There are worse things than spilled milk. Like boiled over turnips. My wife boils her turnips in water and milk. I hate turnips. She left the room Thanksgiving morning and I was left to deal with nasty, smelly, milky boiled over turnips. We laughed. Married now for 44 Thanksgivings and each year we know better what to do; how to act. Laugh at the spilled milk – laugh at the family shenanigans – laugh at each other and at ourselves – laugh at the big shots and the state of the union – crying just takes time away from working on the potential we can find in hope. To laugh is to reset; move on.
For a union to be strong it must be proximate. The greater the separation, the darker the lines, the higher the wall, the deeper the divide, the more entrenched the beliefs – then the weaker the union. Yet in this country, we keep widening the gaps. In a family, there can be periods of separation that weaken and sometimes sever bonds. In my marriage, 44 years has contributed to a strength that (I believe) is unbreakable. In this nation, we pretend to be together, proximate, close, and we successfully fool ourselves in that regard because today many entrenched beliefs, many lines and walls and divides are better hidden with less defined edges. And systemically, those in power have been allowed to move further and further away making it easier for them to work behind the scenes creating substantial hindrances to the survival, salvation and essential abundance of this once hopeful populace.
Us and them. The reality is 98% (Us) and 2% (Them). Today’s working practicality is 49% (Us) and 49% (Them). The numbers move short distances according to circumstance, but as long as the very small minority of big shots (from their perches on high) are allowed to define and dictate lines and walls and divides and our place, we will continue to be fooled. We could learn from a family where, in times of difficulty, protection and comfort can be offered, found, provided by us. We could learn from a marriage where, in times of difficulty, we know better what to do, we know better how to act, we know how to laugh. But in this nation, in these times of difficulty, instead of protection and comfort, instead of knowing better, rhetoric is spewed, edges are softened, machinations are more well-hidden, and the rich get richer.
On Thanksgiving afternoon I was left to deal with in-laws, and though perhaps not as nasty and smelly as the turnips, I had to laugh when a father and his adult son, in the same conversation lamented both the fact that an opposing team (in college football) had a very good chance of repeating as champions, and the fact that their team (in the NFL) had a reasonably good chance of NOT repeating. The illogic escaped them. And this is the danger of applying ‘Us and Them’ to any decision-making process; the outcome will reflect the illogic, the lack of reason, the total disregard for Justice. And as long as we continue to divide and subdivide and sever and separate Us from Us, and falsely accuse Us of being Them, and completely ignore Them, the 2% will repeat and the status quo will remain.