Heal the Land

Heal the Land,

Heal the Land,

My Prayer is to Heal the Land.

These were the words that rang out as the Dartmouth Gospel Choir sang yesterday at a stirring service to celebrate the life of Martin Luther King.   It was a poignant ending for the weekend after thousands of peaceful and passionate women and men marched across the country and the world to show their support of equal rights for ALL people, for democracy, for this country that we hold dear.

For the first time since I began this blog, I feel an urgent need to record something, to put my thoughts on paper, to preserve this moment in time. This weekend was historic and I was lucky enough to be part of it.   Like many others, I have struggled to find the words to describe how I have felt in the face of an uncertain future, a country divided, and a set of values on display that I simply do not understand.  I have been sickened and sleepless as I have tried to grasp what our future will look like with our new administration.   Like so many I have felt a bit helpless as I have watched the Obamas leave office and the new administration move in.  I have felt deeply saddened to know that the President for whom I have felt such respect and admiration is no longer steering the ship.  I fear there will be truly bumpy seas ahead.

So I decided to do something.  I made a plan with my dear friend Susie Allen and her daughter Erin.   I bought a plane ticket to Washington DC and I showed up.  To be in that sea of people was indescribable.  To hear the swells of cheers resonating in the air, moving down the mall towards us was nothing short of thrilling.  To sing “This Land is Your Land” with the crowd filled my heart. 

And here’s the thing.  Every last person that I met along the way from the beginning of the trip to the very last stop could not have been nicer or more open-hearted.  It was incomparable. The only thing I can compare it to was being at Burning Man.  Burning Man celebrates radical self-expression and radical self-reliance.  The sense of community that is created in that desert is unlike anything I have ever experienced.  Until now.  Being on the mall in DC felt a lot like being in the desert at Black Rock City. There was such passion and creativity on display.   It actually gave me hope.

At the service yesterday the speaker, Joshua Dubois, who was President Obama’s Spiritual Director and Pastor in Chief, said that we all need to dig deep, alone, to find our morale compass.  That we each need to find our way and act on what we believe and what we care about.   Maybe we need to find our morale compass alone but we also need to support each other and speak out for what we believe.  We need to choose how we can make a difference, how we can share our gifts.  There is a lot of talk already about keeping up the momentum.  It’s fine to show up and march, but the real work is in front of us.  The experience has made me think hard about the choices I am making and how I can make a difference.  I am asking myself what can I do?  What are my gifts?  Where can I contribute my time and talent and treasure?  I am resolute. I am energized.  I am hopeful.