A friend of mine made a Facebook post recently that prompted today's blog piece. It read:
"I asked our chief of police what plan the city has to protect the citizens in Riverton from ICE."
Because of social media and AI, we all have become aware (all too well) and informed of the problems that plague the tribes and communities we live in. So when I see folks asking what the government is going to do about something, I find myself thinking, "Wait, what am I doing in my community to help...?"
There have always been huge gaps between being aware, knowing, and voicing the issues and actually doing something about them when the powers-that-be cannot or will not. These chasms were made over thousands of years, so we are seeing the consequences of the Beasts that have been created over time. It's one thing to air grievances on social media, hold marches and rallies (which can sometimes escalate to riot-level)...but when it's all over and done, then what? Plan the next rally? Post the next campaign?
One of the many beasts is the Beast of Discrimination. It comes in many forms, and works well with its co-workers of Pride, Greed, Lust, and Envy. Its fangs and poison infiltrate government, politics, religion, businesses, and social constructs. It has honed its strategies and tactics over time, with clever programming to maintain control. It's crafty, this beast...it blurs the lines between good and evil, truth and lies, uses the disguises of denial, gaslighting, sarcasm, and humor to catch its prey. And the feeding begins...and it feeds, and feeds, and feeds...
History Lessons: It's not easy being green...
But God is and always has been in control, and everything has purpose (Ecclesiastes 3). All the death and suffering, the wars and battles...everything in the history of the world has happened for a reason...for such a time as this (Esther 4).
I took one of those DNA tests a while back, and it really didn't tell me anything that I didn't already know through genealogy. My birth mother is Native American and Hispanic; my birth father is Caucasian, and then I have a little bit of something else that apparently migrated over the Bering Strait. I used to do some modelling jobs back in the day, and my makeup artist always struggled with my olive complexion (I still struggle to this day, lol...hey, if anyone out there knows a good makeup for green skin, please let me know!)
Many know that I was adopted as an infant into a white LDS family. As I was raised with everything I needed and wanted, little did I know that everything I was taught to believe about myself was untrue. In the Book of Mormon, Joseph Smith's story/interpretation of Native Americans was about the battles between the Nephites (white/pure) and the Lamanites (filthy and loathsome).
Well, obviously I was a Lamanite in Joseph Smith's story. But imagine my confusion as a child being programmed for that as the "truth" about my being. I remember sitting at the kitchen table, listening to Book of Mormon scriptures, and when I had questions about the Nephites (good) and the Lamanites (bad), the answer? "Don't worry, you are becoming more and more white and delightsome all the time."
"I had reasoned this out in my mind;
there was one of two things I had the right to, liberty or death.
If I could not have one, I would have the other."
- Harriet Tubman
One of my heroes in history is Harriet Tubman. Against various beasts and against so many odds, she formed and ran the Underground Railroad. According to AI, she "personally led approximately 70 enslaved people to freedom."
The slave trade was a business, and a booming one at that. Also, according to AI, "enslaved people were primarily forced to cultivate and produce several key commodities that fueled the Southern economy and significantly impacted global trade." So you have one person...one person!...starting a network and fighting against the beasts of Pride, Greed, and Lust (and Gluttony) at the same time? Amazing.
The Beasts Within Us
A story similar to the Children of Carlisle, it took me a lifetime - from childhood to present - to understand exactly where I belonged in this world. I wanted to respect and embrace my Northern Arapaho heritage (my Red Wolf), so I enrolled in the tribe and tried to surround myself with good people to teach me. But I also experienced those who rejected me, said I wasn't a "real Arapaho" and gossiped about me, saying that I was raised in "white privilege". On my Hispanic side (my Brown Wolf), I found out that my grandfather was a pilot in WWII. And both my Red and White Wolves gave me an understanding of where my artistic creativity and musical talents came from. My grandmother gave me the name 'Sweet Singing Woman' (she had never heard me sing before she died).
Fighting the Beasts of Discrimination
Being aware of the Beasts doesn't make them any easier to slay. You can run, but you can't hide. You can clang pans and make a lot of noise, but the Beasts don't care; in fact, they'll probably laugh at you. My own journey was wrought with homelessness, domestic violence, addiction, and suicide. I had an accident that crippled me; I went blind in both eyes. The Beasts that held me bound with depression, hopelessness, and despair could have very well won the battle.
But remember, there is purpose in everything. Back to my point about discrimination (and I do have one)...the solution is first looking in the mirror, coming to grips with, and doing battle with the Beasts within ourselves, and seeing the Truth through the lies. Target the predators who lead and manipulate us down roads where we continue to be the prey. Taking back control of who the Creator meant for us to be, instead of believing the labels society puts on us, and mocks, hates and scorns you for. Republican, democrat, liberal, conservative...red, yellow, black and white (or green, lol). Christian, Mormon, Muslim, Buddhist, Atheist...member or non-member. Aren't we sick of all this by now?
Remember Harriet Tubman. One person. It starts with one person.
Over time, I've had to assess, treat, and heal from the battle wounds I sustained as I learned how to fight the Beasts that were trying to program me to believe something that I was not...what to say and how to say it, what to wear, what to eat and drink, etc. I hate to say it, but some of the worst discrimination I've experienced was right within my own tribe and circle of "friends"! Do you know what it feels like to be called a "half breed"? So not only do you have tribes and communities divided and destroying themselves from within, you have literally thousands of centuries that have gone by, chock full of those already aiding and abetting the Beasts! And we want to go to the government for answers? If we can't tolerate it in our communities, why are we tolerating it within our own selves?
Take a look at some US currency. "In God We Trust"?? No, we don't!
"And the little child shall lead them..." (Isaiah 11)
Children are the closest ones to God that you can get. You can try, but you really can't bullshit a child. Like I mentioned before, when I questioned elements in the Book of Mormon, the responses were pre-programmed by the church and by my parents. I was innocent, but I wasn't stupid. I had eyes that saw, ears that heard, a mind that thought, and a soul that felt. Discrimination is taught...in the home, at the pulpit, in the schools, in business, in the media...by all the Beasts and powers-that-be.
At that time, the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who, then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”
He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. And he said:
“Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children,
you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child
is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.
“If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble,
it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck
and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.
Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to stumble! Such things must come,
but woe to the person through whom they come! (Matthew 18: 1-7)
Again...merely being aware of or knowing about the Beasts, within or without, doesn't make them any easier to fight or slay. We need to get strong enough, not just for our own selves, but move with love and compassion for those who are on the front lines of a myriad of battlefields. Stop the bleed!
God will always achieve balance and control. A tornado, hurricane, earthquake, tsunami, any disaster doesn't care what color your skin is, how much money you have, what kind of clothes you wear, or how many friends you have on Facebook, or what your business/corporation's top or bottom line of growth is, or how many indentured servants work for you. Ask any first responder if they've seen blood that runs yellow, black, or white.
The history lesson? I learned that, from the very beginning, I am a human being. I was an innocent child who grew into an adult and went down many roads filled with terrible Beasts and survived to tell the tale. I've learned that, though I was discouraged and at the point of despair many times, my Creator was and will always be with me, every step of the way...through all the twists and turns, bumps, trips and falls, through all of the temptations and humbling moments that made me feel weak and helpless, through all the gossip and lies that fly like bullets...
...if but for the very purpose of calling out the bullshit that plagues this world, and, like Harriet Tubman, can build a network of like-minded people who are on the front lines facing the Beasts.
"No one can serve two masters.
For either he will hate the one and love the other,
or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.
You cannot serve God and money."
Matthew 6:24
It starts with one person. Who is the person God wants you to be?
Yes, there are do-overs. God wants you to become the child--the warrior--who has learned the lessons.
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WORTH THE WATCH
WORTH THE READ
Matthew 24
Revelation 12-13
