Five Things on Today’s To-Do List …
The following are five “sticky” items on my to-do list, meaning they get repeated every day.
- Commune with God
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One morning I stepped from the shower, hair and beard streaming water, toweled off, pulled on jeans and a polo shirt, turned to a companion, hair still dripping, and asked, “Who am I?” Her eyes widened. “Oh my God!” she said. “You look just like Ted Kaczynski!”
I struggle moment-by-moment to remain sober, sane, and productive. At heart I am a misanthrope, and left to my own devices I could quickly retreat into a very dark place and never emerge. This is not hyperbole. Unrestrained, I envision myself becoming the bitter twin of Ted Kaczynski. After all, I have the hair and eyebrows for the job.
So at some point in every day, either literally or figuratively, I kneel down, lift my palms to the sky, and say, “I am yours. Do what you will.” And I mean it. I’m not even sure with whom or what I commune. It doesn’t matter. It is painful to me when humans try to encapsulate God or put God in a box. Any definition of God seems supremely arrogant. The closest I can come — and this is both haughty and hopelessly inadequate — is to imagine God as the Infinite Power of Imagination. God’s, not mine. Every day I surrender to That, to Something Other than me, and I put Mr. Kaczynski’s twin behind me. You’ll understand why this is important when you read the rest of my to-do list.
(Please don’t view this as an opportunity to (1) engage me in theological discussion, (2) explain why your faith is superior to all others, or (3) express your concern for my immortal soul. I’ve been down all those roads before and they only make me sad.)
- Piss off a Republican and/or a Democrat
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I consider myself a citizen of the world, and I firmly believe two tenets. First, that every human should have proper nourishment, adequate shelter, and minimal healthcare; we should all have meaningful work that empowers us to earn these things in a dignified manner; and we should be able to pursue them in peace. Second, since the first tenet seems an impossibility, I believe in the socialist principle, “From each according to his ability, to each according to his need.”
That said, I love the United States passionately. Outside my back door I reach down and touch Tennessee soil, American soil, and it thrills me. I feel about the United States Constitution the way most people feel about holy scripture. It stirs me, gives me hope, and challenges me to be a better person and a better citizen, both of the nation I am fortunate enough to call my own, and of the world. It is a document and a set of principles for which I would gladly lay down my life.
For the past seven years — at least — I have watched greedy, unscrupulous men and women wipe their backsides with the Constitution. I’ve seen them prey on human fear to enrich themselves, broaden their power, and marginalize the civil rights of ordinary citizens. I liken it to being tied to a chair and forced to watch the brutal gang rape of someone I dearly love: my mother, sister, daughter or lover.
Four of those seven years, Republicans controlled the House, Senate and Executive branches of government. During that time they regularly marginalized the will of “we the people.” When Democrats gained the House and Senate they did nothing to stop the process — or even slow it. They have let the most unpopular president in the history of the Union have his way with them.
And before you tell me this is simply politics and I shouldn’t take it so seriously, bite your tongue. This is no game and the Constitution is no ordinary document. I am appalled by the cavalier attitude of those who pooh-pooh the decline of our Democratic Republic. If this were happening in France, the streets of Paris would never be empty of protestors. Because the French, for all their faults, understand something Americans don’t: for democracy to thrive, citizens must be on guard against runaway government, and revolution must be an ongoing process.
In America we get no revolution. Instead we are offered Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and John McCain.
If Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and John McCain are the best and brightest America has to offer, we should be ashamed of ourselves. And if they are the the two-party system’s finest, the parties deserve to be pissed off.
Or pissed on.
- Gently
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It is hard to be very young, very old, lonely, scared, sad, poor, grieving, exhausted, broken-hearted, disillusioned, or infirm. Those who are deserve patience, kindness, warmth, and hearing. As a man who is big, bearish, scowling, clumsy and hard by nature, I must constantly remind myself to resist instinctive tendencies. Go gently.
I know. It makes no sense after that last thing. And please consider the following said in my gentlest voice: Sue me.
- Stop being self-destructive
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I’d call this one pretty much self-explanatory.
- Let someone in
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Dropping barriers is dangerous, but the rewards can be great. I have a teacher who reminds me every day. I should listen.
My teacher says let everyone in.
She’s out of her mind.
Five Things on Today’s To-Do List … has 1 response
your bro-in-law says:
14 May 2008 at 6:46 pm
Gib,
I read your blog off and on, some make me shake my head, some think, and some make me laugh. Todays was very good, you did not piss off this Republican. I agree.
