partito Nazionale Fascista, the Fascist party.
1937-2022
Essay from Courtney Martin, activist and author:
Maya and her buddy have been getting in some quarrels, too. They’re both very sensitive and the relationship is charged with that best friend necklace-type intensity–so delicious and so terrifying. Maya’s friend is pretty quiet, particularly when she’s upset. One afternoon, as I was pulling crumpled drawings, sticky ziplock bags, and other detritus out of Maya’s backpack I found a piece of paper with two little bunnies drawn on it with dialogue. The bunnies were apologizing to one another in various scenarios. The scenarios were labeled: this is what I think will happen, this is what I want to happen, and this is what would happen. When I asked Maya about it, she said that her friend felt too sad to talk about their conflict so they decided to draw it out. Essentially they reinvented couples therapy as cute graphic novel–their favorite genre. Kinda genius, right?
Indeed.
I think about the time I apologized through a short story to my childhood best friend or the time a dude in a gold chain and Adidas tracksuit sobbed through an entire yoga class. I think about all the people we give up on, including ourselves, when maybe sometimes what we needed was only a sacred shift in approach—something less direct, something roundabout, something corporeal. Sometimes we need to take the long, circuitous way home to ourselves and each other rather than following the algorithmic directions for the most effective route. Kids get that. Adults forget that. I know I do. Here’s to inefficient, artsy, childlike apology. Here’s to repair as multidimensional as we are.
Full piece:
https://courtney.substack.com/p/shut-up-and-repair?r=4lxo4&s=r&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email