Up and Down…

I just read that unemployment in our state is up from a year ago.  The market is down.  Almost every conversation I have with people includes how bad things are – not only here but across our nation and around the globe.  Discussions about “the future” are gloomy, particularly when they include global warming, terrorism and what kind of future we are leaving for our children and future generations.

We build our own future.  True, we can play a relatively small but important role as individuals and a community regarding global warming.  However we can and should do much to create a community that values the human beings who live in it.  That’s us…you, me, the neighbor next door, the neighbor we might not even know.  After despairing don’t just stop but keep moving on to action.

I saw an elderly man severely bent over from osteoporosis walking up a steep hill carrying groceries.  He would periodically stop to catch his breath, and then keep on going.  I know he made it to his destination.  If he can make that climb, you and I can too.

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Family…

Family.  What makes up a family?  Is a couple without children a family?  Is a single person a family?  Are gay and lesbian couples a family?   When friends form a strong bond with one another over the years, are they family?  Is the homeless, alcoholic veteran part of our family?  Are adoptive parents and their child family?   Are the parents/brothers or sisters who reject their child/sibling still family?   We have a choice.  Draw the circle large or draw it small.  Include many, if not all, or reject many and keep it tight.  Our choice.  I see the circle as the planet Earth.  I’m no fool and know there are those who would kill or hurt me and I will fight them.  I still draw the circle as the Earth’s circumference.  As a matter of fact, let’s include our pets, especially Labrador Retrievers, but I’m open to all the other creatures that need us.  Of course, we need them too.

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Working People…

I came from a working class, blue collar family. As a kid, I didn’t know a Jew who was a doctor or lawyer, a Ph.D candidate, a judge or dentist. The closest I came to knowing someone in technology was my neighbor, Al Kahn, who worked for G.E. as a salesman of small appliances. A very nice man inundated by family tragedies (you shouldn’t know from). As far as business owners, I knew Joe Marcus whose store sold seconds of socks and underwear. He was a Holocaust survivor who was a gentle and kind man. The notion that Jews were intellectually gifted, thus leading to the top of the professions, was totally alien to me. The notion of Jews as wealthy, living in ocean front homes who went to Israel, Europe or more exotic places, was alien to me. We were all working people trying to make ends meet. Who are we now? Is there room in our Jewish community to feel comfortable, valued, important and part of the community and be a truck driver, a maintenance man/woman, a secretary, a school teacher? Is there room not to be a super wage earner, not to be a graduate of one of the “great” universities? I sure hope there is room for Al Kahn and Joe Marcus.

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Playback…

Do you ever wish there was a cosmic recorder that could instantly play back either what was just said or a previous conversation…or actually show the interaction on a screen?   I do.  All the “you saids” or “you dids” with all the “no I didn’ts” could be instantly seen and the disagreement, the “truth”, could be ascertained.  I would love this device.  But then I guess we would need another cosmic device – the “actually what I meant was” truth-o-meter.  We live in a world in which at least sometimes, some people (e.g., politicians), are video recorded.  You can play the recording, hear the actual words, see the actual actions and still get “That’s all a mistake, let me tell you what I really was saying”….or “really meant.”  Perhaps this is just one of those “no wins” no matter what realities we all live with.  Hug the ones you love and let it be.

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The Silent Voices…

So much of my commitment to the programs of JFS, and to all programs that help to diminish the anguish that so many people experience, comes from my own personal background.  Recently, funding for our Seattle Association for Jews with Disabilities (SAJD) was cut.  SAJD provides assistance to people suffering from developmental disabilities and chronic mental illness.  All cuts in social services hurt but are fairly common both in the public and private sectors.  I should be used to it…I’m not.  I have witnessed “up front and personal” the torture of depression, the unfathomable pain of schizophrenia or bi-polar disorder.  I have seen the bravery of families coping with a developmentally disabled child or a brain-injured loved on.  Who speaks for them?   Do they have a powerful voice?   Are they so numerous they can’t be ignored?  No.  I feel the responsibility of speaking for them.  And some day we will live in a society that counts the silent voices as much as they do the loud ones.  We wait for that day.

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