September 2016     REFLECTIONS ON LIFE

REFLECTIONS ON HOME IN COLUMBIA

Lloyd and I were at home for only the first week of September.  Every day the sun was bright and the air fresh though quite warm with starry skys at night for us to observe from our two large bedroom windows.  We took our 5K walk in the Middle Patuxent Valley path each day and felt reinvigorated upon our ending up walking around the pond in our yard to our back door.

Now that we have returned from our three weeks’ drive along the coast of northern California and Oregon, I am aware that the Lennon and McCartney quote with which I end each month’s message is more than rarely showing up for me.  Unlike most times when this quote comes to mind, it is now the “pools of sorrow” rather than the “waves of joy” taking prominence.

I’m not clear why that is so.  Perhaps I will get some clarity during my morning meditations.  I know it is not merely because of the abysmal tone and level of the presidential campaign engulfing us.  The judgmental name calling is so degrading and can so easily pull us down into the abyss.  Please promise me that if you ever observe me doing that – either verbally or in writing – you will “tap me on the shoulder” and remind me of this message. Of course Lloyd and I are voting for Hillary and strongly urging absolutely everyone we know, including many former fellow Bernie Sanders supporters, of the necessity that they do the same. I do hope she shows the wisdom to get beyond simply responding to his outrageous statements and raises herself up, with dignity and truth, and us along with her regarding issues of justice – social, environmental, and particularly economic. 

                   

The “pools of sorrow” to which I refer go far beyond politics, at times questioning the basic goodness of us human beings on this earth.  Then just when I become aware of faint possibility of despair setting in, I hear Thich Nhat Hanh’s words which I wrote in a recent message:  “We are more than than our sorrow, We must be able to smile to our sorrow.” 

Since returning home last week, I have had what I believe is a very valuable and beneficial insight about my participation in our Columbia community. Four years ago when I decided not to run for public office again , I was clear that I was not going to “hang on” to the trappings – many meetings, etc. Yet in recent months, I have come to the realization that I have mistakenly fallen into the belief that if I would only go to more meetings, talk with more people, write more letters I could help redirect the economic injustice being perpetrated here.  Upon our return we noticed the new real estate signs sprouting up along Cedar Lane and other roads advertising new “Luxury Apartments” in Wilde Lake, Columbia’s first village where Jim Rouse lived.  I have no problem with luxury apartments, as a matter of fact some of my close friends live in them.  I do have a GREAT BIG problem with the current appearance that the county may allow ONLY luxury apartments since there is no requirement in the plan adopted several years ago to build any low or moderately priced units be built. Our County Council and County Executive have the power to change that and we citizens have the civic responsibility to make it clear that they must do so.

When I finish composing this message, Lloyd and I will go out on this magnificent sunny day and walk our beloved Middle Patuxent Valley hilly path.  We will talk about Jim Rouse and the beautiful human spirit he exhibited in creating Columbia.  We will also talk about what we can do to keep alive his oft stated goal to create a community where the CEO and the janitor can live side by side.

REFLECTIONS ON ZACH

The majestic views that encompassed Lloyd and me as we drove the west coast of our country provided quite a fertile backdrop for countless images of Zach.  The  ruggedness and solidity of the huge rocks in the surf so strongly contrasted with the alternating soaring and diving of the majestic sea birds.  Zach showed up as both the strength of those rocks and the gracefulness and agility of those birds. Although he used to tease me about my love affair with the sun’s risings and settings, particularly by the sea, I am aware that he loved them as much, and possibly during his last year on this earth, even more deeply than I.

Out west we spent most nights in rooms in rustic surroundings, some with decks overlooking the roaring Pacific.  Such a clear example of the irony of that ocean’s name.  The stars and planets were even brighter than when viewed from our bedroom window at home.  On more than a few days we bought sandwiches during the afternoon’s ride and ate them for dinner out on the deck of that night’s room.  Zach was right there with us

Now back in our home in Columbia, when I wake during the night I think for a moment or two that the stars I see from our bed through the windows are also above Oregon.

I am now sitting by our dining room window composing this message on a beautiful early autumn day.  The first of the golden and reddish leaves are gently swirling, reflecting as they fall into the contrasting dark water of the pond right outside that window.  Yes, Zach is reflected simultaneously with those colorful leaves in that same pond by which he loved to play as a little boy. The presence of his spirit is palpable

REFLECTIONS ON BALTIMORE, MY HOMETOWN

Lloyd and I read the Washington Post and Baltimore Sun cover to cover every day.  Usually when we return home from a long vacation it takes a few days to get through the papers that have accumulated.  This year we made the momentous decision to stop delivery.  We didn’t even use the internet to read them.  Nor did we watch much TV.  In fact, some of the rooms we slept in didn’t have TV’s.  It was surprisingly easy to adapt to this very basic change in our daily routine.

There is one article from the Baltimore Sun that I want to include below. I recall several times when I visited Carla Hayden in her office in Baltimore’s Enoch Pratt Library on Cathedral Street.  Years before when I was in high school on North Charles Street, I would stop in that library during my transfer time between buses before I headed west on Route 40 to the Edmondson Village area where I lived.  What a great and transformative Librarian of Congress she will be.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwj5z_my98PPAhVCHB4KHTvoBdUQFggcMAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdigitaledition.baltimoresun.com%2Ftribune%2Farticle_popover.aspx%3Fguid%3Dfe27d180-08b4-434f-9905-9b4679baa3f7&usg=AFQjCNEq1pfHjY4psk5lo6WnQY7EYx0v3A&sig2=4brkuQJ3dpHml_T4aFFC0g&bvm=bv.134495766,d.dmo

A few weeks ago I visited the Catholic Basilica where I also stopped in regularly on my way home from school directly across the street from the Pratt Library.  This recent occasion was for celebration of the canonization of Mother Teresa during a mass conducted by Baltimore’s Cardinal Lori.  Lloyd stayed in the car reading the Sunday paper while I went in to this very moving mass attended by many families with children.  An off shoot of the order of nuns founded by Mother Teresa settled in Baltimore quite a few years ago, and many of them were present for this mass.  After mass, Lloyd drove to Baltimore’s Lloyd Street to see the Jewish Museum where Zach worked during its renovation several years ago.  Later we had corned beef sandwiches in Baltimore’s landmark Attman’s Deli.  Zach had taken us on a tour of the museum the year before his second brain tumor became evident.  A rabbi was taking a group on a tour at the same, and he and Zach got into a conversation about the restoration.  The Rabbi eventually invited Zach up front to help him lead the group and point out features of which he himself was not aware.

What beautiful Baltimore memories these are for me.

REFLECTIONS ON PUBLIC POLICY IN OUR STATE AND NATION

Sad news that Dr. Peter Beilensen’s health insurance co-op is going “for-profit.”

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=3&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjUqsjf98PPAhXCkh4KHQ60CBwQFggzMAI&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.pressreader.com%2Fusa%2Fthe-washington-post%2F20161004%2F281565175260315&usg=AFQjCNH1Vt2-5vApilFnNeHS7G2tb13tgg&sig2=YsweMH_r3CwYy25ksfsYoA&bvm=bv.134495766,d.dmo

As a member of the Maryland legislature I spent what then seemed like countless hours working with Johns Hopkins Professor Avi Ruben, a nationally recognized computer expert, in an effort to change the voting system described below.  To no avail.  For some reason we were never successful in unveiling that the Maryland Board of Elections was wed to this insecure system, and the legislative “leaders” were unwilling to buck them.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjcro2f-MPPAhUDXh4KHZOOBWQQFggcMAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthewashingtonpost.newspaperdirect.com%2Fepaper%2Fviewer.aspx%3Fissue%3D10472016093000000000001001%26page%3D23%26article%3D41a99fbc-cfd8-4173-a832-f84ce70e3c5c%26key%3DgaE9nVPrpjvZnrHu8t%2FTrA%3D%3D%26feed%3Drss%26google%3D1&usg=AFQjCNGvsMfqtWVtcPQ0KFrJFEHjmeICEw&sig2=n5ohxy9-JB_Gim2MboExXw&bvm=bv.134495766,d.dmo

The term “infrastructure” seems so mild in comparison to the terrorism and war we read about daily.  Yet the train crash in New Jersey reported on in the Baltimore Sun article below is a great big warning that, as a nation, we better find the time and resources to address the serious weaknesses in our infrastructure.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjv4N-7-MPPAhVFFh4KHe6NCPIQFggcMAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdigitaledition.baltimoresun.com%2Ftribune%2Farticle_popover.aspx%3Fguid%3D9fb48534-39e2-4589-b542-13300e85c985&usg=AFQjCNFCSoEutDwicKi5fsF8dlijYPHJ8Q&sig2=VRH2GQb3Td7KZiptlGbSvA&bvm=bv.134495766,d.dmo

REFLECTIONS ON OUR PLANET BEYOND THE UNITED STATES

Will the Syrian people ever see peace?

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwi8xvzJ-MPPAhVJ9h4KHaNRBewQFggcMAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthewashingtonpost.newspaperdirect.com%2Fepaper%2Fviewer.aspx%3Fissue%3D10472016100100000000001001%26page%3D1%26article%3Db9781117-abaf-4fb5-8aee-662546c92c0d%26key%3DgQ2stwmrq5q5E01yxfbXtQ%253D%253D%26feed%3Drss&usg=AFQjCNF0cgm3XE93UrhPQ7Lx23VL4X7BeA&sig2=HpLTfsu-oVmMUKr1-K-kHA&bvm=bv.134495766,d.dmo

The world mourns the death of Israel’s Peres

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwj9kO_e-MPPAhXFqR4KHYh_B_8QFggcMAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthewashingtonpost.newspaperdirect.com%2Fepaper%2Fviewer.aspx%3Fissue%3D10472016093000000000001001%26page%3D1%26article%3Dbe3b1fac-f49d-4ab7-b480-7e5558421656%26key%3DdgKr1HBlmZyZIvd4fYyYjA%253D%253D%26feed%3Drss&usg=AFQjCNFIXZ4KF08App2Pb4JsWDrbQ4sMKg&sig2=74h03gEbK7LSeTiS-6Ocdw&bvm=bv.134495766,d.dmo

Haiti holds a very special place in my heart because of my Mom’s dear friend and spiritual advisor, Father Richard Frechette, who oversees a hospital and numerous schools in Port au Prince.  This man, who once served as a parish priest at St. Joseph’s Monastery on Frederick Road in Baltimore – my mom’s church in her later years – has devoted his life to easing the suffering of the Haitian people.  He literally works in the trenches with them.  Not long after moving to Haiti, he commuted to Florida to medical school and became a M.D. in order to be able to minister physically to the Haitian people. On a visit home shortly before Zach’s death, he phoned me to say he would like to visit Zach and pray with his family.  Zach’s parents, Lloyd and I and about five other family members were present in Zach’s room.  Zach showed no outward signs of awareness of our all praying together, and yet we all knew he was praying with us.  I later had the opportunity two years ago to visit Haiti and be with the beautiful people of that beleaguered country in their villages and homes.  They so clearly deserve a “second chance” at a fair election.

REFLECTIONS ON OUR UNIVERSE

A Poem by the great Sufi master HAFIZ:

SOME OF THE PLANETS ARE HOSTING

The ear becomes alert when music says,

"I am over here."

The eye goes on duty,

Becomes viable,

When beauty whistles and points to her dress

On the ground.

God has sent out ten thousand messengers

Announcing a great bash tonight some of the planets

Are hosting

Where the lead singer is God,

Himself.

But most of those couriers

Have become drunk, got waylaid,

Disoriented to the hilt

With such exalted

News.

And can no longer remember

The time and the

Place.

What does that have to do

With you?

Plenty.

Hafiz will fill you in later

If need

Be.

Pools of sorrow, waves of joy

Are drifting through my open mind

Possessing and caressing me

Across the Universe

~Lennon and McCartney

Be well and love life.

~ Liz