Nov 4

Those of us in our early-mid twenties probably remember the Clinton years, the ends of which were tainted by the Lewinsky debaucle as a (looking back) silly segway into the BUSH ADMINISTRATION years. So, for all of my waking political life I have lived with a combination of love & loathing for the people and ideas of people of this country as the political scene has become more and more polarized. I have been at once aghast at the spiritual depravedness of our "Leader", while at the same time KNOWing that this system is sick and although it still plays a role in the organizing of human affairs, that at some point we will hear its death rattle and I don't know if I will be alive for that or not. I have wavered between believing this system will have to completely disintegrate to give way to something new, and hoping that change will happen so organically that we don't have to see complete destruction before the base for a new world system is built.

Since Bush has been president, I have lived abroad, grown my hair out, gone to University, eaten about 1,000+ burritos, learned to silkscreen, experienced loss, experienced GENDER, experienced RACE, been blessed with reggae en espanol, had my first job, gone on pilgrimage, been intermittently broke, gotten a tattoo, learned to do a headstand---the list goes on for all of us--I have practiced being non-partisan while partisan politics has polarized so completely that it is hard for me to believe that any human being with love and understanding in their heart could actually be vague about who to vote for in this election, even though this election is taking place in a system too beaurocratic and weighed down for it to possibly exist into the 2100's.

I have been excited by this election year, but have mostly maintained aloof for fear that to become attached to THE CANDIDATE would 1. Go against the Baha'i law to maintain non-partisanship and non-involvement in partisan politics 2. Allow to grow in me a hate and disbelief at LA VICE CANDIDATA, which would consume me and I would suffocate to death 3. Allow to grow in me a Faith in politics when at a higher level it has been said "Hadst Thou spent all the riches of the earth, Thou couldst not have united their hearts; but God hath united them!" (Qu'ran 8:64) - Knowing that true power comes from unity of vision, and that only through unity of vision and education can true change be made through the true grassroots-the hearts of men manifesting spiritual capacities.

Yet despite all this, I have for the first time felt what it may have felt like during the time of the Civil Rights movement. We can look back at the efforts that were made, at the changes that took place, and say that on the one hand, HUGE changes and shifts in consciousness and the law were made. On the other hand, we could look back and lament at the immense human effort and sacrifice that had to be made in order to go towards a goal (such as justice, equality, human rights, nobility of all Men) that should never have been so far from our sights in the first place.
I have thought at times how exciting it would have been to be a part of the civil rights movement, at the same time I have looked at where we are currently and felt that it was a blip in the shift of human consciousness. Until today I have viewed our future Presidentship, even the best-case-scenario one, in this way: Something that could be great, while at the same time knowing that one person is "not the final answer". I thought this way until this morning when I WOKE UP in a stupor, mumbling prayers, realizing it was Nov. 4, having it dawn on me that by the end of the day my 8 long years of the BUSH ADMINISTRATION could come to an END and not only in a vague way but with a new President who I could listen to speak, be inspired by, actually have some sort of confidence IN. It was then that I realized that for my adult life, walking down a street and seeing posters of the President with Devil horns, or (my unfavorite & favorite) as a doll with red eyes making love to a RAT (true story) has been NORmAL-- The love and nostalgia some generations have for J.F Kennedy has remained a mystery to me. Until now-Today. It could be only today that I feel this secular hope---I hope it will be for the next 4-8 years.

Last night on Tavis Smiley, one of the (white) men he was speaking to was saying that really if we look at the fact that slavery was abolished only 200 or so years ago, this is only an eyelash in the trajectory of history, and that it is amazing that we could be electing a black president on today, look how far we have come. At the same time, I was thinking, hell, some of the mildly affecting experiences I've had with race in my 25 YEARS has been hard. So I don't really think it's fair say that 200 years of psychological, physical, emotional, political, spiritual oppression for millions of people has been or felt like "an eyelash in time" for those EXPERIENCING it.

I could go on but mostly I wanted to share what I was reading this morning, something for keeping our eyes on the horizon of true change-that which takes place in our hearts, in the individual, and which has the potential to spread to our families, communities, and world:

"How is it possible for men to fight from morning until evening, killing each other, shedding the blood of their fellow-men: And for what object? To gain possession of a part of the earth! Even the animals, when they fight, have an immediate and more reasonable cause for their attacks! How terrible it is that men, who are of the higher kingdom, can descend to slaying and bringing misery to their fellow-beings, for the possession of a tract of land!

The highest of created beings fighting to obtain the lowest form of matter, earth! Land belongs not to one people, but to all people. This earth is not man's home, but his tomb. It is for their tombs these men are fighting. There is nothing so horrible in this world as the tomb, the abode of the decaying bodies of men.

However great the conqueror, however many countries he may reduce to slavery, he is unable to retain any part of these devastated lands but one tiny portion -- his tomb! If more land is required for the improvement of the condition of the people, for the spread of civilization (for the substitution of just laws for brutal customs) -- surely it would be possible to acquire peaceably the necessary extension of territory.

But war is made for the satisfaction of men's ambition; for the sake of worldly gain to the few, terrible misery is brought to numberless homes, breaking the hearts of hundreds of men and women!

How many widows mourn their husbands, how many stories of savage cruelty do we hear! How many little orphaned children are crying for their dead fathers, how many women are weeping for their slain sons!

There is nothing so heart-breaking and terrible as an outburst of human savagery!

I charge you all that each one of you concentrate all the thoughts of your heart on love and unity. When a thought of war comes, oppose it by a stronger thought of peace. A thought of hatred must be destroyed by a more powerful thought of love. Thoughts of war bring destruction to all harmony, well-being, restfulness and content.

Thoughts of love are constructive of brotherhood, peace, friendship, and happiness.

When soldiers of the world draw their swords to kill, soldiers of God clasp each other's hands! So may all the savagery of man disappear by the Mercy of God, working through the pure in heart and the sincere of soul. Do not think the peace of the world an ideal impossible to attain!

Nothing is impossible to the Divine Benevolence of God.

If you desire with all your heart, friendship with every race on earth, your thought, spiritual and positive, will spread; it will become the desire of others, growing stronger and stronger, until it reaches the minds of all men.

Do not despair! Work steadily. Sincerity and love will conquer hate. How many seemingly impossible events are coming to pass in these days! Set your faces steadily towards the Light of the World. Show love to all; 'Love is the breath of the Holy Spirit in the heart of Man'. Take courage! God never forsakes His children who strive and work and pray! Let your hearts be filled with the strenuous desire that tranquillity and harmony may encircle all this warring world. So will success crown your efforts, and with the universal brotherhood will come the Kingdom of God in peace and goodwill.

(Abdu'l-Baha, Paris Talks, p. 28)