That Pot Is Still Cookin'

Greetings from the mighty Mississippi! I have been exploring this great river aboard an American paddle wheel boat, which set out from New Orleans and will end in Memphis on Saturday. I have not spent time in the deep south and it’s been quite eye opening and also freeing as I release a lot of limited and uninformed beliefs about southern people and slavery. Slavery is a big issue for me right now; it is something I have always had a lot of energy around and it is profound being here along the Mississippi where it flourished in the US. I have had a chance to speak with African Americans about slavery; this is very enlightening! Although as they would say here ‘that pot is still cookin’ so I’m still in the thick of it, no clarity just yet.

One thing that is clear is that ‘Black Lives Matter'. I know, All Lives Matter, that’s a given and right now we’re talking about black lives in the United States. I got to have dinner last night with an amazing black woman named Judy. From the outside she looks like what I would expect in the South; enormous, with a big booming voice and gigantic laugh, and a heart bigger than she is. As she spoke I realized she is incredibly intelligent, well spoken, compassionate, wise, and hysterically funny. And she has an amazing singing voice which she uses regularly in conversation. Her father was a Southern Baptist Minister who marched with Dr. King. What she had to say about current black/white relations is this: during slavery white folks viewed black folks as an investment, as property that they could use any way they pleased. After the Civil War, they viewed them as evidence of their loss. (Many plantation owners along the Mississippi became VERY wealthy from the gains of their slave labor; all that went away after the war). They were resentful and angry towards black people, and distrustful - which carried over from the days of slavery. Distrust was inherent in master/slave relations as the white folks were always outnumbered by their slaves and constantly fearful of an uprising. Fast forward to the turn of the century and black folks are viewed as cheap, disposable labor. From there they are seen as takers, dependent on welfare, and ultimately as drug dealers and crooks. There are whole pockets of society who still feel this way, who have never ‘cleaned their windshield’  to see what is actually true for African Americans today. Those folks have never known that Black Lives Matter. So this is the work, to allow this understanding to permeate the whole of American hearts and minds.

Another theme I’ve been with on this trip is just how much of a bubble I live in. The South is a loooooong way from Southern California. When I see things that are abhorrent to me, my mantra has become “These people have a right to believe that.” I try to find room where I can hold their beliefs with equanimity. (Although I can’t help thinking that these are the folks who will elect Donald Trump President). California largely reflects my values and so I get to grow bigger in a place that does not. I am not right and they are not wrong. We are all on this journey to find the truth of ourselves out here in the wilderness called human being. And so I step over what has been revealed to me as my prejudices and judgements and feelings of superiority, and listen to what the South is saying. It’s important, to listen to all sides without holding steadfast to one particular view. To listen with the intent of gathering information, rather than gathering evidence of why I’m right. It’s quite a stretch ;-)

Tonight is the full moon and I plan to release old beliefs so that I can make room for what’s actually true. The planets are still holding patterns that can out-picture as anger, aggression and violence and will do so until mid-September. And so we hold steady, adhere to our daily practices and ferociously know the greater truth of this world as Oneness, as Love in action, as Peace.