I’m writing this podcast post through a swell of emotions, to a likely small audience, but suffice to say that what is happening at the macro level is amplified at the micro level. Aggressive energy abounds: a war overseas, attacks on women’s healthcare, Florida admonishes “don’t say gay,” divisive politics, and a church that is about to split. When aggression grows in the outer world, it seems to repeat in intimate settings, too. I want to offer that we have a different choice, and Ordinary Life for years has been about being a space for the ones who are often counter culture in order to build a more just, loving, and free world. It has been a sacred and welcoming place for so many over the years.

So why does it feel like the bullies have won after all we have set our hearts to?

Bill mentioned Diana Butler Bass’s declaration that the fundamentalists have won, and it seems, at least for the moment, that they have. It’s important to examine how fundamentalism can show up. It is not just religious, but intellectual and political, too. When we behave in a way that is righteous to the point of harming the well-being of others, it is a kind of fundamentalism.

I hope we can exercise the wisdom and creativity to build a world we want our children and grandchildren to live in. Who belongs in that world? Do I? Do you? Do your enemies? Your friends? Is there healing available? We are all small fractals, and what we do at the small scale repeats at the large scale.

Thanks for listening.