2024 US Election ( with additional revisions , footnotes )

First they came for the illegal and legal immigrants

and I did not speak out because I am not an illegal immigrant. I am a second-generation immigrant.

Then they came for women who asked for an abortion or had one in the past and I did not speak out because I am too old to get pregnant nor did I have one in the past.

Then they came for transgender people and again I did not speak out because I am not transgender.

Finally they came for me, a poor, disabled senior on .... with social security and no savings.

and there was no one left to speak for me.

(an adaptation of 

a poem by Niemöller in Hitlers Germany)

"It is what it is...."

I will speak out, even writing this blog may allow the administration to act in retaliation. I am a second-generation immigrant. We are a nation of immigrants.

I am now a "foreigner in a foreign land."

I, as a woman , live in the most sexist nation, even over racism. As a 75-year-old, I have fought  every inch for the right to live, work and educate myself.My parents had to leave school to survive the depression. I have a graduate degree. The first!

Voters have chosen a political puppet, criminal, convicted felon, womanizer, liar, with plans to trash our Constitution and Bill of Rights. Two strong women ran in opposition in 2016 and 2024 and America chose Donald tRump.

The American Dream is an illusion and will be only for the wealthy 1%.

NOT PROUD to be an American Citizen

I AM a proud American woman born into a lower middle class suburban home outside Portland Oregon. 

I chose in many battles to stand up for my rights to live , work and be educated.

I accomplished high grades in order to escape my abusive neglect filled home and family. And with scholarships and two jobs, attended three state universities.

I graduated in 1973 with a graduate degree ,BFA ,after several battles to receive the same respect from professors as did my male counterparts.

I stood up to a rapist in 1970 at 19, when even my family did not believe me.

I did not back away from workplace threats of termination, 1971, by my supervisor to keep a "dress" code when slacks were needed to perform my job.

I demanded my family name be returned to me by the judge at my divorce proceedings 1975.

I led a strike , 1982, in a large construction camp of 200 men in Alaska.  My all-female crew, kitchen and housekeeping, were continuously harassed verbally along with sexual graffiti. We won.

I stood my ground, 1989, verbally in  public to the Abbot of the Zen Community/monastery over his verbal and emotional abuse.

J M Starz

November 7, 2024

PS: My final observation and conclusion IS that the stronger women in America become, the more attempts there will be to oppress US. Keep moving "Forward". " Keep the light on".

Lyrics from female contribution to new release , song by Cold Play September 2024.

                "We Pray"

Pray that love will shelter us from our fears

Oh I pray,you trust to let me wipe off your tears

Confront all the pain that we feel inside

With all the cards we have been dealt in life

Pray I speak my truth and keep my sisters alive

So for the ones that parted the seas for the ones following dreams

For the ones that knocked down doors and

Allowed us to pass down the keys

Pray we speak with a tongue of honesty,

And that we understand how to be modest

Pray she looks in a mirror and sees a queen, a Goddess.

And so we pray..  

Footnote: Election numbers show 208 million eligible voters. Republicans received 35% of eligible voters and 51% of registered voters. A minority of voters will dictate to the other two-thirds including millions of non-eligible voters. The future generations. This is democracy for a minority vs the majority.. and American citizens are ....?

From recent interviews with minority ethnic groups the American Dream is alive.Yet it is clear by their voting for this leader/party they are willing to give up human rights for the money they believe is proof of success in America. They may have left a war torn , poverty stricken and economic disaster of a country, familiar, and now in America they are willing to accept a loss of liberty, even if OTHERS do. By 2050 half of citizens will be Latino. I fear money over life and liberty will become the distorted " American Dream". I will not be here yet I can see it already in the 2024 election..  Including  a national abortion ban planned, more anti-LGBTQ laws especially transgender, "Snitching" laws about abortion ,as in Texas, and an erosion of enforcement of the Constitution and Bill of Rights..........

 

All for the rights to buy MORE.......costs will always be on the rise here and around the world. As populations soar, demand grows for jobs, commodities / especially food ( also affected by climate changes), housing, this list goes on.. as more immigrants flee countries in already dire conditions. At the University, 1970, over population was the main issue facing us. Now 55 years later, I can see where we are headed after little concern by next generations to this issue...anti-abortion laws will only add to this future of ...   ?

                                                           **************"

"Ask not what your country can do for you.. ask what you can do for your country"..JFK 1960

We Pray

Being in Relationship is Being

  ren ren

The source, corner stone of all  Confucius teachings began here with the chinese character representing "humanness". What it is to be human and with compassion. This character is a "person" in the first two downward strokes and the second two short horizontal strokes are the number “2". He wanted his war torn country to have a new way of life beginning with the family relationships. 

   Confucious

This is definitely, to me,  about being in relationship is the definition , the meaning of our lives.

            My painting study of           Sistin Chapel

My recent studies of the Old Testament ( written around 500 BC) and Hebrew language alphabet, have resulted in my experiencing the message of Yahweh as " I am in relationship with you". Many of the stories are to show what happens to our relationships without God's guidance or acknowledgement. My religious studies  at university ( 1969-73 ) included the Dead Sea scrolls . The early translations revealed a different wording of the 10 commandments. Instead of the "Thou shall not" ....wording it was " you are not with God when you...    "  What a transformation of understanding about what it means to follow and keep these commandments. 

Grave Stone in famous Barre VT Cemetery. Well known for Italian sculptors working in the granite quarries. Sculpture is twice the size of our human stature. 

Next the New Testament expands, beyond the Old Testament covenant and animal sacrifice for atonement, to a single commandment of "  that relationship is to love one another as I love you." All peoples, tribes, gentiles and cultures. We are asked to "repent.." by John the Baptist. Translated hebrew meaning is to " turn towards" ( acknowledge this love). The only sin is to " turn away" from and deny the relationship with ones creator. And that sin was even forgiven , " forever more" on the cross.  The idea of being born with "original sin"  no longer is, all is forgiven! ....This relationship cannot be broken. Ignored or denied , (even though free will gives us this illusion) we are never out of relationship with our Creator. From the garden of Eden ( when Eve chose the wisdom, knowledge of this world ) expulsion to the crucification the message is the same.

 We, all creatures, flora , nature are connected to each other.

 Even the recent studies of trees show their relationship under the ground with the entertwining of their roots, that insure harmonius survival for all.

Another teacher Lau Tsu , an elder contemporary of Confucius, spoke more of this relationship with nature.

 

... In the way of the Tao, it is the creative and "binding"  force that runs through the universe.

A relationship again evident by our need for trees to keep our lungs full of oxygen and the trees needed carbon monoxide.

Yet another teacher, a possible contemporary of both these Chinese spiritual leaders, 500-600 BC,  Buddha from India has an emphasis on connection that begins with the relationship we have with ourselves through our breath. This practice leads to our own and others suffering less, including an awareness of the preciousness of all life, through the understanding of impermanence and change. 

                                  Zoketsu

2502 years after Confucianism, my teacher from San Francisco Zen Center (1987-1992) has written a book, " When You Greet Me I Bow" by Zoketsu Norman Fischer. Even the title mirrors the essence of his understanding after many decades of practice, studies and teaching. this following quote is from the first page....................

   

            ........ "So it is quite surprising that the opening

                     section of this book, its bedrock, is about

                     relationship. Because this is what I discovered

                     after many decades of Zen Buddhist practice:

                     that the religious life isn't about truth as much 

                     as it is about relationship. Or, that, perhaps truth

                     and relationship are one and the same...............

                      Relationship is not something that happens

                      (or doesn't happen) in a life, it is life's truest truth.

My conclusion about our meeting and practicing together for only a few years compared to his life in an ongoing community, my path is continuously linked

to his. It is no longer surprising to me we are in tune with one another as we look back on our lives in our 7th decade. 70+ revolutions around the sun. 

      I have my own story from my  first meeting with a teacher ,Katagiri Roshi, a dear friend of the founder of San Francisco Zen Center, 

Suzuki Roshi. I was a new student of Zen pactice and not experienced in private meetings with revered teachers, one on one. I waited in a cold zendo for the many older practioners to complete their meetings. My barefeet, very cold while sitting zazen for the hours of waiting.

      As I climbed the stairs, I went over my instructions silently...open door..... bow to altar ....side step...face roshi bow and sit.

        I opened door, closed door,it was a very small room , perhaps 8x8 feet and one small window over roshis left shoulder. As I began  the altar bow, I saw a beam of light come thru the window and warmed my feet. I nearly jumped for joy.

      "thank you, thank you, thank you, that feels so good . "

I completed my bow, side stepped and bowed before roshi and sat down.

       With some nervousness I began to tell my story, " I am new to Zen practice" and also a new resident of the community.

        His answer was " you have been practicing for a very long time".

It would take another 6 years before I understood what he meant and would leave the center and community.

In a lecture to students during a following visit he proclaimed that if we fall asleep, his words will enter through our pores. A statement of relationship beyond even our awareness. 

                     Aunt Adele

My youngest memory of being taught about relationship was from my aunt Adele. She taught a musical kindergarten in Portland Oregon after she retired from an international opera performer career as a soprano. Her main teaching to me, especially when sending me to the corner when I would act out, "we are all the same." The other students knew I was her niece, so no special favors.

She read from tales about children the world over. I was later at 30 to be her assistant and learn how to pass on to children her view. A blessing and gift . 

In my teens, the time of racial protests, political asassinations and the rise of feminism, I began to read autobiographies including Mahatma Ghandi. The following quote I have attempted to follow throughout my life. It pointed out every choice I make about how I live would affect all beings. I lived without a phone or a car until I moved to Alaska and they were both needed to have job and support myself. I was 40 years old.

                    "Live simply , so others                               may simply live."

Another autobiography I read was about Malcom X. and even though he separated himself from other racial groups he said these words as a truth he became aware of...............

                             ...."and I, for one, will join in with anyone-

                             don't care what color you are- as long as 

                             you want to change this miserable condition 

                             that exists on this earth."    

                ***************** 

"..... If  there are no gods, then you will be gone, but will have lived a noble life that will live on in the memories of your loved ones." M Aurelius 180 A D

Live on in our families, friends and even in the caring for nature, forests and oceans, of Earth. Our relationship, our existence lives on. 

 

                          

                      *********     

    

           Blessed New Year 2024