The Winter Solstice will begin on Friday December 21st at 4:22 PM Central time.  This will be the longest night of the year.  Throughout the world and through ancient and modern times, this has been a cause for reflection and celebration.  It has been a time of joyful anticipation and a celebration of light amidst a prevailing darkness.  I would like to share with you a real-life example of the celebration of light against darkness.

As I drive on Burleigh Street to attend Sunday Quaker Meeting, I have passed this particular house numerous times.  It would be more accurate to say that I have ignored this house, because my eyes have always been focused elsewhere.  But on the Sunday after Thanksgiving, the homeowner placed large, red Christmas bows on the chain-link fence surrounding the property; one bow on each fence post in the front yard.  The bright red bows drew my attention to the house from a block away.  This is a typical Milwaukee bungalow, nicely maintained with a four-foot chain-link fence in front and a bird bath in the yard. 

There are two reasons why I haven’t noticed this house before.  The first is that this stretch of Burleigh Street is poorly maintained and I keep my eyes on the road in order to avoid the washboard like dips and bumps on the street.  The other reason I’ve ignored this home is because directly across the street from it are three hulking, vacant, burnt-out duplexes that stretch from the middle of the block to the corner.  One of these three houses has fire damage and I can see the sky through the rafters of the roof. 

So, as I drive this section of Burleigh Street my eyes are on the road in order to protect my car from damage and then they are on these massive eyesores.  These derelict duplexes sit on this block like a black hole in space, sucking up all the light and energy around.  I think about the homeowner with the bows on the fence.  As they walk out their front door, the dilapidated duplexes are right in front of them.  I imagine that these duplexes are what the homeowners see as they sit in their living room and look out their window.

To me, the bungalow homeowner with the red bows in the front yard is making a choice.  She or he or they are choosing to celebrate the light and refuse to let the darkness on their street prevail.  They are saying that at this time, on this block, these people are determined to not only seek the light when confronted with darkness, but they have chosen to be the light on their little corner of the world. God bless them.

Lord knows there is plenty of darkness in the world.  Just since Thanksgiving we have seen:

• Russia capture three Ukrainian boats and 23 Ukrainian sailors in the Kerch Strait leading to the Black Sea, increasing the fear of war in the region.
• America tear-gas men, women and children as thousands seek asylum at the border
• A consortium of 13 federal agencies release a report on the impending human and economic costs of unabated climate change.
•  GM announce that it is closing seven plants in North America, jeopardizing nearly 14,000 jobs.

At this time of year when we have more dark than light and at this time in history when darkness seems to be prevailing in the world, what is our calling? 
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For me, I want to be like that homeowner who lives on a deteriorating section of Burleigh Street across from three burned out wrecks.  I want to be proud of fixing up my part of the world and I want to put out red ribbons to declare to all that light and goodness will prevail. 

And so, here is my prayer:

Lord,

• Help me to be kind, even when kindness, gentleness, and goodness aren’t my first thoughts
• Help me to find joy when those surrounding me are dour and hateful, and when I may be tired and frustrated
• Help me to be patient with those who don’t think or act like me or agree with me
• Help me to be courageous in my work for justice
• Lord, help me to remember that I can’t save the world, but I can be a simple red ribbon-a small symbol of hope in a sometimes bleak and weary place.

Amen

When a pendulum reaches its maximum arc, the velocity is zero.  Everything stops.  With the recent election, it feels like the pendulum stopped swinging and soon perhaps, it will begin its journey back to the center.  Beginning in January 2019, we will have returned to a system of shared governance; one with appropriate checks and balances, as envisioned by the framers of the Republic. 

The American system of government was designed to mitigate two competing visions of authority.  On one side were those who feared the tyranny of the majority, believing that a pure democracy would lead to chaos.  Those on the other side feared the tyranny of the minority; that a person or a party could impose their will on the unwilling.  And so, our founders devised a government designed to limit the ability of any party or person to create too much power.

America is a divided country at the moment:  Urban vs. rural, educated vs. less educated, white vs. people of color, Democrat vs. Republican, wealthy vs. the poor and the dwindling middle class.  With a country so divided and at so many levels, perhaps what we need the most right now is a divided government; but one that uses the division of power to seek compromise and addresses the root causes of our disunion.

Joseph Stiglitz, a Nobel prize winning economist, writes “There is a widespread sense of powerlessness, both in our economic and political life. We seem no longer to control our own destinies….For a third of a century, the American economy has failed to enhance the well-being of a majority of its citizens” 

Stiglitz was discussing how large corporate monopolies have exacerbated the social and economic problems facing America and have worked to pervert the political process.  Corporate and political monopolies have brought us to a place where our political and economic systems no longer work to improve the life of the average citizen.  We are a country that is racially, economically and geographically divided while at the same time our two political parties fight for sole control of all levers of government in order to impose their own priorities on everyone.  It is no wonder that our country feels on the verge of imploding.  The rich are getting opulently more wealthy as the already powerful strive to amass more power, and the average citizen is feeling socially and economically squeezed and evermore powerless.

At a time where we sorely need a divided government to inhibit the tyranny of the minority, we also need an engaged populous in order to hold our politicians and captains of industry accountable.  We need to get back to a government and an economy that works for all of us and not just the connected or privileged few.  This isn’t really so farfetched.  It feels like we are on the verge of this very movement now.  We have both aspects already underway:  a divided government and an engaged populous. 

Expecting a divided government to solve our problems is not all that outlandish because there is broad consensus on a variety of “divisive” issues.  According to a series of Gallup polls, the majority of people support gun control.  We support an improved environment, and healthcare for everyone.  A large majority believe immigration is good for America and that repairing our infrastructure is key to our ongoing economic wellbeing.  Significantly, the majority of Americans also want government to work better by ending the partisanship and finding a way to compromise and solve our most pressing problems.

The American people have a unified vision on a wide variety of significant issues.  It is our political parties and corporate elite that ignore the will of the people and who seem hell bent on amassing power, often at the expense of social and economic progress for the country as a whole. 

Our country is divided – as Stiglitz points out – because the political and economic infrastructure has failed us.  The push for more money and more power – at all costs – has driven divisions through the heart of America.

But now the pendulum has stopped.  We can take a breath and get ready for the pendulum to swing back as it picks up speed.  Our job is to ensure that the momentum works to our advantage.  Our job is to ensure that every politician and corporate elite understands that for American to thrive, we need to focus on the common good.  The politics of power for power’s sake are done.  The time of amassing wealth at the expense of the many are over.

A divided government is a government designed to ensure that the considerations of the many take precedent over the whims of the few.  But, this will only work if we stay committed and engaged.

The pendulum has stopped for now.  But we cannot.

I feel compelled to make one observation.  The president wants us to be afraid of the immigrants and asylum seekers hoping to cross our border, when the real terrorists are home grown middle aged – and for the most part – white males.

We hear the threats almost daily about the immigrant caravan that is yet 900 miles away, stating - with no evidence - that it serves as a cover for gangs and terrorists wanting access to our country.  Yet, the real terrorist are already here. 

Cesar Sayoc – the pipe bomb terrorist suspect who tried to assassinate 14 high profile critics of the president is a mid-fifties male, born and raised in America.  Robert Bowers, the gunman who killed 11 worshipers at the Pittsburgh Jewish Synagogue is a white male, born and raised in America.  Gregory Bush, the suspect who shot down two people at a Kroger grocery store in Kentucky is a white male, born and raised in America.  In fact, more Americans are killed by right-wing, American born extremists than by any other group.
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Terrorism is born out of hatred and hatred is born out of fear.  If we want to stop the home-grown terrorists, we have to stop stoking fear and begin dealing with the real - social and economic issues driving that fear.
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