Look up!

It's so easy to become mired in negativity these days. Everywhere one turns there is disaster: economic, social, political. It would be easy to join in the collective sigh of "What's the point?" now heard 'round the world.

But there is another place to look: up. Now is the time for the optimistic at heart to take a lead and work to lift the spirits of the downtrodden, to offer hope to the hopeless, liberty to the captive--to proclaim the year of favor.

Because if not NOW, then when?

It's our new obsession. The newspapers are overflowing with it. Everyone is talking about it. Many can't stop thinking about it. WORRY.

There is no doubt that these are troubling times. There seems to be more to worry about than there used to be. In some ways, that's true.

But fundamentally, what has changed? What is different now from last month...last year...last century? It's as if those terrorist-guided airliners poked a hole in our balloon, and we've been on the deflate ever since.

Or maybe it's just been our over-inflated egos that have taken a leak. You know, those voices that told us that we could do whatever we wanted...not for the advancement of the human condition, but for our personal gain. Call it hubris. It's on the decline...we hope.

But worry won't fix anything, not now, not ever. What WILL make a difference is if we pay attention to what some might call a real "come to Jesus" moment.

The great cost of -isms

I was walking across campus yesterday at Cal State Dominguez Hills (Carson, California). Just being there is a learning experience for me as I observe my surroundings and my feelings.

I grew up in the country. It was mostly white...our idea of multi-cultural was expressed in terms of variations on European descent. I think there was one African-American in my high school.

Things have changed there, to be sure...but that didn't start to happen until after I'd left. My multi-ethnic/cultural experience is largely tied to my time here in Southern California. And what an experience it's been!

So being on campus at CSU-DH, where the student body majority is African-American, I like to drink in the difference, watch my reactions, and listen carefully to my feelings.

Yesterday a young man crossed my path. There was no exchange. He was dressed in student-like garb with a backpack slung across his shoulder, presumably headed for class. I thought about that young man as he hurried by me: the world has changed for him and for me. And I wondered, what loss we have incurred as a civilization because of unrealized human potential.

Every act of oppression, every slanted loook, every prejudicial thought is an inhibition of vast human capacity--a story that will never be told. Every time we, as a society, keep someone back or erect blockades to their full flourishing, we shoot ourselves in the foot--or worse.

Think about it! What would this world be like if every person were given freecourse to contribute equally? We often couch civil rights in terms of privilege...what would the conversation look like if it were framed in terms of equal access to all that society has to offer for the benefit of all, rather than the liberation of some?

That's not to say that some don't need to be liberated, or that we as a society are not guilty of gross misconduct. But in the end, would it not benefit all if all were free?