Fifteen years is a long time

I began writing this column in January of 2003, more than fifteen and a half years ago. That means I have written somewhere around 780 columns or about 625,000 words. I haven’t kept an exact count.

I have written about local issues as well as state and national politics. I have written about farming and food, hunger, poverty and justice. I sometimes look for light hearted topics and even trivia. I have written about my faith and about my family. My friends, sisters, spouse, and children have more than once asked me if they will read about some incident in the newspaper. Sometimes I have disguised the guilty, but other times I’ve used their names.

It surprises me when someone stops to tell me that they really liked a particular column. Often I have to ask the reader about the subject. After all, how am I to remember which of the more than 780 pieces I wrote last week? I am pleased that my work is read. Those who stop me are always gracious, probably because I usually hear from people who agree with me. Occasionally, however, someone will take issue with my positions and will challenge me on my opinions. I especially appreciate those friends’ honesty. I thank them for taking the time and having the courage to confront me when they think I’m wrong. Sometimes their arguments alter my thinking. Other times we part still disagreeing. I hope we’re still friends. My favorite comments are the ones that begin, “I don’t always agree with you, but you make me think.”

I spend hours reading. I read what other thinkers write about on all sides of an argument. Most issues have more than two sides and every view has valid points. All solutions to problems have unintended consequences. Every truth has exceptions. Most fear has some basis in reality.

Writing a column in the local newspaper is not the same as writing anonymous comments in response to something on the internet. It takes no courage at all to write hate-filled, mean spirited, thoughtless comments full of obscenities and name calling while using a pseudonym and an avatar on some web site. This column has my name and my picture at the top. It is not anonymous. It takes courage to state what I think in a public way. It also takes courage to stop me at the grocery store and say, “I disagreed with what you said.” It takes even more courage to write a letter to the editor, sign your name and ask for the rebuttal to be published.

Fifteen years is a long time and nearly 800 columns is a lot of writing, a lot of research and more discipline than I have given many things in my life. Writing this column has improved my writing, sharpened my thinking, and expanded my horizons.

This is my last regular column. I am not ill nor is my spouse. We are both strong and healthy for people our age. I have not run out of opinions. Just ask my family. I would like more time to pursue some writing projects which will take more in-depth research and study. I am planning to work more in my business as a fiber artist. I really need to practice my cello and the garden needs weeding. Obviously, my list is far longer than the hours I have spent writing this weekly column. My retiring doesn’t mean I will never write anything for the “Republican” ever again. I plan to keep writing, just not on a weekly basis.

Thank you for reading what I write. If you want to read previous columns or see what I might be working on in the future, check out my blog:

<sustainingthenorthernplains.wordpress.com>

Speaking truth to power

What was I thinking when I volunteered to do pulpit fill and write a sermon on Amos or even worse, the beheading of John the Baptist?

First I read the entire book of Amos to better understand the writings of the prophet Amos. Don’t be too impressed. The book is only nine chapters long. The book details the prophesies and dreams of Amos which God asked him to reveal to the religious leaders and the kings of Israel. Amos’ prophesies date from the early part of the eighth century before Christ. It is a pretty depressing book which details all of the transgressions of God’s people…there are a lot.

Amos wasn’t one of king’s sanctioned prophets. He described himself as a shepherd and someone who tended fig trees near Tekoa in the southern kingdom. God had chosen him to bring a message of judgement on the northern kingdom, many of which were given to him in dreams. He did most of his prophesying in Bethel, a royal sanctuary of King Jeroboam.

In today’s lesson Amos has a dream in which God is standing by a wall built with the aid of a plumb line. God shows Amos the plumb line and asks Amos what he sees. The plumb line is a symbol of God’s laws and expectations, the guide by which his people are to live. It never changes, it always stays straight. It doesn’t matter how you hold your hand or how long or short the line is, it always stays straight. Any wall built with a plumb line will be straight and strong. But according to God his people have not followed the line he has given them to guide them in their lives.

Some of the things God is upset about are found in Amos 5:

“Therefore because you trample on the poor
And take from them levies of grain,
You have built houses of hew stone,
But you shall not live in them;
You have planted pleasant vineyards, but you shall not drink their wine.
For I know how many are your transgressions
And how great are your sins___
You who afflict the righteous, who take a bribe,
And push aside the needy in the gate.”

And in Amos 6:

“Alas for those who are at ease in Zion,…
Alas for those who lie on beds of ivory
And lounge on their couches
And eat lambs from the flock
And calves from the stall;
Who sing idle songs to the sound of the harp
And like David improvise on instruments of music;
Who drink wine from bowls,
And anoint themselves with the finest oils,
But are not grieved over the ruin of Joseph!…”

Again and again Amos warns the leaders of Israel, both religious and political, that God is not happy with them. They have chosen to live lives of luxury, and excess at the expense of the poor and needy. They have engaged in shady business deals and exorbitant taxes on those who have little. They are greedy and falsely pious.

God warns that the kingdom will be destroyed, the King and his children will be killed by the sword and his wife will become a prostitute. The people will be exiled and the temple destroyed.

And that is what happened.

The book of Amos is a hard one to read. Again and again God’s people were warned about living lives that didn’t measure up to the plumb line God set…a line of justice, caring for the poor and the needy, against hoarding of land and resources, against selling those who were indebted as slaves, against cheating on measurements, shorting payments and mixing in chaff with the wheat.

Those who lay on couches and drank wine in their summer homes didn’t like what Amos had to say. They liked the status quo. Their lives are good. They didn’t want to hear his warnings, the warnings of an angry God.

Amos spoke the truth to the powerful as revealed to him by God and there were consequences. The priests and king told him to go back to where he came from, to leave Bethel and never come back.

The Gospel lesson tells a gruesome story of sex, lies and murder. It is kind of an odd tale in the middle of the book of Mark. Most of Mark is a condensed version of Jesus life. This seems a bit out of place since it barely mentions Jesus.

At the beginning of our Gospel story, King Her0d hears reports of Jesus teaching and miracles. Some of the reports suggest that Jesus is really John the Baptist, back from the dead. That made King Herod a little nervous because he was the one who had John beheaded.

Herod was king because he, and his father before him, was appointed by the Roman emperor, not because he was a descendant of David and therefore not a legitimate king of Israel. He may have felt his throne was not secure. King Herod was married to his brother’s wife, Herodias, after she had divorced his brother. This was against the law of Moses. John the Baptist very publicly criticized the king for this disregard for the law. John stirred people up and the leaders didn’t want anyone causing unrest, anything that might challenge their power and authority. Herod had John jailed. Herodias wanted him put to death. Herod listens to John and knows he is very popular with the people and doesn’t dare have him executed.

This is where the story gets really icky. Herod has a big birthday party for himself. He invites all the important people. At the banquet Herodias sends her young daughter to dance for those attending the banquet. Herod is so taken with the girl’s dance that he makes a speech and offers her anything she wants, even half his kingdom. She runs to her mother who says “Ask for the Baptist’s head on a platter.” Herod is pinned in a corner. He’s made a promise to his step daughter in front of all his guests. Even though he doesn’t want to, he chooses to save face and has John beheaded. Herod presents the head to his step daughter who hurries it off to her mother.

John spoke truth to power and it cost him his head. It was risky to speak the truth.

Jesus spoke the word of God and it took him to the cross. He overturned the money changers tables in the temple. He healed the sick, even on Sunday which was against the religious laws. He spoke out for the poor and disadvantaged. He ate with those who were unclean and outcast. Those in power felt threatened by this “king of the Jews”.

It is risky still to speak up and speak out. Those who spoke out for women’s suffrage were jailed, harassed and beaten. Some were put in mental institutions. Those who demonstrated for civil rights in the 1960’s were beaten, jailed, and killed. Martin Luther King, Jr., wrote from the Birmingham jail where he had been detained for participating in a peaceful protest:

“I am in Birmingham because injustice is here. Just as the prophets of the eighth century B.C. Left their villages and carried their “Thus saith the Lord” far beyond the boundaries of their home towns…so am I compelled to carry the gospel of freedom beyond my own home town…Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly…Lamentably, it is an historical fact that privileged groups seldom give up their privileges voluntarily… We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed…Was not Jesus an extremest for love: “Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you and pray for them which spitefully use you and persecute you.” Was not Amos an extremist for justice: “Let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever flowing stream.” Was not Paul an extremist for the Christian gospel: “I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus.” Was not Martin Luther and extremist:”Here I stand; I cannot do otherwise, so help me God.” So the question is not whether we will be extremists, but what kind of extremists we will be. Will we be extremists for hate or for love?”

Prophets aren’t lukewarm about the plumb line set by God. John the Baptist was an extremist for Christ.

What issue or event or person would inspire you to speak up or speak out? What is it, who is it that is so important that you would break some rules, or at least push some boundaries and suffer some consequences?

A friend once asked me where the Gospel was in something I wrote. The question has become a sort of plumb line for me, a measure of whether or not I’m getting the message right.

The Good News of Jesus is that there is another kind of power other than the world’s power which is often corrupted by self-service and greed. The good news is that although truth and justice may be a way off, there is another way of living. Even in the despair of the exiled Amos, the beheaded John, the excommunicated Martin Luther, the assassinated Dr. King, there is hope for the promise of the coming of God’s kingdom.

Understanding #MeToo

There is no doubt that human beings frequently misunderstand each other. Even when we speak the same language, often we fail to say what we mean and even more frequently we fail to understand what others have said.

The #MeToo movement which has raised the issue of sexual harassment and assault in our society is a good example of how hard it is for us to really understand what is being said. Almost every woman I know acknowledges that she knows what #MeToo means. Not everyone who adds the #MeToo tag to their social media posts has been violently assaulted or raped. Likewise, not everyone who has ever flirted with a coworker is guilty of harassment.

A few of my male friends have misunderstood what is being said and have responded with defensiveness. Some have made fun of the women who have added their voice to the discussion and  have accused women who support the movement of lacking a sense of humor. Most of the men with whom I have close relationships are at least a little puzzled by what this conversation means.

Consider what it is like to be raised as a woman. We are taught from a very early age to be nervous about our physical safety. We are supposed to be afraid to be alone even in our home. We are not to walk alone after dark. We are warned about stopping at remote and deserted rest stops on the highway. We are told to be careful about how we dress, what might or might not be put in our drinks, and who we are alone with. All of these things make sense to some extent because we are often smaller and not as strong as others who might want to harm us. However, being conditioned to be fearful makes us vulnerable in other ways.

As a young college student, for a period of weeks I got regular anonymous phone calls. There was heavy breathing on the other end of the line and sometimes the perpetrator would say things like, “I know who you are and where you live.” Because I was raised to be cautious, I was already looking over my shoulder as I walked to and from classes. The phone calls made me even more uncomfortable. When a vehicle passed me on the street and the occupants whistled or cat-called me, I was terrified. I didn’t hear their comments about me as harmless, flattering or funny. They were frightening. I hated going out of my dorm alone even in the daytime.

Just because someone doesn’t mean anything negative by a comment or a whistle doesn’t mean it doesn’t have a harmful impact on the person hearing it. The object of the comment may have had many different experiences which make others’ words and actions traumatic for them.

I worked as a secretary at the University of North Dakota in my early twenties. One of my coworkers, a very shy, awkward, freshman work-study secretary was regularly patted on the butt by one of the graduate students. He would whisper off-color remarks in her ear just to make her blush. The young woman was so flustered by his bullying that she could hardly come to work. It affected her job and her self-confidence. She was so intimidated by him that she didn’t dare report him. She wasn’t confident her complaints would be taken seriously by the male department head. She didn’t lack a sense of humor. It wasn’t funny. She was humiliated and embarrassed.

Sexual harassment is not about sex or being attracted to another person. It is a form of bullying. When it includes touching inappropriately, it is abuse and possibly assault.

Flirting at work is not the same as sexual harassment unless one person in the relationship has power over the other. If the subordinate person feels their job, promotion or working conditions are at risk if they object, it is not innocent flirtation. Harassment is about power, not attraction.

It doesn’t really matter if one doesn’t mean to abuse or harass another person. The impact on the other person is often the same. Ignoring others’ discomfort and continuing behavior that makes someone else embarrassed or fearful is abusive because it does not respect the validity of another’s feelings and experiences.

Just because someone does good things in part of their life doesn’t mean they are incapable of being abusive in another part of their life. Being a good senator, a funny comedian or a brilliant actor doesn’t mean one is considerate of the feelings of others around them. By the same logic, just because someone is a jerk towards people who work with them or for them doesn’t mean they never do anything good or kind or worthwhile. However, bullying and inconsiderate, inappropriate behavior has consequences.

Rape and physical violence have horrible consequences. Being abused in other more subtle ways also has long-term impacts on the abused. It is often a betrayal of trust and hurts victims’ self-confidence especially when she has been raised to be fearful in the first place. The consequences for women and men who have experienced sexual abuse and harassment at home, at school and in the workplace are real. The consequences for repeated abusive and bullying behavior should also have real consequences for those who behave without regard for those around them.

We all say and do things we later regret. The words and actions being called attention to by the #MeToo movement are not the same thing. They are usually repeated, often intentional and frequently denied. Harassment and abuse is about exerting power over someone else through physical force, intimidation, or taking advantage of another’s fears. It is a selfish and inconsiderate act which hurts someone else.

It is not a mutually affectionate hug between friends.

 

 

 

Gardening in a blizzard

There is a winter storm warning out for this corner of the state. The temperature is dropping and the radar shows a large band of snow headed our way. The wind is predicted to hit gusts of 45 miles per hour. It is no wonder that the seed catalogs I have found in my mailbox for the last several weeks seem so enticing.

The seed companies know when to send their beautifully colored catalogs of perfect looking fruits and vegetables to my door. Today would be a perfect day to build a fire in the wood stove, make a hot cup of coffee, find the last of the Christmas cookies and dream about Spring.

Will I plant the usual crop of Nantes carrots or should I venture to seed purple and red ones? Maybe a new variety of heirloom tomatoes? How many cabbages? The flowers are so beautiful. I want a few of every kind! Perhaps I should give up trying to grow anything loved by flea beetles. More peppers? Fewer tomatoes? What kind of beans? Should I give okra another try? Then there are the fruit trees and berry bushes tempting me with images of sweet bright fruits. How many years will it take before you can eat a hardy kiwi off the vine?

I have forgotten the unfinished tasks covered up by the snow in my garden. There are squash vines waiting to be picked up. What about those nasty slugs that chewed up any tomato that was close to the ground and which crawled their slimy little selves into the lettuce? Will they survive the winter? Maybe another cold snap wouldn’t be such a bad idea! If I plant everything I put on my preliminary list, I would need to dig up another acre or two to accommodate the additional plants. How would I pick and preserve all of the bounty of the fall when everything is ready? Of course, that all seems possible in the middle of a January blizzard.

Gardening, like many of the best parts of life, doesn’t always pencil out economically. Seeds can be expensive unless you save your own. Started plants are even more costly. The cost does, however, keep one closer to the reality of what is possible in one’s garden. If you only compare the price of fresh produce in the grocery store or at the farmers’ market, it would hardly pencil out. Some of the benefits of gardening, however, are harder to quantify.

Planting a few flowers among the carrots and cabbages can attract bees, butterflies and other beneficial insects. The physical exercise needed to hoe, mulch, weed and water is as healthy for you as is the higher nutrition of fresh vegetables. Being outside surrounded by singing birds and buzzing bees is good for one’s mental health as well. Studies show a marked increase in endorphins and other good mood chemicals in our bodies when we are out of our air conditioned, LED lit, super-insulated homes and offices.

Even if I didn’t have piles of year end bookkeeping to complete and unfinished laundry or a dozen or more projects to start and finish, it would not be a good idea for me to send off my seed order today. If the wind picks up and the snow starts blowing, I might get carried away with garden planning in an effort to keep warm.

Gardening fantasies can be very expensive if one acts on them in the middle of a blizzard.

© 2018 Janet Jacobson and Sustaining the Northern Plains

The real war on Christmas

The war on Christmas has become a reason for controversy again. Many are upset that some retail stores have directed their staff to avoid saying, “Merry Christmas,” and have opted for more inclusive language. Some religious leaders decry the ban on religious music in public schools and nativity scenes on public lawns. The real story of Christmas IS being ignored by the world. This is not new. The story has been changed, twisted and attacked since the beginning. It is a story that the world is not comfortable with…and rightly so.

Unlike the feel-good, sweet, sentimental holiday movies which get replayed and replayed year after year, the real Christmas story is not a very pretty one.
The real Christmas story is not a tale for children. It  takes place in a land ruled by a foreign government, governed by corrupt religious leaders and by edicts enforced by fear. Mary and Joseph were forced to travel to Bethlehem to be counted in the place where their family originated. Was this an attempt to weed out people who were living where they weren’t supposed to be? Was it an attempt to determine  people’s ethnicity or political leanings. Was it simply an exercise in intimidation?

Mary and Joseph, in spite of Mary’s late term and out-of-wedlock pregnancy, travelled a long distance over dusty roads on foot or, at best, on a donkey. When they got to Bethlehem they found themselves homeless and without the help of Mary’s relatives and the family’s midwives when she gave birth to her first baby. As a mother, I can only imagine how frightened this teenage girl must have been. We depict the stable where Jesus was born as a brightly lit, pleasant barn, full of golden straw and freshly groomed animals. Most barns, even well kept ones, are not cozy. Animals smell and are dirty, even if they are well cared for. Who of us would opt for giving birth in a barn and using a feed bunk for a crib? Such accommodations would only be used at the point of desperation. Was it cold and dark?  Did Mary and Joseph have enough to eat in their homelessness? How long did they have to live in the barn? Did Joseph find work?

Supernatural beings showed up, telling the shepherds about the baby. The scruffy, unkempt companions of sheep ran to visit this new king-baby. No shower. No change of clothes. I know what they smelled and looked like. They were not the kind of visitors a mother would be excited to have breathing on her brand new baby.

The story of the wise men is one of international intrigue.They were lied to by the authorities when they asked for directions. They were encouraged to report back to Herod when they found the new King. When an informant (an angel) told them that Herod meant to harm the new king and they slipped away by another direction after visiting baby Jesus.

Then the story gets really nasty. This part of the story is often ignored or skipped in the telling. Herod, afraid he was about to be deposed, launched a campaign of infanticide, killing all baby boys under the age of 2. I can hardly imagine the horror which would result from such an edict. To save the life of their baby son, Mary and Joseph fled their homeland to become refugees in the land of Egypt. They didn’t return to their home for years.

This is not a pretty story. It is not at all similar to the tales of “Christmas magic” that flood our airwaves. It has nothing to do with the generic, feel good script of holiday movie. It is a story of fear, poverty, homelessness, deceit, terror and murder.

The rest of the story of Jesus’s life is just as difficult. His cousin and friend John the Baptist was beheaded for preaching about him. Jesus was harassed, discredited and eventually executed. He preached passive resistance against domination and persecution. He hung out with women, tax collectors and other undesirables. He advocated for the poor and the powerless. He called into question the entitlement of the rich and powerful. He made the people in power uncomfortable. His life should make us uncomfortable as well.

We wage our own war on Christmas if we make the stable, the animals, the shepherds and the wise men too pretty. We miss the point if we ignore the poverty of Jesus’s parents or if we skip the acts of the murderous king who forced them to become refugees in a foreign country. Making the story magical and sweet ignores the importance of the Christmas story. It trivializes the sacrifice and lessons of Jesus’s birth, life and death. One cannot appreciate Christmas without Easter.

I don’t spend energy worrying about the “war on Christmas” or if Starbucks’ disposable coffee cups have “Merry Christmas” printed on them. I struggle with my own understanding of the Christmas story. I reread the tale and struggle with it’s messiness, violence and discomfort. Only then can I begin to understand the good news of the rest of the story. “For God so loved the world…”