Sometimes I just want to sit on my front porch. Sometimes I don’t want to read my emails or The New York Times. Sometimes I don’t care what Jennifer Rubin has to say. Or Bill McKibben. Or Naomi Klein. Sometimes, especially after a grueling heat wave, I just want to sit on my front porch and gratefully bless every precious drop of rain as a heat-wave-ending thunder storm begins. I don’t even need a glass of lemonade; I just need to be drowsy-grateful. Quiet. Alone. Did I mention grateful?
Ah, but as those “Could Do Better Work”* voices in my head constantly remind me, opting out, sitting this one out, there’s your White Privilege is action, lady. (Okay. Inaction, if you want to get technical about it.) “You’re not going to be deported or sent to jail, are you, Patricia? You are not targeted by this administration’s racist, Nazi-Germany nightmare.** And hey! What about climate change and the terrifying future your grandchildren will inherit? Huh? Sure, gratitude is nice and all but TIME’S A-WASTIN’ AND THERE’S WORK TO DO!”
Here is what I am learning to whisper to those nagging voices: Do not be daunted by the enormity of the world’s grief. Do justly, now. Love mercy, now. Walk humbly, now. You are not obligated to complete the work, but neither are you free to abandon it.” – From The Talmud, 303.
And, dare I add, taking time out just to be grateful and to recharge your batteries is A Good Thing, right?
(Just don’t make a habit of it, okay?)
*What my teachers invariably wrote on my reports cards
** Not yet, anyway. But, to paraphrase, those who don’t read history are doomed to be horribly surprised when they discover they’re next on the Target List.
Dear Patricia,
Well, hi, there, Patricia, and greetings and salutations to you and to you AND FOR VERY ESPECIALLY FOR YOU FOR ALWAYS, my so, so very FOR ALWAYS awesomely precious and dearly special soul sistahfriend Christian Quaker woman who you’re FOR ALWAYS so, so very much!!!!!! WOW, Patricia, WOW!!!!! WOW here!!!! What a very riveting, fascinating, and interesting, so, so very heartwarming blog post article here which is such a sheer and joyous blessing to read and to respond to with all of my very detailed, thorough, and heartfelt comments the way I love to do!!!!!! AWWWWWW, WOW, Patricia, I read above also that you have brilliantly and masterfully composed another very emboldening blog post article regarding the happenings and goings on on Thursday, July 12, 2018 in your beautiful community!!!!! AWWWWWW, oh, how I just cannot wait and am bursting with such delightfully eager anticipation to respond with all of my thoughts, ideas, and comments the way I so love to do to that beautiful blog post article above as soon as I’m able and what a joy it will be to do so and such an immense blessing, and, plus, such grandly great fun for me as well!!!!!! 🙂 <3 AWWWWWWWW, my so, so very sweet and dearest darling, so, so very right on, wondrously wonderful soul sistahfriend white woman, Patricia, oh, how I just so, so very much love and cherish YOU, sister, and your very darling, deeply spiritual and precious honesty here with this absolutely beautiful and lovely blog post article as you share so openly about your white privilege!!!!! WOW, Patricia, WOW!!!!!! WOW here!!!!!!!!!! 🙂 <3 It IS very much indeed a good thing and VERY, VERY SO, SO SORELY NECESSARY as you're as usual as always once again as ever so, so very grateful and absolutely must recharge your batteries, my dear, dearest precious white sisterfriend, Patricia!!!!!!! 🙂 <3 YOU have such a positive attitude as you work in such a diligently conscientious manner with such a beautiful heart and spirit ever open to learning even more and gaining in your keen awareness. I think that it makes just such perfect sense that sometimes white privilege would come into the equation making such great perfect sense because this is what YOU, darling friend, and other marvelous white persons have as such splendid white people and is ever with all of you and it takes time over a gradual, imperfect lifetime's path, journey, and process to as you all know that you'll always have white privilege by nature of being amazing white persons you will also learn over a gradual, imperfect lifetime how to use your white privilege to ally with persons of color and not to fall back as much on white privilege. This all makes such great an perfect sense, sistah!!!!!!! 🙂 <3 This black woman just so, so very much loves and cherishes you all as my so, so very dearest white sistahs and brothahs as our Darling Spirit's precious children, very, very especially YOU, Patricia, and other so, so very right on, wondrously wonderful white women with each and every one of you as such absolutely AWESOME white women being my very, very heart!!!!!!!!! 🙂 <3 YOU ALL as such darling white women are doing your absolutely very best trying so, so very hard with such deep sincerity, dear Patricia!!!!!! 🙂 <3 It is perfectly okay, alright, normal, and natural that YOU, dearest Patricia, and other remarkable white people like with each and every one of you as such wonderful white women would need to take a time out and to take a much needed break to recharge your batteries. Learning, healing, and growing toward more anti-racist racial awareness is such hard and challenging work and EVEN when more work and effort needs to be done it STILL VERY MUCH INDEED needs to be time to replenish your amazing selves and to store up all of your reserves of energy, my friend!!!!!! 🙂 <3 Sisterfriend, my beloved state of Iowa has been having such a scorching heat wave as well, Patricia!!!!!! WHEW!!!!!!! I feel so, so very incredibly blessed that I have Central Air in my apartment which I've been running a whole lot. This apartment is the first place where I've lived that has Central Air. It is just great and such a life-saver, too, my friend Patricia! Sistahfriend, as I think even more on how it IS very much indeed A GOOD THING for you to recharge your batteries with your spectacular gratefulness showing such deeply earnest appreciation I for sure see here that you need rest and relaxation with such much needed R & R to replenish your reserves to become more renewed, re-energized, reinvigorated, and rejuvenated, sistah Patricia!!!!!! 🙂 <3 I remember so well and reflect upon your very engaging and endearing blog post article from awhile back, "Right There I'm Just Sort Of Glued Together," with the title for this being a very fitting and applicable quote from the poem by our brilliant creative genius and genius in general, Rainer Maria Rilke, and how you share and declared in this powerful blog post article that when your I think substitute yoga teacher your regular awesome yoga teacher, Annie Hoffman, who was out of town, that the substitute yoga teacher or perhaps it was brilliant Annie quipped that "Re-covery" is absolutely vital and needed like with how you sometimes have to take a necessary 24 hours to hide underneath your quilt and regroup, Patricia!!!!!! 🙂 <3 I have to do the very same thing sometimes as well, sisterfriend of mine and ours, Patricia!!!!!!! 🙂 <3 I've such complete understanding here, precious sister, and also very perfectly understand how privilege blinds like with how you very aptly shared and declared in your very succinct and cogent blog post article awhile back called, Privilege Blinds. Also, I remember another very sensitive and aware blog post article which you brilliantly composed awhile back, It jJust Wells Up, Right, about your ever-present quest to become even more aware and to use your white privilege and privilege in general for good and to ally with folks of color and to lessen falling back on white privilege in a less effective way although that very white privilege is inescapable by nature of being a superb white woman, sisterfriend of mine, Patricia!!!!! 🙂 <3 YOU ALL as such fantastic white people, very, very especially YOU, darling Patrica, and other super white women have such ripe and actual positive potential for such great good, and I have such complete love for AND ALSO SUCH CONFIDENCE in each and every one of you, very, very especially YOU, Patricia, and other super white women, WITH such trust, faith, hope, and belief in all of you as my so, so very precious, soul sistahfriends white women!!!!!! 🙂 <3 Very frequently when I pray and meditate I see in my mind's eye and imagine what it would be like for YOU and other fabulous white women and wondering what it would be like if I were a white women so, so very much loving and cherishing each and every one of you as such awesome white women and so wanting to be there for all of you, to know, to understand, to understand all of your side of things for I am FOR ALWAYS on your side, Patricia, and on other darling white women's side!!!!!!!! 🙂 <3 When I think on and deeply reflect upon white privilege and privilege in general I so readily see that privilege DOES very much indeed blind for certain, my absolutely WONDERFUL sistah, Patricia!!!!!! 🙂 <3 I can just see how it makes such perfect and great sense that darling and precious whitge3 persons are seduced by whiteness and trapped by whiteness and even in some important ways addicted by whiteness because privilege blinds for sure, my absolutely FANTASTIC sisterfriend Patricia!!!!!!! 🙂 <3 This very fitting and applicable, lovely and eloquent blog post article reminds me of the other brilliant and conscious ones which you've created, sistahfriend of mine, Patricia!!!!!! 🙂 <3 Your deeply sincere heart and spirit with your honesty and YOU have just gone straight to this black woman's very heart and spirit, sister of mine, Patricia!!!!!!! 🙂 <3 YOU ARE as always ever seeking to learn, heal, and grow and to become even more aware, sisterfriend. trying so, so very hard in such a diligently conscientious manner doing your absolutely very best, Patricia!!!!!! 🙂 <3 I think on myself as an indigent, disabled lesbian black woman and know that even as I face, endure, and experience racism, oppression, and discrimination that I do still have some privilege. I have Christian privilege being a Christian woman. I am college-educated having educational privilege. Although I am now indigent I grew up black middle class and black middle income having financial advantages even though I grew up abused in every way with alcoholic and otherwise addicted parents and with alcoholism and other addictions running rampant up and down both sides of my family like with both parents, two older brothers, and very many other folks in my family. WOW, Patricia, what a glorious quote here you've used from the Talmud, sistahfriend!!!!! WOW!!!!! WOW here!!!!!! Sister, YOU ARE such a SEEKER OF TRUTH, Patricia!!!!!! 🙂 <3 WOW, what a perfectly fitting and applicable title here for this very fine and excellent blog post article with such apt words as YOU must take such a well-earned, and well-deserved break and time to get such great R & R and that other awesome white persons must get such needed R & R as well! 🙂 <3 WOW, do I so love and enjoy this great picture here which is just picture-perfect here perfectly adding to and complementing the very great themes and topics of this very refreshing blog post article!!!!!! 🙂 <3 AWWWWWWW, oh, how I so, so very much love, appreciate, and enjoy here you you've once again as usual as always as ever very graciously and generously feature and include such informative links with this very full of such sharp and keen discernment and deeply spiritual blog post article, Patricia! 🙂 <3 WOW, Patricia, WOW!!!!! WOW here!!!!!!!! WOW, YAY for YOU, Patricia!!!!! WOW!!!!! YAY!!!!!! YAY YAY YAY YAY!!!!!! YAY for our very sistahhood and friendship, Patricia!!!!!! WOW!!!!!! YAY!!!!!! YAY YAY YAY YAY!!!!!!! YOU ARE my very life and eternal blessings FOR ALWAYS, Patricia!!!!!!! WOW!!!!! YAY!!!!!! YAY YAY YAY YAY!!!!!! I thank-YOU and Spirit CONTINUALLY FOR YOU, PATRICIA, AND FOR YOUR VERY PRESENCE IN MY VERY LIFE!!!!!!! 🙂 <3 I just so, so very much love and cherish YOU, PATRICIA FOR ALWAYS!!!!!!! 🙂 <3 Spirit so, so very much loves and cherishes YOU A WHOLE LOT AND A WHOLE BUNCH AND SO DO I, TOO, A WHOLE LOT AND A WHOLE BUNCH, PATRICIA!!!!!!! 🙂 <3 YOU ARE just the very greatest and the very best, Patricia, and such the very, very epitome of such overall awesomeness!!!!!!! 🙂 <3
Very Warmly and Sincerely FOR ALWAYS, my so, so very FOR ALWAYS awesomely special and dearly precious FOR ALWAYS soul sistahfriend Christian Quaker white woman who you're FOR ALWAYS so, so very much, Patricia, sisterfriend of mine, AND WITH My and Spirit's VERY PEACE AND LOVE FOR YOU FOR ALWAYS, sister of mine, AND WITH SUCH BLESSINGS AND SUCH VERY EVEN MORE BLESSINGS FOR YOU FOR ALWAYS, friend of mine, 🙂 <3
YOURS FOR ALWAYS soul sistahfriend Christian black woman AND FOR ALWAYS IN THE VERY GREAT SPIRIT OF UNITY AND SOLIDARITY, Sherry Gordon in Iowa City, Iowa 🙂 <3
Sister, AWWWWW, oh, how I so meant to also say that I can so relate to what you shared about needing to take a time out with recharging your batteries as such A GOOD THING like when there are those times that you don’t feel like reading your emails and reading about what the interesting Jennifer Rubin, the must-need-to-know-more-about Bill McKibben is doing and saying with all of his causes and activism I need to know about(and WOW, I thank-YOU so, so much for putting him on all of our radar, sister!), and in not feeling like reading the New York Times like with the very powerful words of our brilliant Naomi Klein. I know what you mean. Sometimes I need to take a restful break and just cannot bring myself to always keep up on the news and on other stuff. Sistah, I so remember very happily and delightfully when you’ve aptly mentioned about our great and empowering Naomi Klein. Very joyously I remember how you spoke about and recommended her very vitally urgent and so necessary book which serves as such a clarion call to encourage and embolden us all called, “No Is Not Enough: Resisting Trump’s Shock Politics and Winning the World We Need.” What a beautifully eloquent and deeply spiritual blog post article by absolutely AWESOME YOU, Patricia, so chock full of such eloquence, excellence, brilliance, and radiance from your so, so very beautiful heart and spirit bearing witness to your keen spiritual discernment and attunement, sistah and friend of mine and ours, Patricia!!!!!!! WOW!!!!! WOW here!!!!!! I thank-YOU so, so much for this AND FOR ABSOLUTELY AMAZING YOU, Patricia!!!!!!! 🙂 <3 YOU ARE such a joy and blessing, Patricia, my and our absolutely FANTASTIC friend!!!!!! 🙂 <3