Apparently, I have been avoiding John McCain. Silly me.
Ann: John?
John McCain: Well, finally. Annie, you are a tough nut to crack. You could hear me but couldn’t conceive what I could have to offer other than the same ole same ole, so you decided you weren’t really hearing me. For God’s sake girl, can’t you just give up trying to know what happening in advance and open up to find out? You don’t need a road map, we’re pals.
Ann: Yes, you‘re right, sorry, John. So what do you have to say?
John Annie, you’re all living in stressful times where it seems like things are falling apart and the center cannot hold. And yet it does. Every time. It may break down, seemingly past repair as is the case in Ukraine - and, as many would say, in regard to my late great party - but the view you need to take is the long one, and from that vantage point the center is in fact not only holding but coalescing.
We tend to look at where we are from where we are, and that is not the best place to start. There will always be backing and forthings. We are born, we grow, we diminish, and we die, but that does not mean that we accomplished nothing. The air and energy that we create while living continues. Witness the smile on your face when you see me coming!
Ann: Well, you do make me smile, John, not sure why.
John: Because I'm your good buddy and not some scolding asshole come to take you to task. And because I have seen the light, saw it at the Hanoi Hilton and never lost the vision. It may have dimmed some from time to time, but it stayed with me and it made people smile, as does Joe Biden, for he too has seen beyond the veil.
Just compare Trump and Biden. Biden knows he has done what he came to do and is doing it still. He may see it as never enough, he may be pressed down by sorrow, but he perseveres on his path with grace, and you can see the light and joy around him.
Trump, on the other hand, is a bundle of rage and insecurities, and this he will take with him to his transition. He has much to answer for, but he is already paying, for he can no longer control the world around him. Biden does not seek to control, he seeks to receive and offer inspiration, to illustrate the power of a helping hand. He is not naive, far from it, and though he may become discouraged, his vision never falters.
Now, as you may know, he and I did not always see eye to eye, but my profound respect for his vision of what is essential remained unshaken. Human dignity for all. There are many inequities in all societies, but for those who can hold close to the truth, there is always a way forward.
I can hear, Annie, that you want me to tell you what is going to happen with those wingnuts currently in control of my erstwhile party. I am tempted to say “It depends,” just to see you roll your eyes.
But the truth is that we the people will continue to rise, to move forward on the scale of human rights, both social, financial, and spiritual. Sometimes it take a dark force to make us value the light. Then as always, we will backslide, but, even so, we will be, as we are now, further along than we were before.
My friends, you have to take the long view. The short term does not generally have much to offer so that is where faith and vision come in.
If you have trouble finding that vision, borrow mine. That's why I'm here.
February 9, 2023
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