Fighting the Good Fight

 

I often find myself in a cycle when it comes to sharing political content online. Initially, I feel strongly compelled to post about issues I care deeply about and engage in the discussions. However, after a while, my own posts can become overwhelming and a source of anxiety due to the often divisive and upsetting nature of online political discourse. 

This leads me to eventually delete those very posts. It's crucial to understand that this isn't because my convictions have weakened or because I'm afraid to express my political views – quite the opposite. My desire to share comes from a genuine place of wanting to make my voice heard. However, I've also made a conscious decision to curate my social media into a space that offers a counter-narrative to the negativity and anger that can easily dominate online interactions. 

The world can feel saturated with hurtful news and conflict, and my hope is that my corner of the internet can be a place where light, hope, refreshment, and love can prevail. I firmly believe in 'fighting the good fight' and staying engaged with important issues, but for me, that fight looks less like constant public debate on my personal feed and more like actively nurturing a positive environment, both for my own well-being and for those who connect with me here. It's about contributing to the good in a different way, by offering a space for respite and encouragement amidst the often turbulent online landscape.

Crucially, I want to emphasize that I hold absolutely no judgment for those who choose to engage with political issues online in a more direct or consistent manner. I understand and respect that there are many valid and necessary ways to advocate for change and make one's voice heard. My approach is simply what feels most sustainable and beneficial for my own mental well-being and the kind of online space I personally wish to cultivate. We are all navigating this complex world and the digital landscape in our own ways, and I believe that diverse approaches to engagement are ultimately valuable.

Love,

+Brian

More Equal than Others

"All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others."

- George Orwell, Animal Farm

A friend of mine recently made a post on Facebook that referenced a quote from George Orwell's satirical novel Animal Farm. (Thanks Kate!)  It was a picture from an ATM she visited of a note posted on the machine itself:  

"The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which."

Honestly, I had all but forgotten about that book and its relevance today.  Another quote surfaced in my mind as I began to remember:

"All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others."

This seemingly contradictory statement serves as a powerful critique of totalitarianism and the abuse of power. It highlights the dangers of hierarchical societies where certain individuals or groups are granted privileges and advantages over others, despite the rhetoric of equality.

Orwell's quote remains eerily relevant in today's world, where we see similar power dynamics playing out in various social and political contexts. The gap between the rich and the poor continues to widen, with the top 1% of the population accumulating a disproportionate share of wealth and resources. This economic inequality translates into political influence, as the wealthy elite often have greater access to lawmakers and can shape policies in their favor.

Furthermore, the quote can be applied to the concept of systemic racism and discrimination. While laws may guarantee equal rights for all citizens, the reality is that certain groups, such as racial or ethnic minorities, often face systemic barriers that limit their opportunities and perpetuate inequality.

Orwell's quote serves as a stark reminder of the dangers of unchecked power and the importance of vigilance against any form of inequality. In a society that truly values equality, all individuals should have equal opportunities and access to resources, regardless of their background or social status, politics or religion.

I invite you to reread the book and think about it. We're all on the farm.

AnneLynn

Her self-described happiest moment. 

If you are triggered by sad stories or the topic of suicide, skip this  post.  This is just such a story about a friend, near and dear to my heart.

It was 36 years ago today on February 21, 1989 that my dearest friend in the whole wide world committed suicide.  Her name was AnneLynn. I remember her every year on this day and if truth be told sometimes every day. While I accept it, I have never gotten over her suicide.

The year was 1989.  I had last heard from her in a Christmas card where she said she needed some time and space away from people and cats. (She cared for three indoor Abyssinians and a whole tassel of outdoor strays.)  In her letter she quipped, "this season may kill me."  I took it as hyperbole but made a mental note to give her some space.  That was in December. She killed herself two months later.

I was so young, a sophomore in college and she was much older than I and yet my world revolved around our friendship.  She was the first person in my life who I felt saw me and with whom I connected on a deeply spiritual level.  I miss her every day but most of all, on this day. 

I watch a  popular movie staring Robin Williams every year on this day, "What Dreams May Come" and I think of her.

In the movie "What Dreams May Come," Chris Nielsen's wife, Annie, commits suicide after struggling with the loss of their children. Chris, who has already died and gone to heaven, learns that Annie is in hell, a realm created by her own pain and despair. Determined to rescue her, Chris embarks on a perilous journey to hell, guided by his friend Albert.   

Chris's descent into hell is a an emotionally harrowing experience. He navigates through a dark and twisted landscape, confronting the manifestations of Annie's anguish. He eventually finds her in a catatonic state, trapped in her self-created prison of sorrow.

Despite the warnings that no one can leave hell, Chris refuses to give up. He uses his love and memories of their life together to try and reach Annie, to break through the walls of her despair. In a climactic moment, Chris makes a profound choice: he decides to stay with Annie in hell, accepting her fate, rather than live without her in heaven. This act of selfless love ultimately breaks through Annie's despair, allowing her to recognize Chris and escape hell with him.

I don't believe that the loving God I have come to know sends people who suicide to hell but I do believe that people who suicide are sometimes living in a kind of a hell and can't find their way out of it.

If when I die I discover she is in hell.  Then I will go there myself to rescue her and if I can't rescue her, I will stay with her.  Until then I remember, I pray, and I lean on the compassion and love of my God.

Breathe In, Breathe Out, Move On

I have wanted desperately to write something, anything but words fail me. I'm cycling through the stages of grief around and around again: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. It's tornado season again in the Ozarks, thanks to climate change, and I feel like I'm being buffeted and battered by an unrelenting funnel cloud of tumultuous feelings.

A song by Jimmy Buffett came to mind. It's about Katrina, a hurricane that shattered a community and shattered lives in New Orleans. We have just gone through just such a political hurricane and it too is shattering lives and shattering our country.

It speaks about what we do now. Breathe in, breathe out, move on.

Go easy on yourself for a few days. If you're like me, you're probably in shock. Feel your feelings. Scream, cry, get mad, whatever but most of all take care of yourself. Indulge in your favorite comfort food, hydrate, and rest. Stay out of of the news cycle and off of social media. Don't feed the emotional storm with hot air. There'll be plenty of time to catch up on that stuff later. Take care of you and those whom you love.

Breathe in, breathe out, move on...

Love,
+Brian

Perchance to Hope

Spoiler alert: Star Trek Discovery

I'm about to let my geek colors fly and embrace my inner nerdiness.  You have been forewarned.

I've always been a fan of Star Trek created by Gene Roddenberry and his vision for our future, a brave future exploring strange new worlds, seeking out new life and new civilizations, and boldly going where no one has gone before. 

In short, because volumes could be written on the topic,  Roddenberry's vision is a type of utopia centered around human society's future evolution as we reach out to the worlds and subsequent civilizations around us within the stars.  It's a time in earth's future when we've evolved to a point, not of perfection, but to one of being able to look beyond our more selfish individual base instincts to one of reaching out to other.  Other in terms of others not apparent, on the surface, to be like us at all; other in terms of embracing the inalienable reality of the importance of respecting life outside of ourselves; other in terms of attempting to understand, support, and embrace infinite diversity within infinite combinations; other in terms of the immutable truth that life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness is for everyone, not just ourselves.  This is what Star Trek has always meant to me.  This is the vantage point from which I go forth into my own exploration of life in the universe around me.  That's why "To Love So Well The World" exists for me as a blog. Homo sum; humani nihil a me alienum puto.

Yesterday something I watched made me weep almost uncontrollably, multiple times. No, not the presidential debate, sad as it was, but rather the newest episode of Star Trek Discovery.  I would suggest that if you don't want to encounter a SPOILER DO NOT READ ANY FURTHER.

In the third season of Star Trek Discovery, the intrepid crew of the USS Discovery has been forced, in order to save the universe, to leave their own time period in a one way trip and head into the very distant and unknown future.  In this new future, they discover that the United Federation of Planets (UFP), once a great unifying force in the galaxy dedicated to the above mentioned vision and it's exploratory arm Starfleet has been all but destroyed.  They then begin their quest to unravel the mystery of what has brought down the United Federation of Planets and all they hold dear while at the same time trying to discover what this means to them, their identity, and their mission.

Much like another Star Trek series, Star Trek Voyager which follows the lives of the crew of the USS Voyager who have been displaced on the other side of the galaxy in relation to their home in the Alpha Quadrant, the crew of the USS Discovery must learn what it means to follow the vision and goals of the UFP while essentially being on their own, displaced in time, while experiencing life threatening challenges.

Without getting into to much plot and scene work here, suffice it to say, their moving commitment to the ideals of the Federation and as such, Gene Roddenberry, and by extrapolation, the ideals of the United States is heart moving.  When faced with becoming something else, something less than, and betraying those ideals mentioned above in order to expedite their plight or save their very lives, they choose instead to make a stand, asserting:  "That is not who we are; that is not what we're about.  We're Starfleet."  And I wept.

I wept in large part because I think we as Americans are in the middle of a existential election and have been losing our way.  In the past 3-4 years we've embraced a political reality that is diametrically opposed to those ideals mentioned above and the ideals enshrined in the Declaration of Independence. Other is now dangerous, less than, and somehow wicked because other is not like us.  We seem to be embracing a world where it's okay to make fun of people for whatever reason; to name call in order to denigrate and diminish other; to boldly lie about anything and everything even in the face of verifiable reality and truth to the contrary; to warp cultural understanding of reality into something it's not because we fear to lose our own personal identity and reality; to disregard science and verifiable fact in service of personal preference or convenience; to abuse other families and children through killing, separation, and caging because they are not like us, their skin is a different color or their gender and or sexuality is different than ours and we fear them.  These are just some of the ways we seem to have gone off track.  And I wept.

I hope we can find our way back to our mission, back to our goals, back to our ideals instead of embracing this fear filled and self-focused isolationism that we seem to have embraced over the last 3-4 years.  I hope we can once again embrace the Great Experiment and the noble and bold goals it embodies.  I hope that we can again be the United States of America, albeit not a perfect union, but one committed to the ideals enshrined in the Declaration of Independence.

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

And now perchance to hope...

Heroes

 

 

I am not a flag waving kind of person. My patriotism is a very personal and private thing for me. I have too much respect for our flag to treat it frivolously, salaciously, or manipulatively. I have never even flown a flag at my home because I was concerned that, with my kind of schedule, I couldn't give it the respect and care that it deserves.

I am also not a huge fan of war nor do I elevate our service people to the level of celebrity or worship as many do. I do, however, have a deep respect for the danger in which they place themselves for what we call service to our country. For that act alone, they are heroes in my book. 

I feel that way about all of our first responders, paramedics, police officers, firefighters et cetera. They are, in their own way and in their own time, heroes. However, so are our teachers, nurses, doctors, and all of our essential employees and in fact everyone is a hero to someone.

In my everyday walk often I'll smile at someone doing a job that impacts my life in some way, be they a convenience store clerk, fast food employee, customer service rep, or whatever and say to them, "you're my hero!" They always brighten up and flash a genuine humble smile. In that moment, with those simple words, you give acknowledgement to their lives, their worth, and their seen and or unseen struggles. You are saying to them that, "I see you. I value you. I appreciate you." 

We all have the opportunity to be, and indeed are, everyday heroes within the scope of our lives. Not everyday or in every way but all of us are at times heroic and make a difference to one another. 

I find it telling and deeply disturbing that our President speaks the way he does about people. I hate the name calling. I hate the belittling. I hate the divisiveness. I hate the casual brutality of his constant dismissiveness of anything that doesn't serve his ego, image, or agenda. I hate his presidency for what it has done to our society socially, psychologically, and spiritually.  Be that as it may, even he, the 45th President of the United States is a hero to many and that, my friend, is something that we need to acknowledge, try to understand, and wrestle with.

I Want To Know What It's Like

I was so moved by this that I wanted to draw particular attention to it on To Love So Well The World.

This video is a reminder that we live in the Land of the Brave and the Home of the Mostly Free.

When will we determine that the rights observed for some should be observed for all?

Charter For Compassion

Compassion is in short supply these days and is sorely needed in every aspect of our lives. Sadly it is often lacking most in our churches and seldom expressed through our faith. Please join me in signing the Charter for Compassion and during this new year let compassion be a clear expression in your life while also reflecting it in the lives of those around you.

 If you do nothing else today, please visit the Charter For Compassion.

Transgender Day of Remembrance 2014

Introduction Given at the Transgender Day of Remembrance 2014

St. Martin's Episcopal Church Fayetteville Arkansas

By Bishop Brian Ernest Brown, OSH

I Wonder Did You Know You Were Making History 

By Stephanie Mott 

In honor of those who have walked openly in the light and in memory of those who have suffered the violence of ignorance and oppression 2011 Transgender Day of Remembrance. 

I wonder did you know, you were making history, you were setting people free, when you died. 

I wonder did you know, we would ever know your name, our lives would never be the same, because you tried. 

I wonder did you know, we would come to love you so, and I wonder did you know, you were making history. 

I wonder did you know, we would stand up to insane, we would reach beyond the pain, because you cried. 

I wonder did you know, we would learn to stand up tall, tell the truth to one and all, for those denied. 

I wonder did you know, we would come to love you so, and I wonder did you know, you were making history. 

The lives we live we owe to you, and I wonder did you know, you were making history. 

I wonder did you know, we would finally learn to fly, we would fly beyond the sky, because you tried.

I wonder did you know, we would finally say no more, we would open up the door, please come inside.

I wonder did you know, we would come to love you so, and I wonder did you know, you were making history. 

I wonder did you know, you were making history, you were setting people free, when you died. 

-For Rita Hester

Let us pray.

Giver of Breath and Lover of our Soul, we thank you for the great witness of Rita Hester and all those who have gone before us who have suffered bigotry, hatred, persecution, and sometimes death.

In particular, on this Transgender Day of Remembrance, let us remember those who have identified as transgender or gender non-conforming, who have blazed a path for each of us to follow in our own unique and diverse way, with their very lives. We thank you for those lives, the courage of those who lived them, and the light they shone on the path for the rest of us to follow.

Help us to be ever mindful of the pain, injustices, and discrimination perpetrated against so many who are simply trying to live out their lives to be who they were created to be.

Give us the grace and strength to live our lives so courageously, authentically, and fearlessly that we too offer others, who follow after us, permission to be themselves so that they may join us on the path toward acceptance, inclusion, compassion, and love. Amen.

Marianne Williamson from her book A Return to Love offers: "As we let our own lights shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."

I want to speak just briefly about how far we’ve come, specifically how far we've come since the Stonewall Riots of 1969. I was only ten days old. Now just briefly, for those who may not know what I’m referencing, The Stonewall riots were a series of spontaneous, violent demonstrations by members of the gay community against a police raid that took place in the early morning hours of June 28, 1969, at the Stonewall Inn in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York City. They are widely considered to constitute the single most important event leading to the gay liberation movement and the modern fight for LGBT rights in the United States.

My how far we've come since those days! In large part thanks to those who have gone before us, some of whom are still with us, and many of whom have passed away, and still others who laid down their lives for the cause whom we remember today.

For those of us who were born around that time or afterwards, it’s hard to see the progress we’ve made because we sometimes lack perspective and often take so much for granted getting caught in our own struggle towards equal rights. But here we are openly holding a Transgender Day of Remembrance and no one is breaking down the door and carting us away to jail or worse. Thank goodness. Thank justice. Thank courage. Thank those whom we remember today.

We live in a day and age where, with some exceptions, albeit too many exceptions because one exception is too many, transgender folk can legally be married. A big difference from 45 years ago. However, there’s still so much more work yet to be done.

We live in a day and age where, with some exceptions, albeit too many exceptions because one exception is too many, transgender folk are able to more easily and freely transition into who they were created to be, than they were 45 years ago. However, there’s still so much more work yet to be done.

We live in a day and age where, with some exceptions, albeit too many exceptions because one exception is too many, transgender folk are gaining equal rights within community after community. Look at our struggle in our own dear Fayetteville and the struggle of Springfield, MO, our neighbor to the north, which have both passed sweeping Civil Rights Ordinances for LGBT folk. That was just a dream 45 years ago. However, as we all well know, there’s still so much more work yet to be done. Vote against the repeal!

Even so with all this progress, the papers, or probably more accurately in this day and age, Facebook, too often, because once is too often, tells us stories of bigotry, discrimination, abuse, and sometimes murder of transgender or gender non-conforming folk.

So the struggle is far from over and a struggle it is. However, please remember as we struggle for equal rights let us not so much seek to do battle with one another, for in battles there is a winner and a loser, but rather let us seek to become reconcilers, for in reconciliation, one to another, our human family can finally begin to grow together in acceptance, peace, respect, and ultimately love and that’s what we’re really struggling for.

So even though there’s more work to be done, have hope, we’re on the winning side of history and we shall overcome!

Litany of Thanks for Diversity, Empowerment, and Reconciliation

This is a litany I composed for the opening prayer at a workshop on Gender Identities and Our Faith Communities sponsored by PFLAG and held at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Fayetteville, AR November 8, 2014. What a dynamic, courageous, and passionate group of folks. I was very honored and humbled to be asked to offer the opening prayer.

Litany of Thanks for Diversity, Empowerment, and Reconciliation

By Bishop Brian Ernest Brown

Creator of life and giver of breath, you called us into being, each of us becoming a unique and special, living example of your love of diversity. And for this,

We give you thanks.

You have called us to offer witness and to celebrate this gift of diversity throughout your creation, by empowering others to see the beautiful possibilities of life and of love open to us all without exception, by the example of our very lives. And for this,

We give you thanks.

You have called us as a community here in this time and place, to show the world that lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning, intersexual, asexual, pansexual, and polyamorous people can be people of faith and that we are people of faith. Our queer community, empowered by mutual acceptance and embraced by mutual love, is accomplishing beautiful things within this community, and indeed communities everywhere. And for this,

We give you thanks.

Help us in our struggle for equal rights that we not so much seek to do battle with one another, for in battles there is a winner and a loser, but rather that we seek to become reconcilers, for in reconciliation, one to another, our human family can finally begin to grow together in acceptance, peace, respect, and ultimately love. And for this,

We give you thanks.

Help us to be cheerful, orderly, and polite, civil, honorable, and sensible, discerning and discreet, generous, welcoming, and friendly, open-handed, truly loving, and full of humanity so that we may from a place of courage and hope, embrace a hostile world. And for this,

We give you thanks.

Help us to be willing, worthy, and respectful; and let us be outstanding for kindness and mercy, ministering to the wounded, the confused, the angry, the frightened, the lonely, and the lost so that we may become a living example of what it means to love one another as ourselves. And for this,

We give you thanks.

Knit us together in this community so that one to another, we become a strong and unbreakable support system. Bind us with a bond of peace that cannot be loosened and bind us with a bond of love that cannot be broken. And for this,

We give you thanks.

All these things we hope for, pray for, and give thanks for, in the name of that which is Love.

Amen!

My Patron: Saint Melangell

This website/blog is dedicated to Saint Melangell, a long time patron saint of mine. She’s a wonderful wandering Celtic saint that spent her life trying to make a safe place for folks amongst the thorns, thickets, and brier patches of society and of the world.

The Legend of Melangell and the Hare

There is a legend that survives from long ago, known to Welsh school children who have learned it from their mothers’ lips. The legend concerns a maiden, an Irish girl whose father had arranged for her to marry a chieftain back in 607 CE. She did not want to marry this chieftain – he was old and she was young. She joined a band of Irish hermits who came across the sea to preach the Christian gospels to the Pagan Welsh. The maiden’s name was, in Latin, Monacella. In Welsh it became Melangell. She traveled to the Pennant Valley, in Powys, in the 7th Century and lived in a cave in the hillside.

One day Brochwel, mighty Prince of Powys, was out hunting with his men and his hounds. The hounds raised a hare that took refuge in a thicket. The hounds were urged on but fled howling. Their huntsman raised his horn to his lips and was unable to remove it. On pursuit, the Prince found a young woman standing there – the hare had run under her long skirts to hide. The young woman told Brochwel that she lived in the valley, where she had come to take refuge. The Prince was so impressed by the young woman’s godliness, that he granted her the valley as a sanctuary for people and animals. Here she founded a religious community.

Another Account Of Saint Melangell

The Life of Saint Melangell of Wales (+ca. 590) ST MELANGELL (whose name has been latinised as Monacella) is interesting because the incident for which she is known is a Welsh version of one that is known in various forms in several European countries. She appears in the pedigrees as a descendant of Macsen Wledig (the usurping Roman emperor Magnus Maximus), and according to her legend her father was an Irish king (probably Scottish, in its later meaning, is intended). She vowed herself to God, and when pressed to marry fled to the part of central Wales called Powys, where she remained hidden for fifteen years.

Then one day the prince of Powys, Brochwel Ysgythrog, came hunting in her neighborhood, and pursued a hare into a clearing of the forest where Melangell was at prayer. The hare ran for the shelter of her garments, and turned to face its pursuers from a fold of her skirt.

Brochwel urged on his hounds, but they drew off, howling; the huntsman tried to wind his horn, but it stuck mute to his lips; and Brochwel approached the girl for an explanation When he had heard Melangell’s story of herself, he made her a present of the land on which they were standing as a “perpetual refuge and place of sanctuary”, in recognition of God’s protection of the ” little wild hare” in the shadow of His servant Melangell.

Accordingly she lived the rest of her life there, another thirty-seven years, gathering a community round her which she directed as abbess. But it was also a meeting-place for hares, who never showed any fear of their protectress, so that they came to be called “Melangell’s lambs”.

The church of Pennant Melangell in Montgomeryshire claims to stand on the site of this happening, and it formerly contained St Melangell’s shrine. It still has some medieval carvings relating the story of the hare, and the shrine chapel at east end.