Standing for Human Decency at our Borders

Dear Centers for Spiritual Living Leaders, Practitioners, and advocates of a world that works for everyone,

 During many moments in history, faith leaders have been responsible for causing significant and beneficial change towards those experiencing inhumane, unkind, and unjust conditions, through conscious peaceful actions.  We have many examples of the power of this throughout recent history: Gandhi, Mother Teresa, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., along with public leaders such as Nelson Mandela. 

 As faith leaders, we know we “treat and move our feet.” This  is our moment to join a groundswell of voices and actions to take a stand for what is right, just, and  humane at our borders. This Monday, July 29, 2019 a group of 400+ faith leaders, including a group of our own CSL ministers, will be standing for humanity on Moral Monday in a peaceful, nonviolent action called by Dr William Barber at the detention centers in El Paso, Texas. Let us unite in prayer and consciousness with those faith leaders. Please join us in holding the high watch for a resolution that is for the highest good for everyone involved and know with us that safety and love permeate this experience. 

 Let us join together in individual and collective actions dictated by our consciousness that embody the qualities of Inclusivity, Wholeness, Safety, Love, and Peace for those at our borders. You can get involved by holding a prayer vigil and dialogue in  your own community in support of our global vision:

We envision a world where personal responsibility joins with social conscience in every area of the political, corporate, academic, and social sectors, providing sustainable structures to further the emerging global consciousness.

We envision a world where each and every person has enough food, a home and a sense of belonging; a world of peace and harmony, enfranchisement and justice.

 Just as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. envisioned the Beloved Community, we can stand for that and more. 

 From the King Center:

In the Beloved Community, poverty, hunger and homelessness will not be tolerated because international standards of human decency will not allow it. Racism and all forms of discrimination, bigotry and prejudice will be replaced by an all-inclusive spirit of sisterhood and brotherhood.

 Thank you for standing in our Vision and empowering others to do so.

 Dr Petra Weldes, Co-Spiritual Director

CSLDallas

A Center for Spiritual Living

Radically Inclusive I Spiritually Progressive I Transforming Lives

therock@csldallas.org

214.478.9904 Cell

csldallas.org

Apologies for Buttigieg post

If you got an email of a post about Pete Buttigieg from yesterday, I apologize.  That was a draft I was thinking about and a note to myself.  It was not intended to be sent out.  I was wanting to think it through first.  If I offended anyone with that thought, I sincerely apologize.

Four Snouts up for The Roommate at Capital Stage in Sacramento now

(:)(:)(:)(:) (out of a possible 5 snouts) for The Roommate by Jen Silverman up at Capital Stage in Sacramento right now.

Off to enjoy the 4th of July weekend in Yosemite so not much time but since this is one of the few other things to do in town that is NOT 4th of July related and it is wonderful, I want to make sure you know about it.

How often do we get to see a play where there are only 2 characters and they're women in their 50s?  and where the play is written by a woman? and directed by a woman?  and where it's delightful, funny, and poignant all at the same time?  Basically never.

This play is that.  It's been called Thelma and Louise meet David Mamet (or something to that effect.  I really loved it.  And its directed by someone that I had never seen direct before--and she did a fantastic job--although something about the set was a little distracting, the long way around to the porch, she made it work.  It's up through July 21st.  See it

“This two-woman show is, in turns, hilarious, tense and surprising.”  SN&R 

“Outstanding acting shines in the hilarious Capital Stage play ‘The Roommate’.”  Davis Enterprise 

“Director Dena Martinez steers playwright Silverman’s dark comedy with aplomb. She lets the themes of friendship, trust and self-identity reveal the transformational possibilities of life. In her hands – and that of two extraordinary actors – Silverman’s saga of how to re-make oneself and how to deal with the consequences is excellent theater.”  Sacramento Press

Kamala Harris and the Power of the Word

Senator Kamala Harris (D-CA) has moved up dramatically in my rating of her ability to use the power of the word to win the nomination and the White House but nothing has budged by estimation that she will govern based on a world that works for Kamala Harris rather than a world that works for everyone.

Going into last week's first nationally televised debate amongst the Democratic candidates for president, Harris scored lowest in my ranking of emerging top candidates for president because I didn't think she used the word well enough to win the nomination or the presidency. Coming out of the debates, she moves up. As it stands now, she is bested only by Sanders, Warren (and yes, Williamson) overall in the Democratic field in combination of use of power of the word to win with likelihood to work for a world that works for everyone as this chart below details. Read on to see why:

Harris performed masterfully in last Thursday's debate. That exchange between Harris and Biden was one of the most powerful moments of political theater I can remember. It is the only moment in either debate that is absolutely mandatory for your viewing, so I embed it below.

In this exchange, Kamala Harris pulls off something that is practically impossible to accomplish. By breaking into a raucous skirmish over just policing tactics (occasioned by the tragedy in Mayor Pete Buttigieg's city) speaking as the "only African-American on this stage," Harris turns the heat on Vice President Joe Biden. Cocking her head to the side, she lures all of us fragile ego white voters in, sounding very respectful and loving, by saying "I do not believe you are a racist." She continues, "[but what happened recently] was hurtful..." (again, very vulnerable and great television, as if the two of them are meeting alone over a drink and not on a debate stage--I cannot emphasize how hard this is to do.)

And then she proceeds to quietly, powerfully, and effectively make sure we all know about Joe Biden's recent crowing over his close work with segregationist senators to end Department of Education ordered busing decades ago. And she brings it to the personal by telling us that there was a little girl who was in the second class of children bused into integrate a public school in Berkeley, CA, "and that little girl was me."

There is no doubt, by the way, that this entire moment was planned by the Harris campaign, because within seconds of her saying "and that little girl was me" her campaign tweeted an adorable picture of that little girl out. Shortly thereafter, these t-shirts below appeared.

That little girl was me T-shirt

So, has Kamala Harris got game? Yes. The current resident in chief of the White House proves that many voters cast their ballot more on who they want to see on their screens than on who they think will make the best leader of our country. In the reality tv show that is the 2020 presidential race, you would definitely have to vote to keep Harris on the island.

But is that the same as effective use as the power of the word? Maybe. Remember I consider the incumbent president to be a master user of the word. So on the basis of last week's debate, I am going to move Harris's rating on potential use of the word to win the nomination and the presidency from a 3 to a 9. But on over all effective use of Power of the Word, I'll move her only from a 6 to 8.

And I still rate Harris on the low end of the Democratic field in word grounded a world that works for everyone or likelihood to govern based on shared values of diversity and inclusion, accountability love, compassion and caring. This is due to her record as a prosecutor and an Attorney General where she could have used her position to create prison reform and so much more, but didn't. Throughout her career, Kamala Harris has proven herself more interested in a world that works for Kamala Harris than a world that works for everyone.

Sanders remains the only Democratic candidate in my estimation who combines effective use of Power of the Word with likelihood to win and govern based on shared values. So he is head and shoulders above the rest. Warren has top marks for her values and likelihood to govern from them but lower marks on use of the power of her word.

Contrast that with the incumbent president who has top ranks on use of the power of the word to win and zeros for grounding his word in a World that Works for Everyone or shared values. In the total chart,

Scale of 1 - 10 10 being the best

• Harris effective Use of Power of the Word -- 9
• Harris potential use of the word to win the nomination and presidency -- 8
• Harris grounding her word in a vision of a World that Works for Everyone upon assuming presidency -- 7
• Harris in likelihood of governing based on shared values of love, integrity, diversity and inclusion, accountability, caring--5

This is Part 6 of a multi-part series examining how we use the Power of the Word in politics, particularly in the 2020 presidential race.  Rev. Sara S. Nichols is senior minister at the Center for Spiritual Living, Davis and the Spiritual Director of All is Well Institute which supports and teaches people how to heal themselves using spiritual tools.  Trained as an attorney, before coming to spiritual science, she was a legislative and communications advocate for Medicare for All and other consumer issues in Congress and the California legislature.

Part 1 -- What exactly is the Power of the Word and How does it Work in Politics?

Part 2 -- Donald Trump and the Power of the Word

Part 3 -- Bernie Sanders and the Power of the Word
Part 4 --Marianne Williamson and the Power of the Word

Part 5 --Pete Buttigieg and the Power of the Word

Part 6 --(Updated) Comparison of Top 2020 Presidential Candidates

In this series, we confine ourselves primarily to the question of how effectively does the candidate work with the power of their word. In other words, given how they marshall universal law to their favor through the power of the word, how much do they appear to be grounded in a vision of a world that works for everyone, how likely are they to win, and when they assume the White House, what are they likely to accomplish?

My assumption is that every Democratic challenger for president shares most of the same policy positions (affordable universal health care and education, pro civil rights, combat climate change, raise the minimum wage, pro gun control).  There are plenty of other writers out there that will spend their time evaluating the nuances of where Democratic candidates for president are on these issues. And most news forums will spend their time looking at the experience, the demographics and the charisma of the candidates, all of which play a role in whether they will win.