Dreaming the World

A warm, sunny day, following much needed rain. The world is filled with vibrant colour. Last evening, after the rain ended, the air was dense with bird song.

The other day we had time with my step-son’s partner, as we visited the urban forest she is constructing in Providence, then had lunch. As always it was a delight to visit, a valued time with a dear person. The newly planted urban forest consists of maybe 50 bushes, shrubs, and trees planted in at most a twenty five square foot area of an urban garden. (See the ‘Featured Image.”) She told us that in 5-10 years the forest will have grown enough to provide some environmental cooling for the surrounding community.

At some point we got to talking about how to explain our relationship to others. We agreed that “son’s partner” does not come close to acknowledging the importance of the relationship, but found ourselves lost for suitable terms. In jest I suggested she introduce us as her “outlaws,” but that did not develop any traction.

Defining our relationships to each other is a deeply human need, found in every culture. Some cultures develop very complex kinship terms and others, like our own, seem to go out of their collective way to avoid complexity.

I noted this week that the Southern Baptist Convention has backed a Congressional bill to do away with same sex marriage. Now, I grew up in Southern Baptist churches and their arch conservatism that, even back in my childhood, seemed to me to have almost no relationship to Christianity as Jesus preached it. My guess is that were he around today he would be appalled at the racism, homophobia, and misogyny that is presented as their doctorial base.

If anything, his ministry encouraged us to work to keep our species’ inherent prejudices against The Other in check. His position appeared to be that as long as someone is not hurting oneself or others we should just leave them alone. Further we should help them if they need aid. More difficult still is his injunction to “turn the other cheek” when one is wronged. Oh, well, I’m still not very good at that.

I imagine that what is so threatening to so many is the propensity of artists of all stripes to prefer relatively open lives and to embrace otherness. It is the same fear of Nature that drives people to simplify and destroy ecosystems, to oppose diversity and complexity no matter the cost to self, society, or natural world. It also drive the urban-rural split that threatens to cast us all into complete and total chaos.

I often remind myself that the human need to place everyone and everything into some relationship to self and group is innate and aids us in forming identities. It also leads to immense suffering when unchecked. One hopes that religious leaders and artists of all ilks would lead the way to a more inclusive culture, but as the Crusades, many genocides (past and ongoing), and Ayn Rand illustrate, that is not always so.