by Rev. Jim Briney
I reside in a continuing care retirement community. I tell people it is a bargain if they can afford it. There is as much diversity here as you are apt to find among rich old white people. We are provided opportunities for distractions such as card games, exercise, and a series of lectures. We are a generous lot that funds significant scholarships for employees and their families. On the surface we present a tranquil environment.
Beneath the surface attitudes persist that reveal a litany of biases. An individual asked a neighbor to provide her with a photo of the colorful poster in his window, that expressed his sentiments in favor of diversity and inclusion. Photo in hand she asked management to remove the poster. She argued that it was political. A respected resident spent several months preparing a lecture based on: The True Believer by Eric Hoffer. Published in 1951, the author delineated conditions that have led to authoritarianism the world over. The presentation was not allowed, for fear of controversy.
Recent complaints were sparked by residents who wanted nothing to do with police actions that exploit the vulnerable and exaggerate their involvement in activities deemed unlawful. The Ice-Out gathering on the public sidewalk in front of our buildings revealed the ire of some residents who do not want to be associated with those bearing witness to unlawful detentions and deportations.
A No Kings gathering inspired some residents to take a stand based on lessons in civics learned decades ago. Others were scandalized. Some residents who oppose such events became keen on prohibiting the Arizona Speakers Series from being broadcast on our premises. They considered such presentations as liberal.
The most recent season of the series featured a historian, political figures, a journalist, and an astrophysicist who taught us that we are living in a singular era of space exploration that promises to reveal our origin. She observed that the expansion of the universe coupled with the invention of the Hubble and Webb telescopes, is apt to make this the only time in all of history that it will be possible for sentient life to discover where we came from, perhaps why we exist, and where we may be going.
Censorship ought not prevail in a place like ours. It is not too late to rid our older selves of complacency, naiveté, bigotry, and gullibility. We must find remedies that address the culture of willful ignorance. If we do not continue to learn and to grow in our senior years, when we have little else to do other than sustaining ourselves for the sake of longevity, then what’s the point in being? If those of us who are fortunate to have our needs met and our desires satisfied do not manage to get along, how could we expect others to do so?
It may not be useful to argue with individuals who hold passionate views contrary to our own, but learning how to talk about controversial issues is every bit as important as what we have to say.
Taking a stand that bears witness in solidarity with the best intentions of humanity, always is worth the risk. When you know the right thing to do—but are not certain of the outcome—do it anyway. Three no-no’s in our little world include not speaking of money, politics, or religion. I got around that by creating opportunities for residents to speak of their own experience. They delighted in sharing stories of their earliest memories that acquainted them with the very things that would influence the whole of their lives. There was no argument to be had because they spoke of their own experience.
These days I host and moderate discussions on matters of faith. Faith and belief are not the same as fact and proof, yet science and theology represent different pathways that lead to truth. One approach confirms and validates the other; when we reconcile what we believe with what we think. Civil discourse based on reason, information, and fact, creates occasions for mutual respect and accountability. The thing all faiths have in common is that nobody knows anything. Symbols and words express what we think, believe, and why, but we don’t have all the answers. Those who think they have all the answers would do well to start over.
With few exceptions I embraced my irrelevance when I relocated to Splendido. One exception is sharing thoughts and values I hold dear, in hope of a better future. If I had a preferred alternative I would be elsewhere.
It is useless to blame God for the mess we have made of our politics and our planet. This Garden of Eden we have despoiled is ours to care for. Everything in this world that is wrong, unfair, hostile, and unjust is on us. If we are going to do more than exist and be more than carbon units that become extinct a fundamental shift in the values we associate with money is essential. Trust the spirit within you that is holy. All that you experience is part of the eternal. Ethical constructs tend to acquaint us with the right thing to do. Integrity is doing it. It is up to us to act in a timely fashion while we are able, and to abide one another.