Tag Tree of Life

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Michael 13 Comments

I had a very busy month the last couple of weeks. Yes, you read that right. I had more things going on in April than there were days in April! Some of them resulted in more than a few hilarious moments and were more than blog-worthy. Somehow, I couldn’t bring myself to write about any of them.

Last week there was an unsettling piece in the local news.  Four and a half years almost to the day after the Tree of Life shootings added Pittsburgh the list of cities that had hosted mass shootings, jury selection finally began for the trial of the man seen on camera, walking into a local synagogue and shooting 13 people, 11 fatally, while they were attending Saturday morning services. Four and a half years those families had to watch other families of victims of violence find some solace and maybe even some closure from crimes that happens years after the massacre that took their loved ones. Are we so jaded by killing we can take our good old time seeking justice?

During those 4-1/2 years over 1,900 mass shootings have happened in the US (I’m using the definition of mass shooting is one where 4 people excluding the shooter are killed or injured in a single incident.), 53 in April. Perhaps the most heinous was one of the most recent occurring on April 29 when 5 people were killed after asking a neighbor to stop shooting his gun in the front yard in Cleveland, Texas.

After each of the 1,940 mass shootings in the last 4-1/2 years, calls for gun control have been made and successfully opposed in the name if the Second Amendment. You remember that one.

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

Some day, somebody from the NRA can tell me how killing 5 of your neighbors because they asked for some quiet, or killing 11 of them while they worshipped their God, is “necessary to the security of a free State.”

I’ll try to find some hilarious anecdotes for next week.

Too often we are defined by the work we do. Is that because we surround ourselves with work friends? We owe to ourselves and our closest contacts to see that our “loved ones” truly are our loved ones. In the most recent Uplift! we talk about why.

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No Exceptions – Still!

Michael 6 Comments
 
I don’t know if you noticed I’ve missed quite a few Thursday posts. I’ve had lots to say, I never run out of words much to the chagrin of so many, and have gotten many posts written. It seems though that at least half of everything I’ve put down lately has gotten there through anger. Hence although they got writ only half as many got published.
 
I’ll not say anger is bad. A lot of who were are and want we’ve accomplished is because somebody was angry. Early settlers were angry at what they perceived as unfair treatment in their native lands and set out to establish new homes elsewhere resulting in most of the modern world. Pioneers in diagnostic procedures were angry that they couldn’t get a look at what was happening inside the body so they could effectively develop treatment plans and went about creating all manner of gadgetry to see what was lurking under the skin, thus the field of medical imaging was borne.
 
Those were instances of anger turned to beneficence through inspiration, imagination, and doing the hard work needed to make things better. There is anger out in the world again only much of that anger is over pettiness. In a world where almost 1.7 million people have lost their lives to the no longer novel virus SARS-CoV2 and its spiffy street name CoVid-19 we get angry that we cannot fill a football stadium with tens of thousands of screaming fans to watch 22 college “graduates” concuss each other. Or we get angry enough to file suit against a neighbor seeking damages for pain and suffering when he (or whatever freaking pronoun is politically correct this week) put up a campaign sign in his front yard blocking the view of the campaign sign Neighbor One put up on his yard for the opposing candidate of course. To anybody who thinks these are important expressions of personal liberties, you’re stupid!
 
LTN
This week marked the second anniversary of the mass killing of eleven people attending services at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh. At the time I changed the banner on this blog to the sign “Love Thy Neighbor – No Exceptions.” Rallies were held, the obligatory pop-up memorial overflowed with flowers, and people bought up t-shirts, hats, and flags declaring the city is “Stronger Than Hate.” Two years later people are wearing those shirts to riots, and inventing new derogatory names to call people with political views different from theirs.
 
Life in America has become a series of memes, the 21st century version of sound bites, where it’s easier to wear a red hat or a string of pearls than to engage in meaningful dialogue. Where its easier to say hate won’t win than to act like I love you.  
 
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No Exceptions

Michael 10 Comments

NoExceptions“Love thy neighbor, no exceptions.” That’s the message in front of a church on Pittsburgh’s Mt. Washington neighborhood overlooking the downtown area. Last Saturday, in the Pittsburgh Squirrel Hill neighborhood, just a handful of miles from downtown, a man full of hate (whose name does not deserve mentioning) showed the ultimate disregard for that advice by shooting down thirteen people, eleven fatally, while they were attending services among three congregations at the Tree of Life synagogue there.

Hundreds of reports, perhaps thousands, have been filed in papers across the country and around the world and with the power of the Internet available to anyone who is reading this. I don’t need to expound on the actions of a madman. You can read all about it at your favorite news outlet. But I do want to expound on the actions of the neighbors.

Although I’ve never publicized it, you may have guessed from some posts that I am a Pittsburgher.  My torturous bend on some basic grammatical constructs might have given you a clue even though I try to be cognizant of my natural tends toward Pittsburghese. From the home of Mr. Rogers Neighborhood to “Love thy neighbors, no exceptions,” to every neighborhood in Pittsburgh being commonly referred to as a “neighborhood” (the Squirrel Hill Neighborhood, the Point Breeze Neighborhood, The Brighton Heights Neighborhood, and the other dozen or so geographic areas where clumps of people clump about their daily routines), neighborliness is second nature…no, first nature to the city, the county, in fact to the entire Greater Pittsburgh area.

Although out of town reporters referred to the shooting having taken place in the “predominantly Jewish community of Squirrel Hill,” the Squirrel Hill neighborhood is home to families of many backgrounds and many religions. Squirrel Hill is home to Jews, Catholics, Methodists, Muslims, Irish, Indian, African, Italian, Arab, rich, poor, comfortable, and just getting by. To the outside world. To themselves they are Pittsburghers. They celebrate their family holidays, they worship with their own congregations, the cook from their own heritage, but few if any take the time or use the energy to differentiate themselves from their streetmates or fellow city residents, except perhaps during high school football playoff time. The Squirrel Hill neighborhood, in fact most all local city and county and area neighborhoods are microcosms of what America wants to be. Not just the proverbial “melting pot,” but a pot where the ingredients have been stirred together and allowed their flavors to meld, like a hearty stew. That’s not local pride. That’s the truth.

A vigil was held Sunday night to remember the eleven victims of this crime of hate. A recurring theme was heard from all the speakers. Hate won’t win. But only one speaker took it an extra step. Rabbi Jeffrey Myers said, “My cup overflows with love. That’s how you defeat hate.” He told the assembled crowd and the television and radio audiences, you cannot let hate fester and grow, you must actively live love in order to defeat hate. He challenged everyone, singling out the politicians in attendance to lead the way, to avoid hateful rhetoric. “If you can’t say something nice, zip it!”

Last year after the shooting in Charlottesville, “Don’t let hate win” was the battle cry. Apparently we didn’t get it then that Rabbi Myers had to remind us now that you have to work to defeat hate. It doesn’t just happen, you have to actively love. After the Charlottesville shooting I posted:

Facebook profile pictures are sporting “We will not let hate win” banners above posts that call those who don’t agree with them “bat shit crazy.”

Unfortunately, we don’t seem to be expressing any love lately. You can’t say hate won’t win if you’re doing some of the hating.

“Let The Better Love Win” August 21, 2017

Unfortunately hate is nothing new. It goes back to Cain and Abel, mankind’s most extreme sibling rivalry. The 19th century philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer said, “If a man sets out to hate all the miserable creatures he meets he will not have much energy left for anything else; whereas he can despise them one and all, with the greatest of ease.” Gee. That starts out seemingly positive. If you hate everyone you meet you’ll never get around to doing anything else. But then it takes a dark turn, just go ahead and hate everybody, it’s easier that way. Maybe it’s easiest to stick with the twentieth century philosophy of “all you need is love.”

Facebook profile pictures now sport frames spouting “Stronger Than Hate.” Maybe this time we can spout a little love to go with that. Just remember – no exceptions.

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