And Now to the End of our
Polarization!
Yes!
With vision I see
it!
Not in the distant
future, my friend,
Even now, coming
into focus.
Eyes are open—
Ears are unstopped.
With clarity, it
is understood how single issue advocacy has
Distracted,
Distorted,
Divided.
And now to the End of our Polarization of
social issues and Toward a More Perfect Union!
Too long held
captive—too long preoccupied by unreasonable frenzy
Erupting in
cancerous tumor
Suffocating the breath from our Republic.
Internal impasse
Causing havoc in
our political process
Weakening our whole society
Wrong focus abandoning
problems and suffering of elephantine proportions
No undivided
attention or prayerful consideration for “the
poor, the widow, the fatherless
in their affliction.”
But Weeds of Neglect
in Fields of Desertion.
Passing
over tribulations and untold sufferings
Scant time “to bind up the broken hearted. . . proclaim
liberty to the captive. . .give bread to the hungry. . .water to the thirsty. .
.to comfort all that mourn.”
And Now to the End of our Polarization!
For the Sword of
Truth has revealed this taunting Goliath.
The Giant, the
Consuming Question
The Voter Litmus
Test and The Who to Demonize Guide:
Abortion
And its
sister/cousin:
Gay Marriage
On the left and on
the right
So strong and
unrelenting has been this choking grip that it has become the norm
by which we address all other issues.
A macrocosm, an ingrained, computer like
pattern and response as to how we have notoriously dealt with our differences.
We won’t move.
We won’t budge.
And Now to the End of Our
Polarization!
Differences—what
makes us unique, coming from so many backgrounds:
“Red, and yellow; black and white
We are precious in His sight.”
The richness of
diversity
From the pageantry
of regal worship,
Flowing robes, silver
chalices and stained glass windows,
“Great is Thy Faithfulness, O God my father
Morning by morning, new mercies I see. . .”
To the camp ground
of
Hallelujah!
“Clap, your hands, all ye people,
Shout unto God with the Voice of Triumph”
Psalm 47:1
“Go Down, Moses”
“Swing Low, Sweet Chariot”
The silence of
Quaker meeting—
a pregnant silence,
to bring forth Children of Action.
“I go cheerfully
over the earth, responding to the divine in every person,”
said George Fox, the found of The Society of Friends.
Roger Williams,
founder of Rhode Island, though strong in his Baptist faith, realized,
“Faith, by its
very nature, must be a free act.”
Every snowflake is
different and if we be co-creators with The Creator,
We too must
celebrate our diversity.
And Now to the End of our Polarization:
Dealing with our differences
as assets to enlarge perceptions
As we listen with discernment to one another—
forgiving,
tender hearted--
No longer
differences to magnify and twist out of context
for seeming advantage,
Snatching one sentence here and another one
there.
With careless
haste, not rightly putting them together,
Giving them a
meaning not meant.
“And they send unto Jesus certain of the
Pharisees. . .to catch him in his words. . .”
Mark 12:13
“But the mouth of them that speak lies shall
be stopped.”
Psalm 63:11
“To love abundantly is to live abundantly,
and to love for ever is to live forever.
Hence, eternal life is inextricably bound up
with love. . .
From The Greatest Thing in the World by Henry
Drummond
And Now to the End of Our Polarization:
“If any lack wisdom. . .”James 1
“If any lack wisdom. . .”
Who doesn’t?
Is there anyone
here who thinks they don’t need to ask for wisdom?
What is the
promise?
“. . .it shall be given to her.”
We can know
anything we need to know.
We listen inwardly
for the discernment the Spirit gives
beyond “the seeing of the eye and the hearing of
the ear”
“Judge
not according to appearance but judge righteous judgment.”
John 7:24
Listen!
This is a time to
hear angels sing.
“. . .a thrill of hope,
the weary world rejoices,
for yonder breaks a
new and glorious morn!”
“Stand on your feet. . .”
Yes!
“They that sit in darkness have seen A Great
Light!”
“I am The Light of the World,” He said,
“You are the Light of the World!”
“Let your light so shine before others
that
they may see your good works
and
glorify
your
Father in heaven.”
When Moses came
down from the mountain, his face glowed.
“Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and
John,
and
perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men,
they
marveled;
and they took knowledge of them,
that they had been with Jesus.”
Acts 4:13
“Thy people shall be willing
in the day of thy power,
In the beauties of holiness
from
the womb of the morning:
thou hast the dew of thy youth.
Psalm 110:3
And Now to the End of Our Polarization:
I propose tossing
the history laden labels of Pro-Life and Pro-Choice and starting afresh.
La
Verde de la Vida
Let this be a New
Day with a New Title.
Pro-Life?
Pro-Choice? Oh, no,
I’m
La
Verde de la Vida
We see The Big Picture
and realize that when we come to Solutions—
they are best for
everyone concerned.
As you listen with
your heart, I believe, you, too, will find you are
La
Verde de la Vida—the Green of Life.
“The Lord bless you and keep you and cause
His face to shine upon you.”
And Now to the End of Our Polarization!
I wrote a book for
the healing of America.
I wrote it Among
the Trees of Van Cordlandt Park--which is the first chapter.
Gratefully, this
park is but a stone’s throw from me,
A place frequented
by the whisper of angels—
Angels ascending,
descending,
Showing all the
facets of concerns—which, to the human eye, are too convoluted, too complicated
to understand.
And now to the End of our Polarization of
social issues and Toward a More Perfect Union!
Dr. Rev. John
Santosuosso, a retired professor of political science at the University
of South Florida and also an Episcopal priest, said of my book:
“I found your wonderful book in the
lobby of the WMCA. I just wanted to tell you that it is a very beautiful book
filled with healing and common sense. I
just can’t say enough wonderful things about it. I wish the message could be given to every
America and everyone in the world. It goes far beyond the abortion issue. It’s for healing the hearts and souls of all
of us. The world is crying out for this message. . .You have done something to
heal me today!”
And now to the End of the Polarization of
social issues and Toward a More Perfect Union!
I can see the end, as an example, in the views
of our two presidential candidates. If the truth be known, both think alike
about the polarizing social issues. They
would be relieved to forsake what the single issue advocates, with their distortions,
have sought to bully through and come to the conclusions I have put forth in a
letter to President Obama.
President Barak Obama
The Whitehouse,
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
NW
Washington, DC 20500
Dear Mr. President,
My
prayers are with you tonight.
Quote from Eleanor Roosevelt, “Do what you feel in your heart to
be right--for you’ll be criticized anyway.”
Also this quote (unknown): What you compromise to
keep, you lose.
Stick to Civil Unions. If people want to have marriage
ceremonies, they can still do so. Don’t let this be a voting litmus
test. (Civil Unions might be considered for everyone.)
Abortion: Your Notre Dame speech was excellent. Just because
you believe”
The Reversal of Roe
is not the way to go
does
not mean you are “pro-abortion.” Douglas W. Kmiec, a constitutional
scholar who headed the Office of Legal Counsel under Presidents Ronald Reagan
and George Bush said, “Overturning Roe would have limited affect, Senator Obama
is articulating policies to explore ways to give greater protection to human
life. . . There are clearly partisan forces that want nothing more
than to manufacture or stir up faith based opposition to their political opponents.
Laura Bush, in her book, Spoken from the Heart:
“Abortion should remain legal for medical reasons and other reasons.”
She, and other people like her, who have thought this through,
certainly should not be considered or labeled “pro-abortion.”
Blessings,
Sheilah
Hill
Note:
My book, La Verde de la
Vida, does not address the Gay/Lesbian issue except to give the example of
intersex—when a child is born with both male and female, ovarian and testicular,
tissue. This should help us admit there are
many things we do not know. Why does God permit intersex babies? What should be done? If we had such a baby,
would we, with surgery, decide for a boy or girl or leave the baby alone?
At a mental health drop-in center I met a young man named David
who had been such a baby. His parents
had elected that he be a boy. He was one
of the most unhappy people I have ever met--which he expressed in writing
tragic poetry. He said, “I wish they had
let me alone. Or at least let me be a girl—not a boy.” How can we make a judgment in this case? Isn’t it all right to say, “I don’t know”?
As far as the Gay/Lesbian debate presently tearing at the fabric
of our nation, I believe it is wisdom to promote Civil Unions with all the
advantages of what we call “marriage.” Consider-- two men or two women, who are
not sexual, may wish to be a household—they need Civil Unions.
Always detrimental, single
issue advocacy, insisting on the term of “marriage”, does not realize the whole
picture. And this insistence actually is counter-productive to their cause as it
gets out the opposing vote, electing those who are not sympathetic to this
cause at all—such as, in Ohio when this question was on the ballet. This insistence probably put George Bush back
in office.
It’s important to realize
we are one nation-- seeing the whole and not demonizing those whose views we do
not share. I think of the graciousness of Joel O’steen as he answers this
question and gives his belief of marriage being between one man and one
woman. We come from different
backgrounds. Standing for our rights or
beliefs does not have to be done in hateful ways. Hence, the letter I wrote to President Obama—it
is not liberal, conservative, Democrat or Republican but takes in consideration
all views to what can be acceptable to
most. Forget labels—think things
through.
It is not the economy that is destroying our nation—no money? You could have fooled me with all the money
being thrown about in super paks. The
economy, could right itself with our proper attitudes of listening to one
another. If hearts aren’t right, it
doesn’t matter what they do in Washington.
Conversely, with right spirits, seemingly foolish things could work—historically,
this is true.
“Death and life are in the power of the tongue.. . .For all the law is
fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. But if ye bite and devour one another, take
heed that ye be not consumed one of another.”
-- Proverbs 18:21; Galatians 5:14, 15
Now to the End of our Polarization!
