Tom Adams
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The last few weeks I have reflected on noticing and its power. Today I’d like to continue that theme in the context of traveling. This past weekend Geraldine and I drove to the mountains of Georgia on the South Carolina border for a family wedding. If you like details, google “Clayton, Georgia,” “Tiger, Georgia,” and “Long Creek, South Carolina.” It is a beautiful part of the world, in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains.
I am learning that what I choose to pay attention to shapes me as a person. And it has started me wondering if what we all pay attention to shapes us as a community. Several recent experiences have shone a light on this truth.
While I heartily agree with the direction President Biden is heading on most issues, I am troubled by his recent announcement that the U.S. had used a drone to kill Ayman al-Zawahiri, the current leader of Al Qaeda and one of the masterminds behind the 9/11/2001 terrorist attack. The New York Times reported President Biden as saying: “Justice has been delivered, and this terrorist leader is no more.” The President reminded us of President George W. Bush and his promise, reiterated by his successors, that the U.S. would track down and get retribution for those involved in 9/11, no matter how long it took.
Pope Francis’ recent penitential pilgrimage and visit to Canada to meet with indigenous communities and to apologise for the role of the Catholic Church for abuses sustained by children in residential schools was a step forward. It was long overdue. Over the course of several days the pontiff traveled to various sites and expressed his heartfelt remorse over the past wrongs that Catholic clergy and laity had committed over the course of the 100 plus years that residential schools have operated in Canada.
Last week’s post on the Quilt of Souls stirred up a lot of memories of the power of quilting. No matter the difference of culture, race, class or privilege, everyone who shared their experiences talked about how quilts and quilting were a source of nurturing and love for them and those involved. In the spirit of sharing how we all grow in loving, I am sharing – with permission – the reflections of some of our readers on how quilts and quilting touched their lives. Undoubtedly, there are many more stories about how quilting and loving were intertwined in families and life journeys. Please share your experiences in the comments section after the post or by email to me at [email protected]. Here are three replies I am savoring:
Writing about love and deepening my ability to express the centrality of love to life itself is a goal I set for myself in retirement. A less heady goal I set was to finish writing a book that I have been toiling over for a long time. It is a book about Bill and Lois Wilson/and their marriage. You may recall that Bill Wilson was the co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous and Lois Wilson was the co-founder of Al-Anon, a Twelve Step program for families and friends of people with drinking problems.
Mom and Dad were incredible living examples of turning injustice into action. Our family moved to Los Angles in the late 60s after several years in Morocco where my dad was finishing his Fulbright work in Fez. He had just been hired in his first role as a professor of Political Science specializing in Middle East Studies at UCLA.
“Freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose.” I have been haunted by these words from the Kris Kristofferson/Fred Foster song that Janis Joplin popularized with Me and Bobby McGee in 1971. When I feel stuck or confused these words come back. I ponder, “What is Janis saying?”
I’d like to be able to say that I write this article from a distance, from the calm context of Canada rather than from the conflicted context of the United States. But that would be a delusion. Racial injustice manifests itself differently in the Canadian context, but it remains just as demeaning, dismissive, and destructive.
A recent trip to Lisieux in France deepened my understanding of Therese of the Little Flower and her spirituality. I was surprised and delighted with what she had to teach me about surrender and faith and about persistence in learning how to be an anti-racist in America.
Tom Adams writes and speaks on topics vital to the intersection of our personal lives with our community and global lives. He has for decades been engaged in and written about nonprofit leadership and transitions, spirituality and spiritual growth, how we each contribute to a more just and equitable world and recovery from addictions and the Twelve Step recovery movement.