R U ready to be a Champion of Justice?

Champions of Justice.  This is what the Universal House of Justice (the international governing body of the Baha'is) asks us to be. What does champion mean?   Champion- someone who fights or speaks publicly in support of a person, belief, cause, etc. 

After my visit the other day and our sharing about what alcoholism and addiction is doing to our family and our friends, I have to say we as a Baha'i community could be doing more to support individuals, families and communities in their struggles. It is a law of our Faith to be alcohol and drug free. But what does that mean when we live in a society that alcoholism and addictions surround us? On some levels there is still great shame about these diseases as individuals struggle with Recovery and relapse. That's why AA is Alcoholics Anonymous.  Because there was in the past tremendous shame about these diseases. 

Living in Indian Country anonymous doesn't really work. In tiny Baha'i communities it doesn't work either. EVERYONE knows who is struggling. Everyone. Only in the past couple years as I have used Al-Anon in my life did it occur to me in my almost 40 years of being a Baha'i that never have I heard alcoholism or addiction formally discussed within a Baha'i community. Why is that?

As a person who comes from Indian Country where we are genetically predisposed to Addiction and where the consequences of historical trauma still are felt daily through Racism, poverty, violence, lack of access to education, it's a bit bewildering. How are we as Baha'is systematically assisting our own members who struggle with Alcoholism and Addiction?  Do we hide in shame? Are we paralyzed by guilt?  Do we somehow feel unworthy because our parent, sibling or child is an alcoholic or an addict? 

I have had Baha'i friends thank me privately for my writing about Al-Anon because they have loved ones who struggle. I think it is long over due that we as a community talk about alcoholism and addiction and what are ways we can help families today and what are some long term plans and goals to help families in 5 years, in 10 years. If we don't have a goal, we will NEVER achieve progress. 

Let's be Champions of Justice. Let's look to the Sacred Writings and find ways to help families. I heard some people respond with "let's pray for them". I say let's use the Revelation and Teachings of Baha'u'llah and our principle of the harmony of science and religion and begin to use some science along with our prayers. 

If you have a family member past or present struggling I challenge you to be a Champion of Justice. Find someone in your life to talk to about this need in our community and take some action. It could be to buy some Al-Anon books and keep them at Baha'i Feast. Or to keep a list of local meetings and phone meetings posted in a Baha'i space. 

There is absolutely no excuse for us not to be proactive in helping families. There is no place for denial, shame or guilt in our Baha'i community. We are here to help heal the world. And it's by being Champions and speaking up that we will change the world. 

Ferries, potholes, the mythic and the mystical.

Yesterday was an odd day.  Usually when I start a day off with a plan everything goes smoothly and I'm grateful for the insights and experiences I gain. But yesterday there seemed to be potholes, what I call those life events that can effect our day anywhere from having to swerve a little to avoid them or the ones that seem to swallow the car and kill a tire and take up the whole day.

My first pothole happened as I was running a little behind to catch the ferry to Seattle to go to the Seattle Art Museum library. As I was driving down the road in the steady rain,  I was debating whether or not if I had enough time to park my car and walk on or if I should just drive on, besides it was raining, really raining. The difference is about about $35, to park and walk on costs $20 to drive on and park in Seattle costs at least $55. So I decided I'd park and walk on.  Besides I had dressed for the rain, rain proof boots and my waterproof jacket, a little rain wouldn't hurt. 

As I turned into the parking lot it was completely full!  It took me a few moments to realize I'd never seen it this full in the two years I'd lived here and then I saw people walking with Mariners caps on.  So I decided to drive on the ferry, it was that or go home.  By the time I made it out of the parking lot full of other cars doing the same thing I was and got in line, the ferry was full. I was about 10 cars too late. If I hadn't decided to try to park, I would have made the 11:30 ferry. Darn!  So now I had an hour to kill.  

I would be on the 12:20 ferry.  It was a little disappointing, I was excited to go to the Seattle Art Museum library and research the Native Art in their permanent collection.   The library is only open to the public Wednesday-Friday 10-4 pm.  This would just shorten my time in the library after a quick appointment. (I've been searching for someone I like near home for eyebrow waxing, but haven't found one, so I go to Nordstrom Spa in the mean time. Chuckles.)  I'd arrive about 12:55 and I'd have 20 minutes to drive to my 1:15 appointment at 6th and Pine.  I called ahead to let them know I may run a few minutes behind. 

I've learned when my plans change unexpectedly to just shift gears, go with the flow and keep my head up looking for things I wouldn't see otherwise.  So I decided to walk to Blackbird Bakery (0.46 miles thanks to my watch/pedometer) to buy my favorite gluten free chocolate chip cookies. It was a nice walk in the rain. But I misjudged how long it would take me and I had to jog back to my car and jump in as people were waiting for me to load!  

Eek. I was only a few cars late. I felt bad, but not long ago I would have felt terrible guilt about making others wait for me.  And I do wish I could apologize. But I didn't let the guilt ruin my day or make me feel bad about myself. Life has taught me people make mistakes. And it's ok.  We can't be perfect. I try to be gracious when others make a mistake, but it takes a little more work to be as gracious with myself. I am constantly learning more skill not to put pressure on myself to be perfect, a terrible consequence of having a hero role in an unhealthy family system. 

I made my appointment with a few minutes to spare. And I arrived at the SAM library a little after 2 o'clock. I was just a bit shocked to see a sign on the door saying the library would be closed to the public on Wednesday July 23. I opened the door and went in while trying to figure out what day it was!  Realizing it was today.

Pot hole Number 2!  My first reaction was extreme disappointment. I'd been planning all week to go to the SAM library and begin research. It's no small thing to schedule a date, invest my day and the cost of travel to get into the City. I wasn't sure when I could come back.   Maybe Friday, but next Wednesday-Friday one of my closest friends is coming to visit and the week after that I'll be in Anchorage, so it could be in 3 weeks!  I have learned that rules can be slightly bent depending on who you talk to. I noticed someone sitting at a table reading and decided I would sit and read until someone showed up.

The first person I talked to (an employee with a badge) came in and didn't know the library was closed until reading the sign on the door. I told her my predicament, that I come in from Suquamish and it's not easy to get here and if she didn't mind I'd just read off the Modernism in the Pacific Northwest display shelf (no restacking necessary). She said she didn't see why not. 

I picked up a book, Tobey is 80: a Retrospective. I skimmed through the plates (pictures) of artwork and began to read. The foreword is by John Fuller the first director of the SAM. The essay accompanying the text is by Betty Bowen, who I only know through a grant in her name.  I have learned about John Fuller from my tour with Modernism in the Pacific Northwest : The Mythic and the Mystical.  He was instrumental in patronizing (does that work in this context? Lol) Mark Tobey. He bought Tobey's work throughout his career and during the Depression when artists were desperate for work.  

Betty Bowen writes, "The Pike Place Market, a colorful farmers' market in downtown Seattle, had always been "the heart of Seattle" to Tobey - a slice of the Kingdom of God, reflecting his Baha'i Faith in the oneness of all earth's creatures."  Reading about Mr. Tobey's love for the Pike Place Market and how he sees it as a slice of the Kingdom of God is such a precious moment for me.  To get to know an artist and his work who shares my same passions, to express himself and his perspective in this vast and miraculous world and that he loves the Teachings of Baha'u'llah, too.  

I don't know if I would have picked up this book if the library hadn't been closed. I was set on starting to read profiles on the Native Art pieces in the permanent collection, like the Íxt'i Xook Gwalaa/Emaciated Shaman Dagger or the Soul Catcher. Because it was closed I chose to spend my precious time in the library reading about Mark Tobey.  Baha'is believe there is an existence after death. Indians believe Ancestors and those in heaven have a direct impact on our lives.  In an exhibit The Mythic and the Mystical is it too much to wonder if Mark Tobey is sending a guiding light on my journey?  Lol.  What a life to choose, to be an artist is not an easy path.  To see his body of work reviewed when he was 80 years old!  I guess it reminds me that we should follow our passions. We have our whole life ahead of us. I have 40 years left until I turn 80, plenty of time to follow my dreams. 

And just to speak on Synchronicity once more. After finishing at the library I was feeling a little light headed. So I went down to Taste to eat. And decided to catch a ferry home immediately after. It took forever to move a few blocks on 2nd Avenue to get to Madison to head to the ferry. I imagined getting to the ferry line and waiting for a ferry or two, like I did not too long ago. As I inched down 2nd avenue at 5 o'clock I wasn't sure when I'd get home. But as I drove through the ferry ticketing I was thoroughly surprised when he said we'll try to load you on the 5:30, we're still loading. Chuckles. I was the 3rd to the last car.  Sometimes you are meant to catch the ferry and sometimes you just aren't. Chuckles.

Peace in my heart. Prosperity in my home.

Peace and prosperity. That is my goal.  To live in peace and prosperity. I grew up pretty poor.  I just didn't realize it for a long time. And I didn't know that my parents had grown up with way less than I did and both struggled with hunger as children.  My grandparents were also poor as children. My Great Grandmother Susie told my mother growing up that we were from nobility. So at some point my family did experience prosperity. And I interpret that to mean enough food, a home, and the basics needed to survive and to thrive.

As you know I've been thinking about what peace and prosperity means to me in a world bombarded by materialism and the cancer of consumerism while at the same time children across the globe don't have enough food to eat or schools to go to.  Yes, there are hungry kids in our hometowns and college is so expensive it seems like indentured service.  Be the change you want to see in the world.  I guess for me it really starts in my heart, in my home.

This Fall it will be 6 years since when I had to make a life changing decision to choose Peace. It was a challenge to walk away from an illusion of financial security, one that I had just invested 8 years of my life in.  Surviving my spouse being absent for 8 years in medical school and residency, while I was raising our children was the hardest challenge I'd ever been given.  The promise of a future with financial security and freedom got me through those difficult years. 

To realize at the end I had to cut my losses and walk away was very difficult. I walked away without a home, without my education being finished, and with the majority of the responsibility of caring for my daughters and a very unsure financial future.  As I prayed about it, to leave a marriage that was sick and was hurting all of us, including him, and to begin a path of being solely responsible in sheltering my precious daughters, I was anxious. But as I prayed I was sent a message that the Creator is the Ultimate Provider. That as I chose peace in my home, that I chose to model peace for my girls, the Creator would send what we needed. 

Every morning waking in a home free from violence is a precious gift. I had lived in an unsafe home for so long, I had slowly, over the years become some version of myself that could survive in that environment. The real me, seemed to be hidden away somewhere. The last 6 years have been a journey of letting my true self out of where she had hidden.  I have sheltered my dear sweet girls alone. Yes, their father contributes financially and for that I am grateful to the Creator, but the work that raising two girls require demands quite a lot from me.  

I live in peace. I live in a home where each of us is respected, loved and cherished. Not where one person unfairly dominates all the others. I live in a home where we praise and encourage each other, not criticize and blame.  I live in a home where we encourage each other to try new things, not fear mistakes or fear the consequences of violence for making a mistake. 

So I have built peace in my life. Building prosperity is a little trickier. What do I think prosperity is?  Is it home ownership? An college education? A good job?  Chuckles. Well, I have to think a little creatively. For now prosperity means being able to feed my girls, give them a safe home and to help them thrive and become the best human beings they have the potential to become. College, a job and home ownership will come down the road. 

My time on the Canoe Journey and in Bella Bella reminded me just how wealthy I am. The spiritual values I was raised with in the Indian Community and through my family's Faith cannot be bought. We are One Human Family. All we have, has been given to us by the Creator in stewardship for our future generations.  By honoring and respecting ourselves and our Communities, we build peace and healthy ways of life. Love is what heals the heart. One heart at a time we will build world peace. We will build a world of prosperity. 

"O My Servant!  

     The best of men are they that earn a livelihood by their calling and spend upon themselves and upon their kindred for the love of God, The Lord of all the worlds." - Baha'u'llah