It happens sometimes. The holding of hurt from the day. Not having met the expectations of another. Not having parented the "right" way. Mistakes that cost another in unintended ways. Changes that generate shifts and turns, life's pushes and pulls . . . . failings. Hurt carried from the day. It is in these moments I want to cry out the pain. To sit with the quiet crack inside and wait for it to pass as the tears fall. To wait for the pain to be cried out. To again then rise and face whatever it is that needs to be faced next. |
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"You're not welcome". The boos shouted a clear message. But this is his country. He is the one who welcomes if he chooses.
The power of standing, resting, walking on country. Deep deep healing. The land will embrace the depth of the hurt and pain. The land will carry the negative out, and allow the good to flow in. The ancient people are there in the soil, the air, the breathing of the shrubs and trees, and the scuttling of the animals. They are watching, welcoming, holding, gently nursing the poisoned soul back to health. Adam stood on country, he was born out of this place. From time immemorial, risen and returned to earth have been his people, and they are the ones who have carried him forward. White arrogance and the slur of white privileged men given the media's voice and attention, fail to appreciate the long story of this country's heart - echoed in the arteries and chambers of the people who are the oldest continuing surviving people. They deserve, command, and should receive our respect. Not our ignorant, disrespectful and fearful hate. I am not the one who hold the welcome sign to this country. But I will stand with those who do.
In a world wrestling with what it places in priority as its values, it seems the unheard or diminished voices through time are again rising up for greater attention and valuing. Will it shift the cultural viewpoints held so firmly - I don't know. Will anything I bring to the table from my story be part of that shift - I don't know. Will the slow encounters over many long years shift the dominant view - I don't know. I do know, that for those of us who are open to it, it will shift us. It will stir us to continue to be challenged by the pain of the other, by the pain of injustice, and intergenerational trauma and prejudice. We will question our assumptions and ponder what needs to put to down - unlearnt, in order to learn what else is real and important.
The risk of disease is a risk worth taking for many in the rising of voices that stand alongside those long held down - unable to breathe for the knee held to their lives. To say enough is enough, and we will bear the cost of standing alongside you as we face another threat to personhood. Such is the demand for change in challenge. The dynamics at play on the global stage of which our own country has a role, are complex, tangled, deep and sometimes overwhelming. The challenge to see little steps of change are hard in the space of the loud dominant cultural voices of the white. Systems, group think, historical narrative that informs now, require long hard work in order to generate the heart change that is needed to relieve the pain and suffering of much in the world. If we first do not stand in a place that gives value to all, and a sense of all being created good, then we will struggle and fight. We will wonder what the fuss is about. Is it worth it? My oath it is! Because #blacklivesmatter For too long it has been wrong, and it's more than high time that changed.
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