Musings from a lazy Saturday afternoon

My person: a pool, a biodynamic system of critters and chlorophyll. Silent and reflective, all that glimmers is a glassy sheen. See the water-walking insects leaving indentations on the surface. It gives a whisper of way but never quite breaks.

Of you, I ask something more. Don't just admire the cold stillness of my surface. All you see is your own damn reflection, your prejudices and preconceptions and self-professed tolerance confirmed. Don't just look at me; look into me. Tear through the water's skin. Let yourself feel the slippery rocks, the warmth of moisture that indicates a life like yours and unlike yours.

The (Interfaith) Faith Council

Many many heartfelt apologies for being the most delinquent member of this blog. Indeed, I have shirk'd. The last few months of crazy work weeks, instensive efforts to make friends, do good work, have fun - in short, live life - is culminating in what is going to be a profusion of prolific blog-writing for me. Just you wait, my friends. And I swear it's going to be meaningful. Some of it is going to be prosaic (muahaha). And other parts will just be plain ole fun.

Meanwhile, here's something that caught my eye at 2 AM and made me just a little bit happier about the events that are transpiring in our political capital. From the "On Faith" section of the Washington Post, a post from Eboo Patel.

The Faith Council Begins Its Work.

Excerpt:

It was exhilarating and exhausting at the same time. There was a palpable
sense that we live at a time of both profound possibility and also very real
peril. Just about everybody who spoke underscored two things: we need an
all-hands-on-deck approach, and there is no time to waste.

We've heard a lot about every other council and committee meeting, but here's one that has received very little attention in the media. Of course, the mainstream media doesn't really like to report on anything indicative of PROGRESS or cooperation, does it? In short, anything less than sensational and alarmists is simply not news-worthy these days. But this is important to me. And should be important to many others as well.

I would probably be just as ecstatic and optimistic as Eboo if I were on the faith council, trying forge some new paths toward greater awareness, understanding and religious pluralism. I don't ever remember hearing about a Faith Council during the Bush administration. Does anyone else? Like many other happy beginnings in the Obama administration (although we have yet to see the fruits of these efforts), l feel like the mere fact that these things are taking place - that people are being galvanized and re-energized into THINKING in more a optimistic, progressive and collaborative manner - is encouraging enough.

Listening: A Reflection

Is it possible to listen selflessly? During my first month of work at my new volunteer placement, I witnessed someone who did. The man who came in that morning was a practiced victim, even if a well-deserving one. His answers to my colleague's questions were peppered with tearful anecdotes and self-pitying asides. "All my friends have abandoned me," he wailed at one point. Every muscle in my body retaliated with a collective clench. "Give me a break," jeered my mind's voice. But my colleague's facial expression remained soft, even as the fellow continued to wax poetic on a theme of Woe Is Me.

Never have I seen myself as a particularly thoughtful listener. I'm constantly fighting the urge to speak, to have a voice, to make my point and my mark on a conversation. Rarely has wholehearted listening been an act of surrender I've wanted to make (somewhat ironic for a lifelong musician, no?). But my colleague has unwittingly offered me inspiration and a challenge.

What will it take for me to change? Patience? Compassion? Humility? Some combination of the three? And what will it cost? Am I willing to let down my guard and allow another person's experiences to permeate my own? Call it trite, call it kindergarten, but for me, it's one of the hardest things I'll ever do.