I’m going to Quaker Meeting today for the first time in a while. Quakerism has been a huge and transformative influence in my life. I think it’s time for me to go back.
I’m going in part because it will help my spiritual work, partly because of a Quaker friend whose memorial service I attended yesterday, and partly because I want to hold women in the light.
That’s a Quaker term for thinking of someone in pain, fear, or distress, which so many women are.
This is all well beyond the rough and tumble of politics; it is heartbreaking and frightening. No just or decent court would do this in this cruel and callous way.
They didn’t have to go this far and reject empathy and compassion. The courts are supposed to protect our rights, not take them away.
I got a message from a young woman in Idaho this morning; she is pregnant and will now drop out of school because she can not get an abortion. She is heartbroken and cannot understand how this freedom to live her own life was taken from her.
She is poor and can’t leave her sick mother to travel right now, and she is afraid of going to jail. She told me she is devastated because her life has just been taken away from her.
In the meeting this morning, I will ask – either privately or out loud, I love the silence of meetings – that this young woman and women everywhere be held in the light. Whatever it does or doesn’t do, this will make me feel better and brace me for the work and struggle ahead.
I very much like what I read in Michelle Obama’s statement about the Supreme Court decision; she has a pure and honest heart and a positive perspective on the world.
“This moment is difficult, but our story does not end here. It may not feel like we can do much now, but we can. And we must. If you’re like me and you want to get started right now, I encourage you to channel your frustration and anger into action by getting involved. Organizations like Planned Parenthood and The United States of Women, among many others, have resources you can look to if you want to help others or need help yourself.
Our hearts may be broken today, but tomorrow, we’ve got to get up and find the courage to keep working towards creating the more just America we all deserve. We have so much left to push for, to rally for, to speak
for-and I know we can do this together.”
I love every word of her statement. It is a time to be calm, not angry, strong, not frightened, forward-looking, not backward. What’s done is done.
We’re talking about the future, especially the future of young women, whose freedom has just been taken from them.
It moves beyond anger and fear and into the light. The light is where we want to be and need to be. The light will lead us to a better and more just place. The light can do what anger and fear cannot.
In my lifetime, women have come so far and worked so hard.
I do not believe they will or can ever be made to go backward, not by politicians, broken men, people who call themselves Christians, or judges who hide from the world behind their black robes.
My idea for myself is to do the best I can for as long as I can. This morning, the best I can do is hold women in the light, no matter what they believe.
Ulyesses on another island…journeying Home.
I recently read a long forgotten book: “Prairie Schooner Princess” by Mary Katherine Maule, a Nebraskan writer. It describes a journey Westwards by covered wagon but is particularly interesting because the family are Quaker. It is rather like an American Swiss Family Robinson.
I am aghast at the work of the Supreme Court. One Rejoicing Republican said we can return to the original Constituion.Oh yes? Slavery, no votes for women , men may beat their wives, etc, etc
What I happening to our country?.
I’ve noted the criticism you received supporting the Catholic Church for your work helping immigrant families and their children receive basic needs in education, food, etc. and I’m sorry this is happening. I am pro-choice, however I believe people are losing sight of taking care of each other when they are pulled in opposite directions by power and politics. When I worked for Catholic Charities, I remember ministering to a homeless individual who was undocumented. He is in his sixties and has no rights to social security due to his undocumented status even though he paid taxes through his paychecks for decades. His life is full of health challenges from hard labor and so he is in and out of the hospitals and then back onto the streets late in life. He worked as a landscaper for a company when he was young, now in older age, he tends to gardens on the wealthier side of town where sometimes he is offered a garden shed to sleep in if the weather is too hot or too cold. After his last time out of the hospital, we were able to secure him a bed for a six month stay, this is the limit of how long you can stay in a temporary shelter where I live. I know this is a long story, but I wanted to illustrate how important it is, for us not get into debates and political struggles with each other losing our humanity and care of one another in the process. Thank you Jon for staying in your heart and finding the strength to continue with your work helping people and animals. I hope you find peace and light in the Quaker Meetings and know that you are doing good.
Thanks Janet, very well said..It’s not always easy but it has been very worthwhile..
Absolutely beautiful photos. Reading about the gal in Idaho is heartbreaking. And, yes, Michelle Obama is a “great” lady.
Very true words and I love the idea of holding women to the light – a very powerful idea. Photos are beautiful.
Michelle Obama on overturning Roe “The more we allow pessimism to push us further into helplessness, the less we will be empowered to help create the kind of country we want to live in.”
I still support birth control methods. To prevent those unwanted pregnacies . But i do not support killin babies!
Thanks, Sue, you should support whatever you believe… I hope you grant others the same right.