Birthday Requests
I’ve gotten some very kind birthday wishes and I’ve decided to seize the opportunity to put forward a few personal requests. I offer them for your reading pleasure. You’re welcome to act upon them, but please, feel no pressure. Where there is grace, there is no shame.
If you’re a part of the arrangement referred to as “We, the people, of the United States of America,” please consider calling our White House (202-456-1111 or 202-456-1414) and asking our President to pardon decorated veteran, Reality Winner. It was a little over a week ago that 60 Minutes gave her the opportunity to tell some of her story. Here it is. The birthday cake in the above image is from my fiftieth two years ago. Ms. Winner is no longer incarcerated, but our government still won’t let her tell her whole story. This seems mean to me, especially, given the fact that she appears to have secured two elections (2018 and 2020) through her lonely act of conscience. What living American has sacrificed more in direct, demonstrably effective service to their country?
I’m also recently encouraged by the band, mewithoutYou. I think the lyrics to “Torches Together” can be read aloud together in the presence of others as an exercise in some healing something or other. From there, listening to the song is also pleasant. Please consider doing this for my birthday.
You might also give a moment to Samantha Crain. Around our house, her song, “Bloomsday,” is the song of the Covid Apocalypse. And the video is a match for the song. There’s a lifestyle, an ethical summons, within it. Like “Torches Together,” it draws on an image handed down by Jesus of Nazareth and popularized in song. The Oklahoma Rock Show recently decreed “Bloomsday” the Number One Jam of 2021. i think James Joyce would be pleased. Watch the video please. Share it with others. For my birthday.
I also think it would be great if at least a few of you reading this gave the Robot Soft Exorcism podcast a listen and spread the word. I think it’s an idea with legs. And I wish more folks would talk about it. For my birthday.
And….I think that’s about it. I’m grateful to have family, friends, readers, interlocutors, and a teaching position at a university at fifty-two. Thank you all for tuning in to what I’m setting down. It’s a good life.
Here’s a very general question that occurred to me last night:
How do we learn to carry our burdens less destructively?
As time permits, please consider offering a response below if you want to…on my birthday. Or at a later date.
Happy Birthday, David Dark. Thank you for sharing your gift. It's hard to put into words what your thoughts and witness have meant for me.
In response to your last question, David Bunker says, "What is this world asking of us? Not demanding but asking? Are we listening? When the needs of others becomes the possible voice of God, we listen differently. We begin to see their needs not as burdens to bear but opportunities to share. In the sharing we deepen our own humanity and begin to have solidarity with others around their deepest most human parts and not the superficial issues of acquired wealth and status."
What a great question. I don't always carry my burdens well. I think seeing the harm others suffer because I am burdened and lash out (not at them, but at the world, they are collateral damage) helps me the most.