My Place in History

It has been an amazing experience to travel to our nation’s capitol to be a part of this historic event. From the elated buzz on the flight from Milwaukee to Reagan National Airport, to the incomprehensible mobs of people, to the serene and hopeful moment of hushed silence just before Barack Obama took the oath of office, this has been an experience I will never forget, and try as I might, will never adequately describe.

The crowds were simply overwhelming in size, so often it seemed as though there was no end to the people, and moving in a collective mass quickly became the norm. My experience of this diverse, beautiful mix of people was so friendly, considerate, and united, that I was not at all surprised to hear reported that on Inauguration Day with two million people in attendance, there was not one single arrest made.

On that day, after hours of trying to make it through the crowd that seemed to never end, and through the security check I started to settle in to watch the swearing in ceremony. Standing there behind the reflecting pool at the front of the mall, I turned in attempt to take in the moment, and to survey the crowd. The view of the huge, elated crowd, waving American flags, for as far as the eye could see, with the Washington Monument in the backdrop was a simply breath-taking sight.

As many others in my generation, I have been critical of my government, and have not felt the sense of American patriotism that my parents and grandparents often describe. And at that moment, taking in that view, the simple thought came to mind, we actually did it. And then the tears began to freely flow, overwhelmed at the power of diverse people to come together with hope and optimism in these uncertain times.

And before I knew it, from seeing my tears, complete strangers around me were crying too, and then they were hugging me, and it was the moment that we had all come all that way to experience.

The swearing-in ceremony was moving, the speech by President Barack Obama was powerful and inspiring, and of course Malia and Sasha were undoubtedly the crowd favorites. And then it was over. We were back in the moving mass of people (sometimes not moving much) walking the seven blocks back to my friends’ apartment, which took two hours to navigate with many detours and the slow pace, and it was cold. This wasn’t the most pleasant walking conditions, but it was somehow different. The crowd was more subdued- no chants or song singing, and it was as though we were ready to get on with the business of being America. The energy of anticipation of this big day had been transformed to a deep sense of peace and together as individuals we walked forward as one.

Just Another Official Letter from the U.S. Senate

I am not the best at reading my mail.  I don't even get much mail, pay all my bills online and try to avoid as much of the paper stuff as possible.

So it comes to be that stacks of the snail mail will mound before I get around to going through it, this generally takes a few weeks.  No exception during the holiday season though I try to sift out the holiday cards.

When I do get around to getting through it all, I am totally used to all of my celebrity friends writing to me about their favorite causes.  I get all sorts of mail from Richard Gere, sometimes even some nice Tibetan Prayer Flags thrown in, as he is sharing with me the latest news from Tibet, though sometimes the Dalai Lama prefers to write me himself.  Leonardo DiCaprio has been writing recently he cares an awful lot about the earth and wants me to know that.  I think he is working with the NRDC, but I am not exactly sure. Then there was the recent postcard from Michelle and Barack thanking me for all I did.  That sure was sweet.

So yes, it is quite normal for my famous friends to write.  Clearly this is why I was not phased when I received an envelope from the United States Senate. To be fair I should have noted that part on the envelope that said Official Business, but on my defense it was very small print!

So for weeks this rather important piece of mail sat.  This piece of mail dated December 18, 2008.

So today, January 2, 2009, I decided to go through my mail.  And instead of asking for money, or my time or volunteer efforts, to my shock and excitement, Senator Debbie Stabenow of the great state of Michigan was writing to let me know that her office received over 12,000 requests for Inauguration tickets, that she was given less that 400 tickets and that she wanted me to have two of them!

I think I am going to start reading my mail, just a little bit closer from now on...

P.S. Senator Levin, I know you were sorry not to be able to grant my request for tickets, but I wanted you to know, Senator Stabenow, is going to have to be my favorite Senator now, and please don't confuse this for a bribe, but if you wanted to throw a few more tickets in my direction, I have some friends that would very much like to make you their favorite Senator :)

What Do I Think About Rick Warren?

Ok, so I am frequently being asking what my opinion is on the Rick Warren selection for the invocation at the inauguration, and it is time to get this out once and for all.  

I am mad as hell that Rick Warren was selected to give the invocation.  I am mad that on the biggest human rights issue of our day, the candidate I worked endlessly for has decided to literally begin his presidency by giving the stage to someone who worked so hard to take the rights away of so many California citizens.  Take rights away, I can't believe I am even typing those horrible words.  If I hear one more person tell me it was a smart political move for Obama, I just might throw up.  I didn't work this hard for this kind of "smart political moves."

As a Democrat, as an Obama volunteer and supporter, and as a person who deeply loves gay and lesbian family members and friends I am nothing short of furious!

But I do not wish to write today from any of those perspectives (though it would be easy to do...)

Today, I wish to write to you as an OUTRAGED Christian!  I just can't take it anymore!  ENOUGH!  Seriously, dammit ENOUGH!  

How, I ask you, how can the millions of American Christians, sit back and continue to allow their faith to be tarnished and marked by injustice and prejudice.  What world are they living in?  What faith are they following that makes this behavior acceptable?  

How is Christianity any place other than the leading edge of the fight for equality?  How is Christianity any place other than the leading edge of inclusion and acceptance and wholeness! How can Christianity and its followers possibly be responsible for discrimination against a minority group of Americans?

So in all my fury and outrage, here I sit.  Yet, again questioning if remaining in the Christian movement is something I have the courage to do.  I sit deeply ashamed of mainstream Christianity in this country today.  I sit wishing Rick Warren wasn't the face of Christianity to millions of people.  I sit ready to act and fight and work to end this last form of  socially acceptable, truly rotten discrimination.  

And I simply sit.

As a child it was almost more than I could bare to come to grips with the reality that  I was white while learning of the pain and suffering "my people" had caused African-Americans.  

And yet, like it or not, it is a part of me.  But I hope dealing with the pain of that reality took me to a place of greater awareness.

So much of my time in the Christian movement is time spent with those just like me. The Progressive Christians that aren't interested in dogma or particular beliefs.  They don't take the Bible literally, but look to it as one of many sources of poetry and metaphoric wisdom.  These Progressive Christians care about the earth, work for equality for all people, love to use their mind and intellect to question and wonder, are followers of Darwin, champions for the poor and are inspired social activists. 

All Christianity is not equal.  But all Christianity is part of the human experience of trying to understand life.  And a part of understanding life is wrestling with prejudice, and injustice, and at times even hatred.

So for today, I will sit with the utter agony of holding both the peace and the pain that my religious tradition has caused so many (this is where that courage comes in).  And if I am able to survive that just maybe that will lead me to sit more generally with the peace and the pain, that I personally have caused the world.  And if I keep sitting, maybe one day, down the road, I will see that my peace and my pain, my joy and my sorrow are one.

And for now... I will promise to try contain myself while at the inauguration and will try my best not to throw my shoe at Rick Warren.