David, your words have consistently been a gift to me.
I love your idea about calling and building a human connection with congressional staffers who answer the phones. The problem I have encountered is that I am so beyond frustrated (perhaps because I have been quiet for too long) that it is difficult for me to be as kind and thoughtful as I aspire to be once I actually get a live person on the phone.
On the rare occasions I have done so, I am tempted to take out all my frustrations with their boss on them and morally shame them for it all.
This is not helpful, and it’s not who I want to be. So I welcome any advice you have for dealing with this impulse. Because as it stands, I seem to lack the emotional maturity to make such calls. But I am not content to stay this way.
Thank you for this question. The Robot Soft Exorcism paradigm is helpful for me in this regard. I find that staffers usually tell me their names. When they don’t I can ask. From there, I can presume (rightly, I think) that part of them really wants to be of help in some way, and I can respectfully appeal to that part slowly and surely without mistaking them for any elected official I’m sad about. Sometimes having a few things written down beforehand is a help. Does this make sense?
This is really empowering. I have tried scripts before (5 calls), but I’m just so frustrated that I get tempted to go off script. (I think I have some of my own exorcism to do.)
But that doesn’t mean I couldn’t do my own scripts in the mean time as I also face down my own internal mess. Thank you for always engaging so thoughtfully and personally.
You say that you find yourself sometimes possessed by something less than a person. I do, too, though it’s hard to spot because I usually think I’m right.
It seems there’s some relation between dealing with the possessedness of my own life before dealing with the possessedness of people around me. Not necessarily in a complete sequence kind of way—as if I could manage to get myself to perfect then start working on others—but in an along-with kind of way.
I suppose connectedness helps with that, too. Does that make sense?
It does! I get possessed by feelings of fear which are each, always, less than my whole human self and, obviously, less than the whole human self of others. If I'm not careful, I start making my crisis of disconnection someone else's problem. When I feel *rightly* connected to my whole self and whole others, I can access (and act on) the hidden wholeness binding you and me and all us chickens. Thank you for this reply. It helps.
Oh, my gosh, yes! When I saw this first image, I had a strong visceral reaction and I wasn’t sure why. I wasn’t sure where the image came from. I graduated from Sewanee with a BA in English in the early 1970’s, and I am so glad you referenced that image toward the end of your piece! I plan to share this because, David, you bring great justice, integrity, and honesty to me and to the world when you point out these often contradictory and frequently confusing dualities. We hold them all, together, always.
Thank you, Barbara! Setting down Blake with Simone Weil and Cockburn with my own words is part of my self-soothing these days. Knowing you're reading me is a profound gift. Onward!
"I am, myself, often possessed by and even act upon feelings which get me into trouble and which, upon examination, were not, in fact, grounded in reality. False gods are tricky like that." Glad to hear I have good company. Thank you for leading by example.
I “call it Empire” as well. Been doing so for a while. . . . I wonder if “doing Empire” is that “moment in a life when a soul can die, in a person, in a country when you believe (my grandson at 4 years translated “believe” as “Boogie”, which may be a better lyric ;-) the LIE”. Recent pondering wonders if “Empire-ing” began at the Tree in the Garden. And. It continues to be the challenge we face as we try to Follow in the Way of Jesus. The “forbidden fruit” continues be offered to the “Ananias and Saphira”s who ignore the warning “you shall surely die”.
Bravo, David.
David, your words have consistently been a gift to me.
I love your idea about calling and building a human connection with congressional staffers who answer the phones. The problem I have encountered is that I am so beyond frustrated (perhaps because I have been quiet for too long) that it is difficult for me to be as kind and thoughtful as I aspire to be once I actually get a live person on the phone.
On the rare occasions I have done so, I am tempted to take out all my frustrations with their boss on them and morally shame them for it all.
This is not helpful, and it’s not who I want to be. So I welcome any advice you have for dealing with this impulse. Because as it stands, I seem to lack the emotional maturity to make such calls. But I am not content to stay this way.
Thank you for this question. The Robot Soft Exorcism paradigm is helpful for me in this regard. I find that staffers usually tell me their names. When they don’t I can ask. From there, I can presume (rightly, I think) that part of them really wants to be of help in some way, and I can respectfully appeal to that part slowly and surely without mistaking them for any elected official I’m sad about. Sometimes having a few things written down beforehand is a help. Does this make sense?
This is really empowering. I have tried scripts before (5 calls), but I’m just so frustrated that I get tempted to go off script. (I think I have some of my own exorcism to do.)
But that doesn’t mean I couldn’t do my own scripts in the mean time as I also face down my own internal mess. Thank you for always engaging so thoughtfully and personally.
You say that you find yourself sometimes possessed by something less than a person. I do, too, though it’s hard to spot because I usually think I’m right.
It seems there’s some relation between dealing with the possessedness of my own life before dealing with the possessedness of people around me. Not necessarily in a complete sequence kind of way—as if I could manage to get myself to perfect then start working on others—but in an along-with kind of way.
I suppose connectedness helps with that, too. Does that make sense?
It does! I get possessed by feelings of fear which are each, always, less than my whole human self and, obviously, less than the whole human self of others. If I'm not careful, I start making my crisis of disconnection someone else's problem. When I feel *rightly* connected to my whole self and whole others, I can access (and act on) the hidden wholeness binding you and me and all us chickens. Thank you for this reply. It helps.
Oh, my gosh, yes! When I saw this first image, I had a strong visceral reaction and I wasn’t sure why. I wasn’t sure where the image came from. I graduated from Sewanee with a BA in English in the early 1970’s, and I am so glad you referenced that image toward the end of your piece! I plan to share this because, David, you bring great justice, integrity, and honesty to me and to the world when you point out these often contradictory and frequently confusing dualities. We hold them all, together, always.
Thank you, Barbara! Setting down Blake with Simone Weil and Cockburn with my own words is part of my self-soothing these days. Knowing you're reading me is a profound gift. Onward!
"I am, myself, often possessed by and even act upon feelings which get me into trouble and which, upon examination, were not, in fact, grounded in reality. False gods are tricky like that." Glad to hear I have good company. Thank you for leading by example.
I “call it Empire” as well. Been doing so for a while. . . . I wonder if “doing Empire” is that “moment in a life when a soul can die, in a person, in a country when you believe (my grandson at 4 years translated “believe” as “Boogie”, which may be a better lyric ;-) the LIE”. Recent pondering wonders if “Empire-ing” began at the Tree in the Garden. And. It continues to be the challenge we face as we try to Follow in the Way of Jesus. The “forbidden fruit” continues be offered to the “Ananias and Saphira”s who ignore the warning “you shall surely die”.