TRANSCEND

I have been revisiting Joseph Campbell, (1904 - 1987). Imagine a guy who spends a lifetime creating a Lincoln Log/Lego model of Chicago, built to scale, nothing left out? What Campbell did was the equivalent except his pieces and parts came from myth and mythology, from the abstract, mysterious, incomprehensible experience of (BEING). This transcendent reality cannot be captured directly in words or images. It can only be experienced and it changes over time as culture and civilization evolve. Transcend or transcendence: a mouthful, difficult for simple people like me to understand or come to terms with. A change is necessary but the change itself has to surpass the earlier meaning set. If one’s performance today transcends yesterday’s it must be better, faster, bigger, etc. than it was before. A transcendent (all inclusive) reality would have to be greater than it had ever been.

At 82, a year before he died, Campbell made the clear distinction: God is a metaphor for a mysterious experience that cannot be understood but transcends (elevates) one’s reality. He goes on; It depends on what you think. If that mysterious experience transcends your reality then the metaphor becomes real rather than a coded word for the incomprehensible and the person is a Theist (believer in a real God, not a metaphor). On the other hand, if your mysterious experience does not transcend (elevate) your reality then God is just another myth, metaphor to describe the indescribable. Nothing has been elevated and Atheist is the label for nonbelievers. 

J.C., the one who died and stayed dead (was not transformed) was not a god and we don’t need a metaphor to comprehend a parallel reality. He was just a man of extremely keen insight and long term curiosity, a researcher and writer. My little dip into his accumulated knowledge vault is nothing more than that. I came here out of my own need as I’ve always maintained, I write as much to understand as to be understood. I have a long way to transcend before I can carry on a credible conversation on myth, mythology, human nature, god metaphors, etc. But I’m working on it.  

JUNE 19, 1865

After two weeks without any inspiration I have ideas and feelings that beg to be leveled. For the past three days I’ve been hearing about today’s date, June 19 and Juneteenth. From tribute to enslaved people and their tenacious resilience to a contemporary view of racial injustice as it continues to oppress people of color; I was reminded. In January, 1863 after two years of Civil War Lincoln freed all slaves everywhere. Of course, Slave owners and Southern governments disregarded that insult but in hindsight their disregard was irrelevant. In April of 1865 with General Lee’s surrender, that freedom was recognized. Slave owners relinquished their authority over former slaves and likewise withdrew any and all responsibility to care or provide for newly freed citizens. But that is another story. Gradually the news spread and a class if not a race of people began a journey of reconciliation that is still unfinished. After two & a half months the last bastion of slavery was forced to concede. Union troops arrived in Galveston, TX with official authority to free former slaves. The date has been fixed in African American culture as their Independence Day. Racism and racial prejudice still run deep in White American culture but since 2021, Juneteenth is now a Federal Holiday. The holiday does nothing to reconcile injustice and hypocrisy that still won’t die but it is a rallying point for Black Americans to never forget and never give up. 

Here today in 2024, I’m an 84 year-old white man who has been sheltered in White Privilege all my life. The first time I benefited from being white was by my mother’s prenatal care when I was in the womb and who knows how much or how often since! I don’t get angry easy but the feeling is disturbing; if breaking something would help then I would break things. Racial prejudice and injustice, even when it has been systematically institutionalized, made to seem normal, appear to be fair; it still privileges the one and oppresses the other. Privilege and oppression are opposite sides of the same coin. You can’t manifest one without perpetrating the other. When I hear stories of real people caught in that cultural trap it pisses me off. I can change my address to some far place but I can't change the legacy of white hypocrisy that weighs on my conscience like an incurable disease. I am both ashamed and embarrassed for my predecessor's part in that sin against mankind. What is even worse is the helpless feeling that I cannot change things. For generations blacks had been denied home loans outside their segregated neighborhoods, then they were charged higher interest rates and foreclosed on sooner, for less cause. When society combines racial disparity with poverty the consequence compounds. I’m just an old man chewing on an ugly, unconscionable, hateful bone; racism. For those who would take me to task as a N***er lover or worse, I would say, shame on you you SOB. 

On a much brighter note it is mid June. That is when Sycamore trees in my yard and neighbor's yards start shedding last year’s bark. By now the old bark has turned dark gray, started to peel and turn brittle. The trunk and limbs are growing in diameter and new bark is pressing out relentlessly against that old gray bark. Push comes to shove and something gives. Big slabs of old dry bark pop away from the new and fall to the ground. I mow the yard and come out the next day to see hundreds of bark shards under Sycamores everywhere, long and wide as a roll of paper towels, some curved, some flat, some in weird shapes of limb crotches and forks in the branches. Up and down the tree, new, white bark has enough stretch to accommodate trunk and limb growth and leave some flexible space for the next season’s growth. It’s like a suntan in reverse. The tan goes away and white skin takes its place. 

        I think about climbing trees, I was good at it. My kids were good at it too. My grandkids are just as good. Nothing like ascending limb after limb up a giant Sycamore ladder, up higher that the rooftop, up until limbs are no bigger than you arm and the breeze blows you back and forth like treetops in the wind; duhh! Your mom comes out and calls up, she knows you’re there but can’t see you for the platter size leaves. Mid June; a lot going on.  

PAY ME NOW OR PAY ME LATER

  Growing old is an adventure. Being old calls for staying right side up and either landing on your feet or in a soft place. Some of us, our parts wear out before they should while others keep on ticking after their warranty expires. I have lots of down time, time to ponder things that don’t really matter, old people do that. The ‘Good Old Days’ were good because we were young. I don’t know what led me to that (wisdom) but it was a no-brain conclusion. I made the connection without a prompt or an argument. Make up an analogy for taking care of your body and taking care of your car. The mechanic says, “Pay me now or pay me later.” and it will be a lot more expensive later. Once upon a time I was an adrenaline junkie but I outgrew that, now moderate in my habits and lucky as well. My adventure still has tread on its tires and gas in the tank. But times change and things happen much faster now. 
With social media and fake news there is no way to cull out the BS before the next dose gives you either heartburn or diarrhea. I remember the presidential election of 1948, I was a 3rd grader, listened to my parents talk. Thomas Dewey, the popular (R) Governor of New York was strongly favored to beat then (D) President Harry Truman but Truman upset Dewey by the narrowest of margins. There were no cries of, “The election was rigged” and Dewey did not instigate an assault on the capitol to overturn the results. America was known and admired for a history of peaceful transition of power. Americans had not forgotten Hitler’s rise to power and how authoritarian rule can backfire. Republicans and Democrats found ways to negotiate, compromise and move the nation’s course forward. 
Comedian Robin Williams used a clever if not insightful line in one of his monologues, talking about government, “Politics; poly = many, and ticks = blood sucking parasites: Politics” The comedian had pretty good instincts. With over 65 years as a legitimate adult, a good college education and decades at the school of hard knocks, I submit that I can reflect on politics in a responsible way. I realize that conservatives and liberals need each other to provide checks and balance. Without that give and take, if left unchecked conservatism would downgrade into tyranny and liberalism would descend into anarchy. One side relies on centralized, tight fisted control and the other can tolerate some chaos in order to serve the greater good. Someone famous said, “Democracy is like sausage. It’s wonderful but you don’t want to see it being made.” It takes too long and it costs way too much but it’s way better than what’s in 2nd place. 
I think one current flaw is with the way the word, “Liberty” has been convoluted. The founding fathers demanded liberty against British oversight that treated the colonies like “Red-headed step children” neither wanted nor accepted. Regardless of how it began, how it was framed and made real in the 21st Century, Liberty has literally become; Taking what you want whether it belongs to you or not, by any means necessary, without any punitive consequence. If you can get away with murder, it must be God’s will. Both conservatives and liberals understand the new rules. They just use different arguments to validate their schemes. Both points of view use knee-jerk issues to keep a knee-jerk culture distracted while the (blood sucking parasites) scheme to stay in power, power is money and getting reelected is where the blood-sucking goes on. One school wants to maximize profit at the expense of the working class while the other wants to redistribute (bloody rich people’s) ill gained wealth to meet the needs of an oppressed underclass. Even the greatest democracy in existence has smelly arm pits. 
My gut instincts lean left with the liberals but I understand it is not a rational decision. Respected researcher Jon Haidt (a moderate liberal) has done tones of research on how decisions are made and at the end of the day, every day, everybody is influenced by emotional (feelings) long before they consider logical rationale. It just is. The more important the decision the greater the probability the result was predetermined before you even knew the question. That part of the brain is not accessible, we can’t think our way around it. Cognitive therapy can help some people change the way they feel about knee-jerk issues but it doesn’t change how the brain works. So I work at considering what is so compelling for conservative thinkers. Keeping everything you earn sounds good (no programs for the disenfranchised) and it helps me see through the same lens they trust. I don’t think Jesus would carry an assault rifle and I suspect if men had ovaries there would be no abortion issue at all. I have to understand they are not stupid and their feelings are just as relevant as mine. So, If I can engage with an agreement to disagree, to listen seriously, taking notes if necessary, not to interrupt or change the subject when there is no other answer than how it makes you feel or what crafted propaganda has led either of us to believe, we can have a meaningful conversation. But probably not a good idea to share it with our own knee-jerk constituents. 
I didn’t make up the Jon Haidt research stuff but I do trust it; and I’m still old, growing older. I have trouble believing Trump cares about anything other than his own (narcissist-demagogue) appetite. If his rhetoric had been left leaning enough to generate his base in the liberal camp he would be ranting to please left wing concerns. He can live with any ideology as long as he is all powerful. Liberals are less likely to fear loss of wealth and privilege they never actually had to begin with so his appeal gravitates to more aggressive conservatives. How do I get over that? I’m old enough, I grew up understanding Hitler’s plan to make Germany great again and how Jews were blamed for every problem and Germans sucked up his swill like it was cognac. I don’t know. I don’t know.