In three short weeks I will turn 81. When I was younger I thought 81 was old. However, what I know today is that 81 is older, but is not necessarily old. I do not mind being 80 and I am sure I will not mind being 81. I embrace my age and do not pretend to be younger.
I was born in 1942 and grew up in the 40's and 50's. I often say I wish I could go back to that time. There was a lot that I would not want to go back to, but what I do miss is that life was simpler then. We had family values, we knew all our neighbors, we were all there for each other, we stuck together, we ate all our meals together gathered around the kitchen table, we prayed together and we didn't need much.
This is how life was in my family and for a long time I thought it was the best that life could be. I still believe the family and caring parts of it were the best, but as I have grown I have come to see the unacceptable parts of life and the beliefs we adhered to in the 40's and 50's.
Homosexuality was kept in the closet because it was totally unacceptable. Segregation was alive and well and the black people in our little southern town had their own neighborhood, and they had their own churches, fountains and schools. The whites believed they were superior to the blacks.
The town I grew up in was predominately Catholic and we looked down on those who were of different faiths. We judged them as "wrong" and did not believe the divine lived in their church buildings.
Little girls were raised to be a wife and a mother, to be prim and proper and definitely not to have sex before marriage. Our training was cooking, cleaning and laundry. If and when girls engaged in sex and were found out, they were considered whores and used goods. They were whispered about behind their backs and ostracized by the other girls. Boys were raised to be the head of the house and to be angry if they chose, have sex as much as they wanted without marriage and to think they were superior to women. The men were served first and the women served them.
So, though the 40's and 50's had a lot of good points, it also fell short of being idyllic. Of course, as a child growing up in the south, I did not know anything was wrong or missing in the society we lived in.
I am not sure what happened in my life to send me in the opposite direction of the "values" I was raised with, but I developed my own set of values. I am still a southern woman (by birth) but I abhor racism, bigotry, anti-Semitism, islamophobia, zenophobia, mysogeny, homophobia and most of the other phobias that have to do with making those who are different wrong and unacceptable.
It cuts to my core when I hear or read ugly statements about blacks, gays, Latinos, Asians, women, LGBTQ's, Muslims and on and on. I somehow, as part of my spiritual growth, have developed a love, empathy, and deep compassion for those who are considered underdogs in our society. I have a need to stand up for them and to lift them up. I see and understand that we are all part of the same creator energy and that the same sun shines on all of us. It does not matter what we look like on the outside or what our religious belief or sexual orientation is, we are all brothers and sisters.
The more exclusive we become, as a society, the darker our world becomes. Hatred, violent rhetoric and actions, condescending remarks and looking down on others who are different contributes to the downfall of society. We will never be a world filled with love, goodness and kindness to all until we banish our thoughts that we are superior to others.
I do not understand how people who go to church every Sunday, quote scripture, pray and believe in a God, can make fun of and denigrate their brothers and sisters. In some cases they even hate those who are different and commit violent acts against them. How can this be????
As I age, I continue to pray for and hope for a change in the consciousness and the hearts of my human family. I pray we learn to love each other and treat others with kindness and empathy. I pray we learn to practice the Golden Rule and give up judgment and prejudice. I pray we learn to reach across the aisle and include those who are different than we are.
We all matter!! We are all made by the same creator energy!! We all deserve respect, kindness and love and LET IT BEGIN WITH ME!!
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